Commonsense Choices?

Being in a different culture with problems that differ from the problems I face back home, I've been exposed to the solutions that people here have created to deal with these problems (water scarcity, food scarcity, air pollution, disease.) I've been forced to reexamine my own consumptive habits and have been questioning whether the choices I make back home are a result of my personal preference ? or the availability and abundance of resources I have available to me that make my choices possible.

These are some valuable lessons I've learned just from existing here, from eating at restaurants to using the bathroom (sorry, everyone does it.)

1.) Toilet paper and other paper products (paper towels, napkins) are extremely wasteful and if we made the effort, we could easily adjust and do without them. Firstly, many eastern toilets* do not have an automatic flushing handle or any toilet paper available. There’s usually a small plastic bucket next to the toilet that you fill with water from a valve near the toilet. You use the water from the bucket to clean yourself. It takes a little getting used to, but like everything else, with a little time, you get used to it. Since there’s no flushing device, you fill the bucket up with however much water is necessary to...flush. You use only what you need to get the job done, without quickly using and throwing away toilet paper.

I’ve also been using bandanas (that I previously only used as a hair accessory) for many other purposes. It serves as a hand-towel after washing hands (no need for paper towels.) I use it as a face mask when I’m riding in a rickshaw to avoid the gas fumes and dusty air. I pack snacks in it. And I’ve invented a way to wrap it into a hat with a lid to avoid the sun!

* "Google search” what an eastern toilet looks like to get a better idea about how this whole thing works!

2.) On our ride home from Jodhpur after our excursion, we stopped at Mcdonald’s for dinner. I tend to steer away from the Golden Arches back in the states, but here, I thought it'd be worth my 100 rupees to give some of the regionally-specific menu options a try. I ended up with a spicy-paneer wrap, a fried tofu-like patty, with quite the kick. It really wasn’t anything outrageous, but definitely spicier than anything any American Mcdonalds would dare to have on their menu.

What really caught my attention was a clear plastic box I spotted as we were walking out. It read, “Please return your unused condiment packets.” WHAT A NOVEL IDEA! But, in the grand scheme of inventive ideas, it’s not really at all, it’s just common sense. Doesn’t it make sense to return something you didn’t use so another person can make use of it in the future...instead of thinking...”Whoops, I took too many honey-mustards, guess I’ll just throw it out?” 

Not only does this produce less waste to have to dispose of in a landfill (or the more likely case, adding to the piles of garbage that are growing in the slum areas of cities.) It also means that Mcdonalds saves money....not that Mcdonald's has much incentive to be frugle in its spending, but they wouldn't need to buy as many condiment packages since they’re not being thrown away! Seems like a win-win to me?

The box in this McDonald’s was about half-full with unopened, unused condiment packets. I was about to dump my extra ketchup packets in the garbage, but shuffled through my paper bag of trash to stick them in the box. It took 10 seconds to do, but it saved someone a little bit of money, saved a little bit of waste from being produced, and probably made someone’s order of fries a bit more tasty. 

3.) I’ve noticed that all of the SIT staff drinks their water in an interesting way. They tip their water bottles without touching them to their mouths. I’ve tried to do this a few times, and spilled water all over myself...usually in very public places with a lot of people around.) I asked Rama-ji, the home-stay coordinator why it seems like a lot of people do this. She said that if you touch your mouth to your bottle, you get your germs on it. (Understandable.) She then said that if you don’t touch your mouth to your bottle, you can share your water with other people without spreading germs. (Also makes sense.) But, why does the staff share water if they all have their own bottle? She said that there is often water scarcity in Jaipur (and in many other places in India, particularly in rural areas.) So knowing that the staff’s water bottles are germ-free and thus fair-game to drink from, it ensures that all of the staff always have some source of water to drink from, especially handy if they don’t have any of their own. 

While in America, we’re fortunate to not have to worry about water scarcity in the grand scheme of availability, who knows when you might get parched and not have your own bottle available? If we drank the way my SIT staff does (and a lot of other Indians I’ve seen do,) (although, it’d take a little practice...you have to get the right angle down,) we would always have some water available to share without having to say “I’m sick, you probably shouldn’t drink this.” Sharing is caring at it’s finest!