JOIN USTurn over a new leaf
Compost your garbage
You can recycle all your kitchen and garden waste using a simple composting system. Fundamentally, this is what you do: place all your organic waste into a pot and let it mix a bit with the air and become a rich, crumbly substance that plants simply love. Composting organic waste has multiple benefits. For one, when the waste is scientifically managed, it reduces the emission of harmful emissions; second, because you don’t throw out the waste, no one needs to collect it and transport it to a dump, adding to the carbon footprint; finally, using the compost it in your garden or around your home will help improve the green cover.
How easy is it to compost your organic waste? Very. Pick up a vast variety of pots that handle various volumes of waste from Daily Dump 2992, 12A Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Bangalore 560 008. Phone: + 91 80 41152288. www.dailydump. org
It’s hot in the pot
Imagine cooking without water. Not that it’s going to result in oceans of savings. But now add this advantage: cook without fat. Hmmm, sounds interesting. What’s the catch? There’s none. AMC makes special cookware from surgical steel that also uses less heat — or rather, optimises the use of heat to lower your cooking gas, grill and baking power bills. The sleek, modern cookware not only address the need to retain nutrition (and therefore uses as much moisture from the vegetables and meats as possible to complete the cooking) but also cook faster, store the food better as you can vacuum seal the food directly in an AMC pot rather than use foil or cling film to preserve it and clean it faster (unlike other cookware, the AMC surgical steel is non-porous and cleans faster).
Call them home for a free, no obligation demo. 1180, HAL, Indira Nagar, Bangalore, Karnataka 560008. Phone: +91 80 25276788 www.in.amc.info
See the light —get sensitive
How often do you leave the lights on in the bathroom and go off to work? Or leave the porch lights on through the night, using precious power? Perhaps installing a cheap motion sensor that switches on the lights and fans when people are around and switches them off automatically when they are gone is the solution. Motion sensors are quite inexpensive, unobtrusive and easy to install.
In the long run, they can result in considerable saving in power bills. Combined with the use of CFL bulbs, this is a simple and easy idea to adopt and become ‘responsible’ overnight! To check out some motion sensors, see www. apexsystem.in
Write stuff
If you read something like this article the next time, it should be in electronic format. Seriously, consider an eBook reader — say a Cool-ER, Cybook, the Kindle from Amazon, the recently released Nook from Barnes & Noble and the about to hit stores iPad. EBook readers are the must-have gadgets of the year. And not just because they point to an eco friendly life – but because you can carry an entire library in one of those pocket-sized tablets. Some Indian magazines too are now available for reading in eBook formats and are offered for wireless downloads. So next time you are flying Club Class, you can be sure you’ll find someone using one of these sleek, stylish devices to catch up on the news, without ruining the future of the planet.
Get charged up
Ever noticed how many times you are the only occupant of your car? Maybe you should opt for a smaller one to reduce your carbon footprint? Opting for a smaller car is not just smart, it is practically too as it can be parked more easily.
The Reva makes the ideal option when considering this logic — because it has the added advantage of being an Electric Vehicle. In one quick decision, you completely eliminate using petrol or diesel fuel (no more top ups!) along with all manner of engine oils. Electric vehicles have their limitations but are ideal for city use. A single overnight charge can give you about 160 km at about 40p a km. The Reva NXR has a top speed of 104 kmph.
Reva has its spanking new 2-seat car, the NXG, scheduled to roll out in 2011. It’s a real head-turner. The stylish and futuristic car has some cool performance metrics as well: top speed of 130 km/h and range of 200 km. The fossil fuel guzzlers are about to get a run for their money. More about Reva electric cars at http://www.reva global.com/