I am in the design/architecture industry and we are bombarded everyday on how to be GREEN. Green design, Green design Green Design. So since i am still compiling material for the continuation of Naija style love letters in pidgin, i thought i'd share this.
I just completed one of Algore's book(the inconvenient Truth) about how we are damaging this planet, i began to think of ways to BE GREEN. Then i realized that many of my naija friends including some other African friends and I were kinda born GREEN.
So when i see my friends in school try to be GREEN by buying recycled "finished"products, earth friendly products,....(i just saw these Green dresses on Project Runway last night.) That reminds me.... my teacher also showed me a carpet that could be eaten.....hmmm an edible carpet..Anyway back to my point, i think these people who go out of their way to buy recycled goods which are most likely more expensive are doing a good job at least for a start. But the fact is that most of these products that are so called GREEN still go thru a manufacturing process that probably still causes global warming.
Then i think about ways I was GREEN in naija without even knowing it and it did not cost me a dime. So i complied a list of things my friends, family did, and things i saw, heard that are 100% GREEN and don't cost anything...even they are economical....heres the list...grosse or not..they helped save this planet in some way
1. Torn pieces of a sack of rice used as a sponge for washing dishes
2. Old chair foam torn and also used as sponge for washing dishes
3. old ice-cream tubs as topper ware/fridge storage.
4. old coffee jars as condiment canisters like pepper and salt
5. old clothes as rags/mops (not sure if a good idea)
6. Rain water for dirty jobs (not sure if a good idea either)
7. Newspapers as wrapping paper.....especially for the "passing the parcel"
8. Newspaper for suya(beef kebab) boli(roasted plantains), roasted corn, peanuts..etc
9. offering bags instead of offering envelops. (common now lets save the trees)
I could go on and on with more ridiculous methods of "being GREEN", but the question is...were we concerned about recycling or was it just a way of economizing or just plain poverty? What were other ways you guys recycled without even knowing it?
9 comments:
I don't think thoughts of the environment came into play with any of those initiatives you mentioned. It was just a way of wasting nothing and getting the best use out of everything that you spend your money on (or pick up for free). There's no shame in that though, and the fact that it does benefit the environment is a good perk.
I don't remember much about our economizing efforts in Naija, but all the things you mentioned ring true, and we still do 1, 3, 5 (but only with old towels) and 7 (I remember the pass the parcel game at birthdays!) here.
I'm personally really into recycling, and I try to recycle as much as I can. They make it so easy here with the different boxes for different types of materials.
hmmn...the stuvvins u mentioned I think we did 'em back them outta necessity (more like a lack of options) than from a care for the environment...I guess God has his reasons for the way things are sometimes..
Using a bowl of water to wash your yansh (tamba) instead of toilet roll. :-)
sooo true, tho i think most were out of necessity than being green
We were not concerned about being green oh, we were just living the way we know how too.
I feel all this green revolution is just rubbish. If we all learn not 2 waste things, and how to reuse things will be fine.
Green or no green, the world will come to an end one day.
Yes O. All we really have to do is learn how not to waste.
How body?
GNG-I still do some of those i mentioned but these my yeye white roomates are cramping my green sytle. I keep containers and they throw them away.
Chari-Well funny enuff is that from all these movies you see about Glabak warming.. its seems to me that nothing is going to happen to Africa besides maybe desert encroachment but i guess things happen for a reason
anon 10.38- Lol it still the cleanest way
naijababe-abi oh
oluwadee- even if the earth would die, lets still make it conducive while we are here
Aloofa- BOdy dey kampe... Think Green Be Green
Cast-offs - Clothes worn by older children passed on to younger children. Many people do this even in the west. The 'recycling' saves money and the environment too.
But I'm too irrational when it comes to my kids so I tend to give old clothes to charity shops.
I do recycle loads of stuff on a daily basis though: plastics, glass bottles, paper/cardboard, tin cans, etc. We put them in plastic containers provided by the local authority. Once you're into it, it just becomes a habit to put stuff that can be recycled into the plastic containers and not in the dustbin.
The British government is big on recycling so the local authorities collect all the recycled stuff from each household in their area on a weekly or 2-weekly basis.
still do nos 3, 4 n 5...
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