Hobbies that don’t tax the earth Some pursuits you can enjoy while treading gently on nature.

Google co-founder Larry Page once said, “You never lose a dream, it just incubates as a hobby,” and that’s exactly what happens to people who pursue a sustainable lifestyle. Just like their lives, their hobbies are also inspired by a desire not to harm the planet, to do things in their free time that do not tax the earth nor leave a carbon footprint. You could call it the art of engaging with the finer, subtler and sometimes mundane side without feeling guilty.

This is not for people who indulge in energy guzzling hobbies such as motor sport or computer games. One fervently hopes they will choose more earth-friendly ways to spend their leisure time. Would it not be better if they pursue a harmless and yet inspiring ‘green’ hobby?

What motivated me to write this article are three people I have known closely for years. They spend their weekends pursuing hobbies that often take them off the beaten track into a world that is vibrant, colourful and in perfect harmony with nature. To escape into this magical world, they do not seek the services of a travel agent or a tourist guide. All they do is to go to the neighbourhood park or green spaces in their city and begin exploring.

K, a neighbour of mine in Delhi loves to go bird watching. Armed with a pair of binoculars and his camera, he sets off early morning on his bicycle with a snack and lemonade in his backpack. He cycles to one of the parks a few kilometres from his home in South Delhi or to the Okhla bird sanctuary and spends hours observing his avian friends, taking occasional notes in his diary. He does not claim to be a Salim Ali but has learnt a thing or two about birds.

He simultaneously indulges in his other hobby which goes hand-in-hand with birdwatching — photography. His pictures of birds in flight, avians of the same feather flocking together, and images of the landscape and the changing hues of the sky as the sun comes into its own on a foggy Delhi morning leave family and friends breathless.

“When I spend time with nature, I forget about all my worldly cares. I forget about my busy life and find a sense of peace. It is very comforting,” he says. Very often, during the pleasant winter months it is only hunger pangs that make him pack up and cycle home for a well-deserved lunch.

The next on his to-do list is to learn drone photography, so that he can photograph nature without disturbing it in any way. “I will not even leave my footprints behind,” he says.

Another friend has a very different pursuit, but her objective is the same — spend her free hours engaging with her creativity and crafting artifacts out of waste. Yes, she has taken to sewing the last few years and collects waste cloth from friends and family and makes the most attractive cushions, runners, aprons, whatever she believes she can repurpose. She then announces a garage sale once every few months and forwards the proceeds she collects to a charity. “I find this upcycling exercise such a calming hobby, to just sit and sew discarded cloth into unique designs that are chosen by people to adorn their homes. They cost little but give me so much pleasure to make, sell and be able to make a difference to someone’s life,” she says.

Her creations are so popular in her colony, that people collect old scraps of cloth, torn dupattas, brocade borders, old buttons and embroidered pieces to give to her and love seeing what she will create out of them. Some of them buy back what she produces, all for a good cause.

Then there is A, who spends her weekends and leisure time on her terrace. She has shaded a part of it and grows all the herbs that you could wish to use in your kitchen. She has a good variety of them and all her friends know where to go when they need a particular leaf. She has a curry leaf plant, the leaves of which lend aroma for the perfect sambar; mint (pudhina) leaves for various chutneys and cooling drinks in summer; carom (ajwain) is great in soups and dishes and good for digestion; and of course, her tulsi (holy basil) plants stand out as she has several in large terracotta pots.

In fact, A’s hobby gathers even more momentum in winter as she grows palak (spinach) in a few pots, and believe it or not, it grows in such abundance that all of us, her friends, benefit greatly from her green thumb and green hobby.

In the last few years, she has become even more aware of the environment and has started composting her own manure. For this she has requested her friends and neighbours to save their organic food and plant waste and pass it on to her for her home composting pit. Slowly, but surely, she has mastered the art of composting and has even shared her expertise with the Resident Welfare Association of her colony, so that they can pursue a community composting activity. “My hobby has almost become a passion now. It is so fulfilling to see so many households compost their organic waste as a collective activity and try to grow some plants and herbs to green their environs. Hobbies start in a small way but can grow slowly and make a big difference to your life and to the planet,” she says.

My three friends are not exceptions to the rule. Hobbies can play a role in each of our lives. Besides, if we do find a quiet way of enjoying ourselves while bringing about a small change in a world that is crying for sustainable intervention, we would have done our bit.

The writer is a senior journalist who writes on environmental issues