Facing 2021 with the lessons of 2020
Yup, 2021 has arrived with a promise of behaving better than 2020.
2021 is also the year Daily Dump becomes Fifteen (15). Somehow it feels nice to turn 15 this year. This is good luck (it could have easily been in 2020).
I had to face loss on both the personal and professional fronts in 2020 and speaking to friends and family, business partners, colleagues, suppliers, revealed that they too have faced loss on different fronts. Yes, the last 9 months we have watched, read and experienced the churn that 2020 has left behind, but having people close to you reiterate the same takes it out of the “out there” space and plonks it down in your sofa.
So instead of making a list of resolutions I decided to think of what I can carry forth into this new year; some scars, some lessons, a lot of gratitude and a large serving of patient contentment.
Scars
At Daily Dump we saw a sharp fall in the number of communities choosing to do composting. The reasons were a combination of Fear of infection (COVID), Work from home (so lots of people moved out of communities), Lack of labour (for housekeeping). Also, other concerns become more important - sanitisation of spaces, social distancing infrastructure and quarantine facilities. This time also set in fear of the future, so frugality on capital spending was a natural fallout.
These last months revealed the fault lines in decentralised infrastructure for waste management at the city level. We were made acutely aware of the lack of medical waste treatment facilities and processes that would support their safe management. In addition to parks, hospitals, roads, railway lines, schools, etc we need well designed common spaces for resource recovery that are easy to understand and viable to manage and effective in the long term. We cannot do this if we continue to treat waste as the pariah in city planning.
Lessons
Define your own north, but remember it needs to be fluid enough because everything can change. Fluid, changing, tomorrow unknown, this is my lesson. Being unwavering about a goal or plan has lost its shine for this year.
Gratitude
A simple everyday habit just got amplified by 2020. My mother who passed away in May 2020, used to open her cheque book and say every time she wrote a cheque – God’s cheque book. And when she would open the windows to let in fresh air for her grandchildren, she would say “See – God’s A/C”. She lived every day with gratitude in her attitude and heart. When we complained, she would gently remind us of all the things that were going right. This routine that I grew up around, acted as an anchor through the last year and like everyone else who practices gratitude will affirm, it is simple, but works! Like composting ?
Patient Contentment
Our turnover at Daily Dump is going to take a beating. I am sure there are others in the same boat. I have decided to face it with patient contentment. While communities will take some time to turn around, individuals have been nudged by COVID to re-examine their lives and their interest in nature has been rekindled. This has meant more homes are now composting and they are enjoying it. That is something to be content about especially at the time we are turning 15.
I would love to hear what you have learnt and with what heart and mind you go into 2021.
While we will all carry the scars, trophies, memories, grief, gratitude, a reflection of this time in more ways than one, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and the strength to come out stronger this year. And suggest that if you have not done composting – 2021 is a good time to start!
Poonam Bir Kasturi
Compostwali