The Zen of Recycling. Biodegradeable Plates in Kathmandu.

    I was walking through Kathmandu a few years back when I came across the plates at a local street corner stand. What struck me was how beautifully simple, and elegant the whole concept was. All made from plant materials and all biodegradeable. Here, we have “trash.” Yes, there’s recycling but it’s still built on the concept of trash, not conscious consumption. Indigenous peoples had a different understanding of their place on this planet and their relationship to nature, before our culture destroyed theirs. Unlike the modern western mythology that has us lord over nature, where plants, trees and animals are subjugated to our use, while we destroy this planet and soon others through non conscious consumption, they didn’t have a concept of trash. Every part of any animal and nature was used and reused and everything was biodegradeable. Even shit was properly biodegraded. S.O.S. We are the only animal species on this planet that saves our shit, and we are now really bad at it. Generations before us used cloth diapers, and before that there were no diapers at all - there was just a quiet place in the bushes, but now we have diapers, and sanitary pads and all sorts of extra “trash” to dispose of. The more complex our society, culture, and idea of ourselves become, the less likely we, and nature, will outlive its consequences.

    A lot of modern trash is plastic, and by 2040 we will have over 1.3 billion tons of plastic, most of which is produced by only 20 companies and most of which will be in the ocean. Which is why I was happy to read that the British government has recently banned single use plastic cutlery. But what about plastic in in surgery? In retinal surgery, for example, we now mostly use plastic forceps, tubing, and devices that are all disposable. When I was in training 20 odd years ago we still had metal instruments, but the risk of prion diseases which could not be removed by sterilization, effected the use of disposable products. Disposable equals trash. And there’s a lot of trash that comes from surgery, hospitals, and medical equipment. If only I came across some surgical forceps in Kathmandu . . . .