By the grace of God, many resources are available to human beings. Avoiding misuse and using the available resources judiciously can be considered as thrift (prudent use).
Your parents give you whatever things you demand; because of which you do not understand the value of money. However, when you grow up and start earning money, you will understand its value. That is why thriftiness should become a sanskar from an early age.
A. Thrift and its benefits
1. National wealth is safeguarded : Water, Diesel, Petrol, etc. are part of national wealth. Cautious use of these helps in saving the national wealth.
2. Nature’s balance is maintained : Since trees are getting cut on an enormous scale, nature’s balance is disrupted. That is why, issues like reduction in rainfall, increase in temperature have surfaced. Judicious use of paper can help in saving trees and thus help in preserving the balance of nature.
B. To imbibe the virtue of ‘thrift’, observe the following things
B 1. Water
1. While doing activities like brushing, washing utensils or clothes, bathing, etc. close the tap when not required.
2. Ensure that the tap is properly closed once you take water.
3. While drinking water, some take a full glass of water, drink only a small amount of it and throw away the rest of it. This results in wasting of water. To avoid wastage, fill the glass only with the quantity of water required for drinking.
B 2. Electricity
1. Put off the light and fan when no one is using it.
2. Decide whether all lights and fans in a room are really required to be ‘on’.
3. After coming out from the toilet or bathroom, promptly put off the light.
4. Switch off the TV, Radio and computer when not in use.
B 3. Soap
1. Avoid extra usage of soap while washing clothes, utensils and bathing.
2. Soap cake should be tilted vertically after its usage to remove all water; this will help in lasting soap cake for more days.
3. Small pieces of soap should be used for washing hands, comb and for cleaning the floor, instead of throwing them away.
B 4. Paper
1. Avoid tearing papers, scribbling on the pages, keeping blank pages in between.
2. Use rough papers for making boat, airplanes etc.
3. Keep the unused portion of the used paper for rough use.
4. Use blank pages of previous year’s notebooks to make a new notebook. Use this notebook for personal usage.
B 5. Money
1. While buying pen, pencil, rubber, colour box, etc.check if the previous ones are fully used. If not, do not buy new ones.
2. When clothes stitches come out, instead of throwing such clothes, properly stitch them and use it for a longer duration.
3. If new clothes are bought, distribute the old ones to poor children if you are not going to wear them any longer.
4. School bag, instrument box should be used neatly and with proper care, so that they can be utilized for 4-5 years.
5. Use textbooks with care so that next year they can be given either to your younger sibling or poor children.
6. While buying a new thing, think whether there is really need for it or can you do without it.
Source : Dainik Sanatan Prabhat