Reduce, Reuse, Rejoice: A Spiritual Guide to Waste Management

Several months back I published a post about the waste we humans produce due to our eating habits (Click Here To Read). A lot of what I learned while writing this piece has stuck with me, influencing the way I think and feel, and consequently, the way I eat. At times I'm overwhelmed by this knowledge; I struggle with guilt brought on in part by my own, and in part by my fellow species, decision to exist in a way not consistent with nature. But as I continue to ponder these decisions, I'm beginning to realize something quite extraordinary.

Eat To Live & Live To Give

Now that I have cable again (uggh!) I've been bombarded with cheery commercials all promising unparalleled holiday joy. As a wise woman once sang, “I am a material girl” and it’s painfully obvious that I am “living in a material world”.

Every year we spend billions “making merry”. As a culture we tend to overdose on materialism. I think it's okay to enjoy the finer things in life, but in moderation. After all, what are we working for if not to be happy, enjoying food and gifts with our loved ones? 

With that being said, I still empathize with those that have grown disenchanted by the holidays, those that look around and see selfish, instant gratification-obsessed, unhappy people. So while I think nothing wrong with the enjoyment of giving and getting the material things in life, it’s no secret that for many people, the holidays have become the least wonderful time of the year.

A Plea For The Bee

Every morning I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth and head to the kitchen. I put water on the stove and wait for it to boil. After steeping a tea bag for a minute or two, I stir in a spoonful of clover honey. One spoonful, not much, right?

Maybe not to us. But to a honeybee, who can only produce one-twelfth of a teaspoon in her lifetime, a spoonful of honey is a plethora. Suddenly, honey doesn’t seem so expensive when we consider the fact that “for one pound of honey, the bees visit over two million flowers and fly the equivalent of two-and-half-times around the world” (Salisbury). But honey is expensive, and the true costs are only now becoming clear.

Taste of Transcendence: Feeding the Guru at Punjab's Golden Temple

Thousands of pilgrims outside the Golden Temple in Punjab, India (photo taken from andysworldjourneys.com)

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about overpopulation and food shortages. What comes up time and time again is the so-called “futility” of trying to feed the 7 Billion+ people that make up our global society. I’ve heard people say that it can’t be done and it’s useless to try, that it’s those people’s faults for producing more mouths to feed. People say that’s life. 

Mostly I hear it spoken of casually, abstractly, as though starvation were something to be accepted and tolerated, like say, losing the game or catching a cold. Sure it sucks, but again, that’s life, says the person with the fully stocked pantry.

Actually that’s not life. That’s death, the absence of life. And while death may be part of life, starvation most certainly shouldn’t be. But is it actually possible to feed every mouth on our planet?