Rukmini Vijayakumar Instagram – This is one of my most favourite pictures of my mom and dad. They were laughing at me… 😊 I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of “sustainable living” that seems to be in everyone’s vocabulary. People are thinking about clothes, and food and reusable plastic etc , but I think it’s much more than that. It’s a mindset. A mindset that my parents had. They lead simple lives. My father had a single closet of clothing when he passed on. Neatly folded, with hardly any belongings. As children, we were taught to take only one tissue from a box, if we absolutely needed it. We had bucket baths often and used the shower sparingly. We used thin cotton towels for a bath, so it wouldn’t waste water when being washed. My dad would repeatedly turn off the tap when I was brushing my teeth. Both my parents have clothes that are more than ten years old. They were never swayed by fashion, and never bought new clothes unless something was completely worn out. They reused old clothes as mopping cloths. My mother will never throw away a glass bottle/ a plastic bag/ a paper bag. Everything is valued and respected and reused. She always cooks with vegetables that are currently in season, so that there is no waste in cold storage etc. This is a lifestyle. It is not something that they did to save money. They just did it because they felt it was right. If I look at my life, I’m sure I emulate some of these values, but a lot of us in my generation don’t consider these things. Most of it has become essential to our lifestyle, a part of the luxuries that we must have. I have a lot of clothes! I always take a shower. I definitely feel guilt when taking that extra tissue, but I take it anyway. Just my thoughts for the morning after meeting my mother. A reminder to myself … to remember that sustainable living is about caring and respecting everything and everyone. I’ll try to be better #sustainableliving #lifestyle #respect #love #environment #family #simplicity