BAM at Adhisthana

What’s been happening on the ecological front in Adhisthana this month? 

For a long time, we were not able to recycle our tetra paks. Adhisthana is using a lot of soya milk so there can be a lot of soya or oat milk tetra paks that we are using. After some investigation, we have now found a possibility of recycling our tetra paks, using council bins for the tetra paks and commercial recycling containers for all the other recycling materials. 

During our community days next week, we will have a discussion with the whole Adhisthana Sangha if we want to go totally vegan for the Adhisthana retreat Centre. All the food and meals at the retreat centre are vegan and have been since the beginning of Adhisthana. The only non-vegan alternative we are offering for people is cow’s milk. Rochani, our kitchen manager estimated that of the various kinds of milk we are using at Adhisthana 1/3 is cow’s milk and 2/3 is non-dairy milk (mainly soya milk and oats milk), which I thought is very good. Our discussion will allow us to look at the ethics of dairy consumption, the increase in costs by going vegan, practicalities like finding out alternatives to cow’s milk apart from soya milk. It will be a very interesting to have the whole of the Adhisthana Sangha involved in the decision-making process. We will keep you updated on what we have decided. 

Reflecting on BAM made me aware what a resourceful way it is to live and work in a community of about 30 people here at Adhisthana. Instead of having for example 20 washing machines for 30 people, we are using 3 washing machines for 30 people. Most of the food is bought in bulk, there is one kitchen, where most of the food is cooked, we share 3 community cars between most of us and we don’t have to spend petrol on driving to work, because our work is where we live. There are also a lot of resources shared –practical things like plates, books, tools, bikes, DVD’s, clothes etc. We also share our skills, interests, enthusiasm and inspire and support each other in our spiritual practice. For me personally that is one of the best ways to live my life and to have a minimal impact on the environment at the same time. 

Love, 

Sanghadarsini