<p>Man, many believe, was created out of recycled mud, by a supreme being. Woman was thereafter created out of the rib of man. Perhaps the world’s first case of creative recycling for a global purpose.</p>.<p>So recently, on March 18, Global Recycling Day, I wondered: which gender is the better one today, in our collective drive of don’t-waste, re-use, re-create? I had my own biased view, but was happily validated by studies: women are apparently better than men at recycling/repurposing, long before it had an official logo and hashtags.</p>.<p>Women, ingrained with centuries of ‘making do’, have an inborn ability extracting maximum worth out of limited resources. My grandmother, using her rolling pin, always extracted three more perfectly adequate ribbons of toothpaste out of empty, about-to-be discarded tubes. Her zero-waste policy was also my mother’s motto in the kitchen: leftover curries turned into khichdi, plain rice became lemon rice, surplus bread transformed into bread upma. They also instinctively looked for a new use before discarding: old sari? A new life as a curtain. Old curtain? New life as a cushion cover. Old cushion cover? New life as a floor swabber. </p>.<p>Men in general don’t have such innate traits, says a report in Stanford magazine. Reusing is considered too feminine by some bigoted macho men; even going into denial when unchecked consumption warns of environmental disasters. Which leads to this rather uneasy thought: today, be it man or woman, we have a tendency to keep buying something new, rather than use, let alone reuse, what we already have stashed at home. Gender experts observe that women and men may differ on what they hoard most in cupboards — which they hurriedly close when guilt hits.</p>.<p><strong>‘Maybe’ and ‘just in case’</strong></p>.<p>Women may not consciously be straining our land fills with indestructible clothing, but many are straining cupboards with about 30 pieces of garments in a dubious ‘maybe collection’: maybe if you lose weight. Maybe if you find that good repair-tailor. Maybe you could give this to your sister. Maybe Juliet-sleeves will come back into fashion. Maybe these jeans can become shorts. Maybe this stuck zip can be unstuck (rubbing wax? or is it vaseline?). Maybe you’ll be invited to a celebrity wedding. Maybe the ecommerce platform will take back wrong deliveries even after three years.</p>.<p>Men, says a study, never throw away medicines: remedies self-prescribed after googling a strange symptom. Zinc tablets bought in Covid times because everyone was swallowing them; calcium for bones you heard creak. Vitamin D for when sunlight disappears. Magnesium for sleep you don’t get, worrying why you’re not getting sleep. Something for that bald patch.</p>.<p>Time we did something to use it, or lose it from our cupboards! Ladies: repair, clean, pack and give away your wardrobe’s unworn treasures to the thrift store. Men: clean up your medicinal mess, before their expiry date leads to yours. So before the next recycling day, let’s at least cycle first. Starting with that exercise cycle you bought with such enthusiasm — and which is now just a stand in your room, to dry towels.</p>.<p><em>(He Said/She Said is a monthly column on gender issues — funny side up. Reach the author at indubee8@yahoo.co.in.)</em> </p>
<p>Man, many believe, was created out of recycled mud, by a supreme being. Woman was thereafter created out of the rib of man. Perhaps the world’s first case of creative recycling for a global purpose.</p>.<p>So recently, on March 18, Global Recycling Day, I wondered: which gender is the better one today, in our collective drive of don’t-waste, re-use, re-create? I had my own biased view, but was happily validated by studies: women are apparently better than men at recycling/repurposing, long before it had an official logo and hashtags.</p>.<p>Women, ingrained with centuries of ‘making do’, have an inborn ability extracting maximum worth out of limited resources. My grandmother, using her rolling pin, always extracted three more perfectly adequate ribbons of toothpaste out of empty, about-to-be discarded tubes. Her zero-waste policy was also my mother’s motto in the kitchen: leftover curries turned into khichdi, plain rice became lemon rice, surplus bread transformed into bread upma. They also instinctively looked for a new use before discarding: old sari? A new life as a curtain. Old curtain? New life as a cushion cover. Old cushion cover? New life as a floor swabber. </p>.<p>Men in general don’t have such innate traits, says a report in Stanford magazine. Reusing is considered too feminine by some bigoted macho men; even going into denial when unchecked consumption warns of environmental disasters. Which leads to this rather uneasy thought: today, be it man or woman, we have a tendency to keep buying something new, rather than use, let alone reuse, what we already have stashed at home. Gender experts observe that women and men may differ on what they hoard most in cupboards — which they hurriedly close when guilt hits.</p>.<p><strong>‘Maybe’ and ‘just in case’</strong></p>.<p>Women may not consciously be straining our land fills with indestructible clothing, but many are straining cupboards with about 30 pieces of garments in a dubious ‘maybe collection’: maybe if you lose weight. Maybe if you find that good repair-tailor. Maybe you could give this to your sister. Maybe Juliet-sleeves will come back into fashion. Maybe these jeans can become shorts. Maybe this stuck zip can be unstuck (rubbing wax? or is it vaseline?). Maybe you’ll be invited to a celebrity wedding. Maybe the ecommerce platform will take back wrong deliveries even after three years.</p>.<p>Men, says a study, never throw away medicines: remedies self-prescribed after googling a strange symptom. Zinc tablets bought in Covid times because everyone was swallowing them; calcium for bones you heard creak. Vitamin D for when sunlight disappears. Magnesium for sleep you don’t get, worrying why you’re not getting sleep. Something for that bald patch.</p>.<p>Time we did something to use it, or lose it from our cupboards! Ladies: repair, clean, pack and give away your wardrobe’s unworn treasures to the thrift store. Men: clean up your medicinal mess, before their expiry date leads to yours. So before the next recycling day, let’s at least cycle first. Starting with that exercise cycle you bought with such enthusiasm — and which is now just a stand in your room, to dry towels.</p>.<p><em>(He Said/She Said is a monthly column on gender issues — funny side up. Reach the author at indubee8@yahoo.co.in.)</em> </p>