Green gifting

Off late there has been a lot of buzz on Go Green. Companies, organizations, electronic and print media has been advertising and advocating a lot on this. Individuals often blame the government or companies that they are not doing enough to be green. But how are we as individuals contributing to the green initiatives? Many of us would have felt at some point in time like ‘what can I alone do’ or ‘I don’t have that zeal in me’. I feel the approach needs to be changed to get better results for ‘Go Green’.

Most of us live in a concrete jungle. People barely have time or opportunity to bond with the nature. Bonding with nature is one of the key factors in driving you to plant trees. We seldom get a chance to observe the beauty in a germinating seed, plant flowering or bearing fruit. It is an awesome feeling to closely observe a growing plant.

I can remember the first time I have seen this happen. It was almost a magical moment. When I was very young I once buried a bunch of corn seeds in our back yard. It was a rainy season. I was eagerly waiting for them to germinate. I used to go to the place I buried the seeds and see every now and then. The first thing I used to do when I get out of the bed is to go to the back yard and see if my corn seeds germinated. Nothing happened for a few of days. I was very impatient all the time. But one fine morning when I woke up, it was slightly drizzling and it was an awesome climate. I walked to the place where my treasure was. I was amazed to see a bunch of sprouts shooting out of the ground. Green little ones. It was an amazing feeling. It seemed magical. That was the first time that I felt bonding with nature. To this day I can vividly remember the color of the sprouts and soil. I feel gifted to get that opportunity. I bet many people out there wouldn’t have had this wonderful opportunity

Gifting is a part of our lives now. We give gifts to friends, relatives and acquaintances on occasions like birthday, marriages and anniversaries. Most of the time the gifts would be some fancy article, a decorative piece or some cards. Sometimes these gifts might not be really useful for the person you give. In some cases they would already have had a similar article with them. Instead of such gifts imagine you giving a plant as a gift. And that plant bridges the gap between a person and the nature. You are bestowing a green virtue to your friend !! People might not have land to plant the trees. But any home can readily accept a bonsai plant. It hardly asks for a square foot of space in your home. And in return it gives you lot more pleasure. What say?