Muda

First heard about the concept of Mottainai (regretting to waste) while listening to a story on WNYC radio. I was brought up with daily reminders not to waste food, and I like to think that I extend the idea of no waste onto everything I do.

Early last year though, preparing for something in school, I read a bit more about mottainai, and came across the concept of Muda. Originating in Shintoism, and used notably by Toyota, the thought of it doesn't seize to tickle my funny bone - however cheap and silly the joke may seem. The word muda in Japanese means something like 'waste', 'wasteful activity', 'doing something in vain', so Mottainai means 'regret to Muda'. Best of all, and this relates to how I started to inform myself on the other muda, is that the wikipedia page is titled 'Muda (Japanese term)' - presumably to differentiate from 'Muda (Serbian term)'.

Following from this, on a cross-religion and cross-language platform, Monty Python's song Every Sperm is Sacred gets a fresh nuance to it, an added value.