My very own Eden...

Sustainability is a way of living that gives future generations the same, if not greater, opportunity that the present generation has. We have enjoyed beautiful lakes, a green cover and a bountiful water table because earlier generations did not deplete them while enjoying them. Our generation is exhausting these bounties and actually hitting the limits of these resources in their own lifetime. So not only are we not worrying about future generations, we seem unconcerned about our own future.

For us, moving to a more sustainable life meant not only using design and technologies but also changing our habits and living style. We were lucky to find an architect and builder who allowed us to design the operating elements like plumbing to make our home worthy of any of the labels: green, sustainable, eco-friendly, life-friendly.

We started by making our home solar powered. Our fridge, washing machine, microwave, and all the lights run on solar power. We never know when the lights are out, we have transferred our dependence from KEB to the sun.

We put in a large rainwater-harvesting tank that captures about half of annual water needs, again transferring our water dependence from the community to our cloud cover.
Our washing machine sits on the roof with a tank underneath that captures the soapy output. This water goes to flush all our toilets. We have separated our water outputs. So our shower water is diverted to the garden. We put in two kitchen sinks — the one for washing vegetables and fruits leads to the garden. The other — used for washing dishes —goes to the sewage line.

Even on our small plot (2400 sq ft) we have devoted much space to growing food. We have banana, papaya, lemon, passion-fruit, and chickoo trees growing. We grow lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, coriander, mint and brinjal.

We have a bicycle collection that is used for short trips. We cycle with a container to buy bread so that no diesel or plastic are used.

Our children are witnessing our destruction of the environment and have taken up green causes. They have formed a children’s movement in our community – Ecolife – and one son has produced documentaries on Ecolife and Saving Bangalore. The community around has taken up our ideas. Our first purchase for our home was a composting system — a house-warming purchase that raised many an eyebrow. Now our community has taken up composting. We are treating and reusing over 30,000 litres of water a day for irrigation.

As I write this, our rice has finished boiling in my solar cooker.

Hopefully we will reduce our dependence on a gas cylinder while reducing our emission of CO2 also.