How to save the planet? Start with yourself first.

It might not be high on everyone’s agenda but I’m sure at some point we have thought about the plight of our planet. Okay, maybe you might have never thought about but you just did now?

I mean I am also one of you’ll, looking at mountains of trash and exclaiming “There is no hope for this country”, feel a bit sad for a moment. Then just look on ahead, adjusting my shades and moving on to my next thoughts.

Let’s admit it, our thoughts are fleeting as much as our actions. We are willing to act only if the danger comes to our steps, till then out of sight and out of mind.

I’ll be honest, back in 2014, while working in hip, young digital advertising/marketing companies in Bombay I felt that sense of exuberance to save the planet!! How can I stop this world from destroying itself? Over thinking about the level of consumption of plastic in my office and making intense efforts to stop my own consumption. How much it did it help?  God knows (actually even he/she might not).

So how do I save the planet? The optimist in me says go gung ho and start a full powered effort to meet everyone and anyone and bombard them with the reality of our current situation in hopes of scaring them to make changes.

On the other hand, the pessimist in me says “what’s the point”, one person will make no difference. I’m sure we’ve all thought like that about something that we are passionate about.

So I call to the realist in me, and he answers saying “How about not changing the world immediately, instead let’s start with my world”. And I said “HELL YEAH”, I can do that because after all I cannot control anything in this Universe but myself.

After all one person can make a difference. You ask for whom? I say for myself.

So how did this journey pan out since 2014? Let’s see, I probably did the following things (some successfully and some not):


*Reduce consumption
*Reduce plastic usage
*Reduce waste; lower consumption
*Stop consuming corporatized food (especially palm oil based)
*Stop meat, milk and dairy products (in lieu of compassion to living beings)
*No more fast fashion

To be honest and fair, a lot of the above is in flux (realities of existence) but I do not give up. I still keep trying!

This is an ongoing process and many of these have finally happened after years of trying. It took me nearly 5 years to quit smoking and that was an elaborate journey (probably something I will speak in detail later- you know quitting bad habits, let me know if you want to know).

I’m not sure if what I say next will connect with you, but have you always had an itch that just can’t be scratched? I am like that with relation to everything in the universe. Those la dee da metaphysical/existential-esque questions (why I am here and what am I doing?). I questioned myself towards the end of 2014 (quite a bit!).

At that point my mind told me that I am unhappy because of where and how I live (I was living in Bombay today 10-10 lifestyle, not even 9-5). You know the Bombay rat race that is visibly observant the second you land in that city. My mental and physical health would have probably been at its lowest. So I moved to Bangalore (thinking a slower lifestyle will have better answers).

I moved in mid-2015, I was happy for a short while, living closer to my workplace with what I thought was a relatively decent lifestyle (compared to the hurry and scurry of Bombay). Well, it barely lasted for two and half years, the same problems began creeping up and I felt I was back in that vicious cycle. Oh did I mention I tore ligaments twice (once in 2014 and then in 2015) while playing football.

My body was not recovering at all, in fact it kept on deteriorating. On January 1^st, 2017 I decided that it’s now or never! Why? Cause I read two quotes that really inspired me. It said “Do it now, later becomes never” and the other one was “When you die, your life flashes before your eyes, so make it a good one”.

The second one really hit me hard. I thought hard and tried to envision that film in my head, I couldn’t see anything but being seated behind a desk surrounded by a cloud of sadness and regret.

I said “No way!!! If I’m going down, I’ll go all guns blazing”. And with that war cry, 2017 became the year of travel and finding myself.

Sounds clichéd eh? I did quit my job, I moved back home to Calcutta. Somehow the universe conspired and my five and a half years relationship ended around the same time and I entered a zone of zero.
I literally had to restart life (physically, mentally, lifestyle, means of traditional earning). For the first time, I was willing to give myself time rather than jump into the next thing. I wanted my life to grow organically with my mind and heart as the catalyst.

So what did I want to do first? Work with my hands. I was tired of looking at screens and staring into an artificial man made world and solving man made problems. So I volunteered on a sustainable passive solar school building project in Zanskar Valley, Kargil by Csoma’s Room The project was to be completed only using natural available materials.

I immersed in understanding in new cultures, people, thoughts and experiences that no words will do justice. I travelled for the remaining part of the year through India (from Kashmir to Kanyakumari).

I returned to Calcutta late October, brimming with enthusiasm only to realize that all I had done was escaped my problems rather than facing and solving them.

2018 started out in a tough fashion. I was battling the elements to take care of one of my street dogs that was run over. Life had been sucked out of me to keep the poor fellow alive and in this phase met with the darkest thoughts in life.

I was not about to give up so easily. There was a flicker of light in the darkness and I was in process to bring the positivity back into my life. My dream was to wake up in the morning happy! This meant finding happiness no matter where I was and what I did.

I always wanted to start something of my own and this idea came to me then. I have always had a monkey mind and I’ve been slowly becoming eco-conscious not just in the way I live but also how I think. My ‘daak naam’ (Bengali for pet name) is Chimpu, so I decided to lend that name (as it is the basis of personality, for those who know me) into the name of whatever I did and thus ECOCHIMP was born.

My vision for ECOCHIMP has been ever evolving but I have conceptualized it as a space (physical and digital) to share knowledge for all things sustainable, my personal learnings and experiences and a collaborative space for like-minded people. It might start out as a simple blog now but I hope that similar to a seed, this grows out and spreads its branches to create a micro culture that eventually becomes an eco-system.
The basic foundation of ECOCHIMP is on earth care, people care and fair share! So if you want to be a part, if you’d like to contribute ideas, thoughts, and stories or if you just want to talk then please write to me: sidharth.seal@gmail.com

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I really appreciate the fact that you could hold on till reading this line. I believe that this is going to be a community effort so I am open to collaborating on anything connected to sustainability, physical and mental well-being and travel of course! I wish you have the best day wherever you. 

Lots of love from The EcoChimp