Shubhashree Sangameswaran’s simplicity and talent reflect clearly in her little illustrated handbook titled Let’s Talk Trash . The book gives everyday ideas towards a cleaner world and also allows us a brief look at the past to see what lessons we can learn from our earlier generations that were pretty effortlessly #zerowaste, even before it became a hashtag, reasons Shubhashree.
In the author’s note she says, ‘If you’re getting a bit disgruntled at the state of our planet and wondering where to start, this book is for you. If you’re already ‘woke’ and you carry your own cutlery and #RefuseTheStraw, but some people STILL don’t seem to get it - this book is a perfect gift for them!'
For Shubhashree, the idea of the book came when she came across the ‘zero waste lifestyle’ concept. She read about Lauren Singer, who could contain all the trash she generated in two years in two little jars. “That was amazing to think about, but it also got me wondering about how our parents and grandparents’ generations naturally lived this sort of a lifestyle — buying in bulk, not wasting much, saving and reusing things until they fell apart, etc. It’s amazing how as our disposable incomes grew, everything else became disposable, and very convenience-oriented, the earth be damned! So I got the idea of doing a series of illustrations around this. The perfect opportunity came when I read about The Sketchbook Project — a global art project which puts up sketchbooks from all around the world on display at The Brooklyn Arts Library. So I chose this as my theme, filled up the sketchbook (it’s a good thing they have a deadline!) and I sent it out. I was also posting pictures of pages from the book on my Instagram, and people loved it and asked me where they could buy copies. And so I decided to publish and put it up for sale. I also had a stall at a sustainability festival called ‘Bhoomi Habba’ in Bengaluru and sold my first set of copies there,” says an elated Shubhashree
Shubhashree’s love for sketching is a means to unleash her thoughts. This self-taught artist describes sketching as a way of meditation. In the new sketchbook she unravels her talent to pictorially explain what we usually get to hear or read about ‘caring for the environment.’
“Children respond better to pictures than to spoken and written words. That is why every children’s book is filled with illustrations. Pictures are children’s tool of imagination,” says Shubhashree. A freelance illustrator by choice, Shubhashree’s works speak a lot about her dedication to the subject she picks. Whether designing a wall poster or helping children sketch the process of cookie-making, every line she draws ends up in becoming nothing less than reality.
But Shubhashree didn’t begin her career as an artist. As a student who fared well, her grades decided her career initially. “Year 2000 was the time of engineering boom. With my grades being good everybody suggested that I take up what is in demand rather than go to an art school. I gave in to the career choice that people made for me — software engineering. I even worked in it for a while,” recalls Shubhashree.
After working for a few years she couldn’t wait to get back to illustrating. One sketch led to another and Shubhashree soon found herself busy with what she always wanted to do. The book talks about growing up in the ‘80s and being raised in a frugal lifestyle, and also talks about ideas on what we can do in our kitchens, homes, when we travel, when we have parties to reduce the amount of trash we generate.
