Month: June 2009

Categories
Simplicity

Soap Nut !

Today is World Environment Day.

For some time, I have been thinking about alternatives to chemical based detergents for clothes and utensils. My grandma used to talk about some ‘Soap Kaai’ (means Soap-Fruit in Tamil) used during her childhood, but I never managed to get sufficient information about it then. My eco-responsibility-instinct being a bit high today(for obvious reasons), my optimistic googling revealed it to me !

You will not believe it. Soap-Nuts(as they are called) grow in trees in the wild, in India. And there is an Australian Company that imports it and makes cleaning products based on it. The company is called ‘Soap in a nutshell’ ! FAQ from their its website.

Now, if any of you know where I can find these trees, please tell me !

Here is another link about making your daily routine greener.

Categories
Society

Corporate Poison

“Only after the last tree has been cut down.
Only after the last river has been poisoned.
Only after the last fish has been caught.
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
– Native American Prophecy

The world’s worst industrial disaster happened in India. Bhopal gas tragedy. The company responsible was US based Union Carbide, whose poorly designed safety system broke and let out tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas into the atmosphere causing hell like consequences in 1984. 500,000 people were exposed to the gas. Thousands died immediately. Tens of thousands were severely disabled and died in the years that followed. Today, children are still born with serious birth defects. The company also left behind a huge toxic waste dump in Bhopal before they left the country. The company was later acquired by Dow Chemical Company which manufactured ‘Agent Orange’ – the chemical used by the US in Vietnam war.

Globalization. Who cares about the poor Indian factory workers anyway ? Government of India too covered up the issue partially to avoid a bad name.

Bhopal’s soil and water are poisoned forever. The children born there are cursed forever. I think of the cockroaches and mosquitoes we poison to death everyday.