Article #3: Blueprint For Survival by Keki R. Sidhwa, N.D., D.O.

The great international debate today is not about the imminence of internecine war or the morality of nuclear weapons. It is about the quality of life that we may expect in the future for ourselves and our children. The important question now is—can the human race survive in terms of our present day relationship with the world outside and nature and, if we do manage to survive, in what state of health or ill health?

Are we heading for doom, come what may, or do we still have a chance? In which direction is the world heading?

There is no easy answer to the question. The web of life that nature has woven on this finite plant is immensely complex, full of subtle balances and involved interplays.

Natural Hygiene has always, from the beginning, demanded that we understand this scheme of natural balance. Now it seems the time is approaching when we either pay heed or pay the consequences. Instead of exploiting the natural resources we must learn to conserve and thus try to achieve once more the balance that nature achieved on earth before the impact of man and his "technological achievements."

Not only must we understand how man has disturbed the balance, but learn what steps we must take to rectify that mistake. Have we the will to make the changes we must make? Have we the power? I do not know. But, if only because of our growing understanding of our plight, I still hope.

The more of us who try to live a Hygienic Life—the better it is for the world also. Natural Hygiene is not smug isolation from the rest of the world. It is total commitment on behalf of the whole of mankind and the animal kingdom. The fact that you benefit also is incidental—a sort of bonus for the total involvement with the rest of life. By observing the following blueprint for the individual you will help the human race to survive:

1. Try to control the size of your family unit by natural means.
   
2. Use durables rather than disposables. Boycott over-packaged products, especially in plastics and aluminum and anything in nonreturnable or aerosol containers. Take your empties back to your store and tell them to re-use them.
   
3. Keep pesticides out of your home.
   
4. Boycott convenience foods and eat natural whole foods rather than fragmented foods. Use the wild foods that grow near you. Grow and preserve as much as possible. Eat vegetable rather than animal protein. Buy insect or virus blemished foods, they are less likely to be polluted by pesticides. Eat to live, not live to eat. Enjoy your food by all means and get all the pleasure out of it that you can, but don't be greedy. Overeating is not only a crime against your body, it is a crime against all living creatures. Getting the most out of your food is an art that only Hygienists have perfected.
   
5. Use building materials from reclaimed industrial waste.
   
6. Insulate your house well and cut your energy consumption. By getting plenty of exercise and keeping fit you maintain body warmth through efficient circulation. In winter put on extra clothing, keep moving and save heating fuel.
   
7. Water  shortage—then  shower instead of bathing. Never flush poisons in the W.C. Boycott detergents.
   
8. Use low wattage for light bulbs. Make the most of natural light. Let light, sunshine and air into your house. In order to conserve power do things with your hands. Use machines only when absolutely necessary.
   
9. For transport use a car with fuel economy in mind. Use a bicycle to go about in your town or village. Avoid lead-additive gasolines.
   
10. In your daily life use both sides of paper in writing. Pass on outgrown toys and clothes. Compost all organic waste. Garden without pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, etc.
    
11. In your community organize a local recycling club for glass, paper, cloth, iron and steel.
    
12. Monitor all local government plans for their environmental effects. Press for maximum recycling, especially of water in local industries. Press your local authority to make compost out of sewage.
    

In the final analysis we have to realize profoundly as Natural Hygienists that all our studies, deep and superficial, whether through books or by direct and personal experience in any form, cannot be divorced from living.

We can have more life, only if we help to enhance the whole of life.

Reprinted from Dr. Shelton's Hygienic Review, January 1977