1. Spread the word about the Mobile Dustbin: If you travel by train or bus, you’ve probably seen people throw things out the window or right there next to your feet. Now you’re usual response would be to grumble about it and shift your feet or like countless other Indians adopt the ‘chalta hai’ ‘who cares?’ approach.
Instead, today is the day to try something different. Carry a plastic bag (y’know the ones you’ve collected from all your shopping trips?) with you next time you travel.
Invite the person to put their garbage / wrappers into that bag instead of on the road. & next time you pass a dustbin, throw the bag in there! In fact if carrying around other people’s garbage is too much, just distribute the bag amongst the usual suspects and that way you take away their regular excuse of ‘not enough dustbins’!
Time needed to Act: around 30 seconds to whip out your mobile garbage bag
Potential Impact: Lesser garbage on the streets, prettier cities, healthier citizens!
2. Help your maid learn to read time: Next time you complain about your maid being late to work, think about whether she can actually even read time. Chances are she can’t read period. Now it’s true that trying to teach her the alphabet is a time consuming exercise but perhaps what she needs more than a formal education, are simple life – skills. Like reading & understanding time (which means you only have to teach her the numbers from 1 – 12) or being able to decipher a map.
If you’re teaching her how to read time or what numbers mean, use things that she can relate to. For example if she’s used to doing the dishes, you could line those up to teach her the numbers and then relate it to the time. You could use the position of the sun. Just get creative and spend 5 minutes a day and you’ll realise it’s actually more fun than you imagined!
Time needed to act: 5 mins daily for about 3 days
Potential Impact: Not only does your maid come to work on time, she’s also discovered the importance of it which she could pass on to her children!
3. Go out and plant a sapling in an area of your neighbourhood that needs it - if you’re living in the concrete jungle that is most of our cities, you know that trees are a rare commodity. This weekend, take some time to plant a sapling in your neighbourhood. You could make a fun event of it by taking along your friends, your kids or even your neighbours and getting each one of them to plant a sapling someplace that really needs it.
If you’re wondering who’s gonna take care of it, remember to plant in on your route to work or near your house. That way you can water it easily (just use a little bit of water from your own water bottle that you’re probably carrying to work anyway) . Better yet, if you have a maid make it part of her daily routine to care for the plant or even entrust the responsibility of the plant to your kids. That way you aren’t just starting something, but also sustaining it and spreading the right message about the environment amongst the next generation!
Time needed to act: 5 mins on weekends and about 30 seconds daily to water the plant
Potential Impact: Sustainable neighbourhoods & an education in sustainable living imparted through your actions to your children & neighbours. If you've got any cool ideas as to how we can spend 5 minutes of our day for our nation, let us know in the comments below
