One for the planet

GREEN MEASURES

Driving holidays in India are an inspiration in more ways than one.  No matter how long you’ve lived here, every town seems to bring with it a unique new sight or sound, with always something new to learn.

  Reminders of how our earth seems to be changing are visible at almost every turn.  A recent drive through Kanyakumari district, with peaceful giant wind farms, proved just that. As much about India and its development as we know, here’s a fact nobody quite seems to be aware of just yet — India has, apparently, the fifth largest wind power capacity in the world (and still growing).

Just watching those huge white blades sweep gently through the breeze got me thinking; although we may not all have the monetary funds required for wind turbines to be installed in our homes, I’m sure there’s something more practical and simple to what we can do with our daily living to contribute.

Ideas on eco-friendly home improvement seem to be everywhere all at once the minute you decide to start checking – from celebrity endorsements on news networks to articles on the old newspaper that lines kitchen shelves.

It’s simple really, if the main aim is to create a healthier and more competent home that is something you’re going to be proud of, everything is right at your fingertips.  Better insulation in your building and making use of natural resources with an efficient recycling system all account for the greater good of eco living.

How do you ensure that eco-friendly living begins at home and is not just some green myth spun up to exaggerate savings on your monthly home bills as opposed to the amount you spend getting your home energy efficient:

 Start at the very beginning, the very first place to start.  Choose construction material that is locally produced (thereby decreasing transportation and actual material expenses).  Sustainable material that requires minimal processing during manufacture has a lower potential for causing environmental damage.

Order building material according to measurements to ensure you have a lesser need for disposal of waste once construction is over.  The use of industrial byproducts, like fly ash, in concrete or bricks (fly ash-sand lime bricks) and blocks are not just cost effective but also have a considerably lower environmental impact.

 When you read you begin with A-B-C.  When you’re eco-friendly you begin with saving trees.  Minimize the use of wood in interiors when doing up the house.  Use bamboo or composite wood products like veneered panels or plywood as an alternative.  Paint your house with low-toxic interior paints from brands that feature low volatile organic compounds (VOC) actually barely give off that odour of new paint that leaves you with a headache for days after.

n When you sing you begin with ‘do-re-mi’.  You don’t really need a phD to figure out how simple it is to sing a song, and you don’t need one to stay energy efficient either.  Harness every sustainable bit of energy that is available and put it to use.

Whether wind, rain or sun, there are umpteen energy saving techniques to suit every budget.  Conserving energy is as simple as filling a bucket with rainwater to water your plants or planning a whole rainwater harvesting system to use those monsoons for every drop they’re worth.  Wind power with a wind turbine for your house may be an expensive option, but a very effective one especially when you’re going through those summer power cuts that are mandatory all over India.  Solar paneling gets rid of those geysers and high electricity consumption bills.

n The first three words just happen to be:  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!  Reduce the consumption of energy in every form.  Switch to LED lighting throughout your home and halve electricity bills. 


Clean out air conditioner filters and switch off inverters when batteries have been charged to control electricity consumption.  Make sure the refrigerator door is closed tight; fridges turn themselves off when they are cool enough, but tend to run on high power when left open too long or not sealed shut.  Reduce water consumption — check for leaking faucets, use cold water and maximum loads on your washing machine, use flow-control shower heads to cut down on water usage, and quite simply, get everybody to turn off the tap when brushing their teeth.

  Reuse and recycle everything, from home appliances to printing paper.  Reuse printouts as notepads and newspaper as gift wrapping paper.  Get children to make paper bags out of old newspaper to avoid having to use plastic bags when you’re out shopping.  Consider a compost pit and separate your garbage — not only do plants get healthier and happier, so do you.  Nothing feels better than selling that pile of unwanted newspaper and magazines, clearing up so much space.

Organise a local jumble sale every once in a while for you and your friends to get rid of unwanted clothes and appliances that clutter the house and occupy that much needed space.

This month, The United Nations Rio de Janeiro green summit is probably going to focus a lot about organic farming and electric cars with solar panels, in order to agree on something called “The Future We Want.”  It’s not going to be an easy discussion, and I’m not really sure everyone on the planet is going to agree to what “we want”.

What makes this easier, however, is what I want.  I want, personally to be able to see more trees and clean water, lesser power cuts, and (as fuel gets more expensive) more car pools or people cycling and walking to work; the sooner I start working on my contribution towards this, the easier this gets done.  Let’s stop cutting down forests, reduce pollution and focus more on staying green.  Let’s shop within our budgets for only the things we really need, and please, BYOB (bring your own bag)!