Blog Action Day: Small Rational Acts
I am hoping to have a guest blogger later in the day – my sweet daughter-in-law, who is close to her masters in Environmental Science. She and my son are SO good – they work very hard, very conscientiously, to lessen their footprint on the earth. They recycle plastics, cans, paper, bottles and glass, making trips out of their way to the recycle bins. They make their own take-away coffee every day, and re-use their coffee cups rather than buying expensive coffee and throwing away the cup. (They bought a state-of-the-art coffee maker, which paid for itself very quickly.) 🙂 Every decision is evaluated from a bigger-picture perspective.
They have two “used” cats, adopting rather than buying. 🙂
What can we do in Kuwait, where there are no recycle dumps?
First, we can refrain from trashing the environment. We can pick up our own mess after a picnic and make sure it gets put in a trash bin, or even (gasp!) take it home and put it in our own trash bin.
We can teach our children to put trash in a trashcan, not open the car window and throw it out.
We can throw out less food, by planning our needs with less waste.
We can organize a “second-harvest” kind of organization to which food can be donated and distributed to those who so desperately need it, yes, even in Kuwait.
We can support organizations like Operation Hope – Kuwait which gives volunteers an opportunity to put their idealism to work in a hands-on environment. Here is their mission statement:
Operation Hope – Kuwait
A Mission of Mercy
Operation Hope is a mission that seeks to Help Others Practically & Evangelically by providing gifts of coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks for those less fortunate during the colder season in Kuwait & to share the love of Christ by serving them as He called us to do.
Operation Hope is a non-profit, non-political organization operating in the State of Kuwait. Founded in 2005 by Sheryll Mairza, Operation Hope relies on volunteers and donors to fulfill its mission.
Here is how you can get involved with Sheryll’s selfless mission:
Please consider a contribution of your time, resources, or both to bring HOPE to those who are in seemingly hopeless situations. Your prayerful consideration of how you can help out is most appreciated. Kindly contact Sheryll Mairza (operationhopekuwait@yahoo.com) at your earliest convenience.
If you can provide one or more of the following please contact us soon:
-Financial support (any size is happily accepted)
-New or slightly used coats and/or other winter apparel
-Your time – to pack gift bags and/or organize inventory
-Deliver some of coat bags
-Fundraise in your workplace, social circles, and/or church
-Spreading the news of O.H.K. to all you know
-Prayer for this mission and those we are serving
Thank you for your support!
One of my commenters mentioned that her local mosque organizes dinner handouts for the poor in her neighborhood (thank you, Huda) AND that the imams also feed the local stray cats. What a magnificent example these kind men are setting with their dependable, humble service. Could your mosque do the same for your neighborhood?
Often, it just takes one person to get something started. One person with commitment and persistence, who believes in what he or she is doing and carrys through.
Sheryll Mairza is making a difference. The local imams who feed the hungry are making a difference. Where can YOU make a difference?
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LOL! @ the used cats … it’s the thought that counts babe.. happy blog action day!
Yeah I keep thinking why we don’t have recycle dumps,, Anyways, a small steps goes a long way so anything we do counts!!
Happy Blog Action Day to you, Chikapappi.
Shayouma – I think Kuwait is THINKING about it. I bet it starts soon. But they just got rid of the Ministry of Planning, so now, who is going to do the planning?
Great initiative. I know that throwing food is one of the largest problems of some families here. I do hope more light is shed on this in the public view!
They recyle in Ahmadi now – recycling takes MASSIVE education efforts, (and yes a ministry of planning would be helpful lol, if they’re actually planning)which have yet to be done here. Commercials, newspaper ads, bus ads, flyers, programs introduced at the kindergarten level…this is where it begins. This is where it began in Canada, years ago. I could also suggest that if the government in Kuwait set down regulations for how much actual garbage you are ALLOWED to be picked up – as in, a limit per household, after that you pay per bag – that it’s a real motivator to learn how. And because in truth, I think that most children and adults hop on board with recycling fairly easily and quickly, realizing that it’s important to care fo our world. Certainly this can be emphasized with evidence from qur’an and sunnah, again why I believe that if it was properly introduced – and monitored – that a recycling program WOULD be effective here.
(incidently, not everyone throws food away here – sunni muslims believe that to throw away food is to feed the shaytaan, which obviously we don’t desire to do. Some families are very concious of this. Again, education goes a long way.)
Oh, I forgot to add this. In the absence of a recycling program (I cringe every time I throw out plastics and other packaging..arrrrgh!), we have done these things to try to do our part…
1) we adopted kittens too. Saved them from certain death, more like it. Both of them were very ill when we got them, and it’s taken a LOT of visits to the vet, and nearly 6 months, for them to be healthy and happy. But alhamdulillah, they are wonderful now 🙂
2)We re-use all those plastic bags that the grocery packers INSIST on using to pack our groceries with. They line our wastepaper baskets, rather than us buying trash-liners.
3)We don’t buy bottled water – I read the same things that you posted here on your blog, in the past. I keep a big tupperware container of water in the fridge, because the kids like cold water to drink. But it’s tap water – no plastic bottles for us.
Besides, when the heat hits that plastic – as happens here in Kuwait – the plastic releases cancer-causing toxins into whatever liquid is inside of it. That’s baaaaaaad. We all have nalgene water bottles (you can get that brand here too, to my delight – the stuff is made of the most sturdy plastics known to mankind!)that we fill and put in the freezer the night before…then when we go out, the ice just melts over time. Each child has their own color. It also means we seldom buy drinks when we’re out.
4)We donate all clothing that’s still useable, or that my husband objects to. (such as some recent abayas where the shop did the embroidery in a glitter thread LOL..some women are walking around in brand new abayas thanks to that!)
5)Instead of throwing away household items, put it out by the driveway with a sign in arabic/english that says “FREE”. Watch how fast it gets taken. We did that when our new kitchen cabinets came in – the old ones were put by the driveway, at my suggestion. Hubby looked skeptical, but wanted to save the fee of hauling them away, and they were still decent. They were gone in an hour.
6)I’m learning how to quilt. Scraps of fabric, from sewing? HA. Not anymore…*grins* (that’s your influence, intlxpatr!)
7)When we needed a 2nd computer, we bought a used one. Why? cuz it was only a year old, had everything we needed, and the KOC had a ton of them for sale. (thanks bro-in-law!)They buy all new computers every year. Now we need a 3rd and 4th one. Welcome to homeschooling 🙂
8) My husband raises chickens as a hobby, along with lambs and rabbits and whatever else the kids want to add to the menagerie 🙂 Leftover rice and stuff like that feeds them. Throw out food? Not often.
That’s all I can think of for now. But I really would like to be able to put my plastics and paper products into separate bins, like I used to. With the amount of water and pop bottles here in Kuwait, I’m sure the possibilities for recycling are amazing just in that area alone.
Wonderful post!
I’ve started cleaning our small beach here in Mangaf and now, half a year later, it’s almost clean at any time.
The trash guys are doing more and some people seemed to have picked up and do some cleaning too.
Sad part is to come down there and see that someone had a party and left all their stuff there.
So, you just go and start all over again.
It makes me sometimes wonder if people a) have no common sense and b) no pride in their country.
I had various weird conversations about this topic.
Here’s a copy from my blog of one of them:
Man: Excuse me, do you speak English?
Me: Yes?!
Man: What are you doing there?
Me: Collecting trash….?!
Man: Why are you doing that? They (pointing at that poor guy still waiting) do THAT.
Me: And the beach is still dirty….
Man: But that is the way it is.
Me: No. It’s not.
Man: Since when are you here?
Me: Six weeks and since then the beach is much cleaner, don’t you think?
Man: How do you like it here?
Me: It’s beautiful, if everyone would pick up his trash.
End of conversation. It seems he didn’t know what to answer, or thought it would be useless, but maybe he got the idea….I doubt it though.
——
I’m amazed everyday that there’s basically no recycling in Kuwait.
They started in Ahmadi? WOW!
I actually saw a recycling trash bin in a mall the other day, but wasn’t sure if I was just dreaming 😉
I re-use the plastic bags too for the trash cans 🙂
Whew! Huda! You surely are doing YOUR part in Kuwait!
Rainmountain – WOW. What an example you are setting. WOW. I love it. And what good exercise, at the same time, bending over to pick up the garbage. What do you do with it? Are there trash cans available?
I also reuse my plastic bags as packing material when sending gifts, etc. The crunched up plastic (doesn’t there seem to be a lot of it?) cushions more fragile goods.
Yepp, there’s a collection point right at the beach, or I haul it to the big trash can across the street.
Haven’t been there in three weeks now though.
It’s a bit scary when it’s pitch dark 😉
And yes, it gives you a whole new perspective of respect for those trash guys’ labor!