What is Slow Living?
A Necessary Pause
If the past year has taught us anything, it has been to hit the brakes every now and then to savor the small everyday moments of life. While we watched nature blossom back in the middle of the lockdowns, we taught ourselves to question our impact on the planet - the wonderful biodiversity, wildlife, forests, climate, rivers, oceans and ecosystems. We realized that earth is the biggest living miracle we know of, abundance is its hallmark and we have been bending the unsaid rules not to our advantage, but rather to our gross disadvantage!
The Impact of Our Daily Actions
A slower approach to life would entail taking a pause and becoming aware of what we eat, wear and use in our everyday life; to assess the impact our daily life is having on the planet – the waste we generate, the environmental cost of the food we eat, the products we use in our kitchen and bathroom, the clothes we wear and more. This awareness, sooner or later calls for action. And our choices change from the point of view of what is good for the planet.
We at Buna, for example, have finally made sure that a Buna product does not leave any trail of non-biodegradable waste. We upcycle and recycle all our fabric waste, all our fabrics are made in natural biodegradable materials, our packaging is completely biodegradable including the outer cardboard box, the fabric envelope, the tag and the vegetable starch bag.
As we become aware of the environmental cost of our daily living and begin to look for better, eco-friendly alternatives, we naturally start moving towards a more conscious and sustainable life. Our choices slow down and we start calculating not only the monetary but also the environmental cost before buying or using anything. We begin to recycle and compost our waste, eliminate plastic from our lives, reduce our carbon footprint in any which way we can from cycling to our food choices. We get creative and find new eco-friendly alternatives to all things unsustainable such as solar energy, electric cars, biodegradable and recyclable packaging, natural fiber clothing, bamboo tissue paper, vegetable starch polybags etc.
As love for nature and our environment starts coming back, life naturally takes a slow turn. The trees and rivers and animals and birds become way too more important than we previously thought. We are no more in a rush. Rather we begin to savor the beauty of a tree, the charm of a small moment and the miracle called life!
An Urgent Necessity!
Slow living is a lifestyle choice to experience the world in a more wholesome and intimate way. The term ‘slow living’ came in vogue as an anti-thesis to the chaotic, break-neck speed of modern living and the environmental as well as personal set of unsustainable modern values. We at Buna believe that slow living and its by product sustainability is no more a choice in a rapidly changing world. It is rather an urgent necessity! For us a sustainable choice is one that considers the consequences involved after it. Whatever we purchase leaves a trail behind, maybe of plastic, carbon, chemicals, water wastage, exploitation and so on. Minimizing this trail is our endeavor at Buna and in our personal lives.
In other words, sustainable or slow living means not only taking good care of our body but also of our extended body - the environment. At Buna, production involves using materials, which are natural and leave the least possible carbon footprint. We also recycle, up-cycle and minimize wastage. We use local crafts and support artisan communities in our small way. And try to top it with making clothes that can be cherished for a long time.
Slow living is also about living mindfully and disconnecting from non-essential things in life; to focus on purposeful action and avoid mindless unproductive scrolling; taking time out for holistic ways of wellbeing such as yoga and meditation or leisurely activities like painting or gardening. Bringing these elements of slow living into our daily lives gives us refuge from the chaos of urban living besides giving us the opportunity to create a lifestyle, which is in sync with what we value most. It’s about reflecting and living the way, which nourishes and enriches you as a person and gives you a sense of ease and peace in your inner world.
The corona virus pandemic has given us time to re-evaluate how we want to live in the future and the world we want to leave behind for the coming generations. And we at Buna hope that this crisis becomes the trigger point for a sustainable revolution in which slow living is embraced by more and more people and consequently, we can start healing the planet.