Waste

The green “Save the Earth” paper perch toy atop my monitor was quivering against the wind; a new fan had just been installed in my office cabin and it was taking its toll on the objects nearby; the light and dark shades of green almost indistinguishable due to the quivering.

The flurry caught my attention and almost instantly, so did the irony. I mean, did we really have to chop down a tree, grind its pulp to paper and emboss it with green paint so it would read “Save the Earth” and “Protect Trees”? I took one deep sip of my morning tea and proceeded to see what the people in Ukraine were up to, when I heard a familiar voice from behind – “That stupid toy is going down today, guess it was not just me who did not like it”. It was Sanjay and he proceeded to try to rip it off, when I stopped him and asked- “Is it the irony that’s been bothering you”? No, unfortunately, it was the color green. “So what is the irony anyway?” he asked.

After two more sips and a narration, he said, “You see, it’s about the greater good. The death of this one tree, would not be in vain if it at least a dozen trees are saved and as much as I hate to admit it, this does catch one’s attention. So, that, coupled with your incessant nagging about saving paper does turn out to be effective”. Boy!!! leave it to him to link a conspiracy theory to a simple toy. Him and his “perceptions”…

Perception, I realized suddenly, was what was really the problem, it was all about the perception of waste that actually leads people to waste something. What is perceived by one as Waste may not necessarily seem as Waste to ME. An old paper with one side already used seems perfectly fine to ME for a legal document, but it is frowned upon by many others. A long drive in the middle of the night to nowhere and back may seem a waste to someone but it certainly makes ME feel more alive. Using your personal transport instead of the company provided one is seen as a waste by some, but to ME, reaching home much earlier is very important. So, it’s all about Perception.
It is this perception of waste that makes it very difficult to define it, especially in absolute terms. A simple definition would be- Anything that is not really required can be classified as waste. So what is really required? Who defines what is really required? If we were to define and live our life according to some rules, is there a point in living? So, does this mean that we cannot prevent the wastage of anything? Can we really save the future of the planet?
As these questions filled my head and I tried answering them, it was then that I heard another familiar voice saying – That report is due in two hours, do not WASTE your time.
That certainly was one definition, I guess….