REDUCE
- Switch off / plug off all electrical appliances and lights, when not in use.
- Whenever and wherever possible, use natural lights instead of electrical lights.
- Replace regular incandescent bulbs & tube lights with C.F.L.s (compact fluorescent lights) to reduce power consumption.
- Use energy-efficient electrical appliances. Look for energy stars or other certifications for assessing their energy consumption while purchasing. Use low-wattage equipments, if possible. These will help you save money too, as they reduce your electricity bill.
- Keep windows and doors closed to minimize load on air conditioners.
- Use power saver techniques as much as possible.
- Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.
- Clean or replace air filters once a month or as needed to reduce load.
- Shift over to laptops from desktops, it may save up to 75% of energy consumption.
- Enable power management features and minimize the use of screen saver on PCs.
- Talk judiciously on cell phone, avoid long calls.
- Don’t keep cell phones in your front pocket to reduce health hazards.
- Reduce use of ear phones to protect audible capacity.
- Use home telecommunication for reducing long distance traveling.
- Reduce use of hot water for washing clothes.
- Turn off water tabs, showers etc. when not in use.
- Operate shower taps/ flow rationally to avoid unnecessary water drainage. Wash economically and reduce water consumption.
- Get leakages of taps/showers etc. attended to save every drop of water.
- Install low-flow toilet dam or displacement device to cut down on the amount of water needed for each flushing – reduce water usage by 20% or more.
- Hang and dry your clothes, instead of using dryer.
- Reduce water consumption by using drip and sprinkle irrigation methods for gardening.
- Don’t over water your gardens / lawns. Many plants need watering once every 5-7 days only.
- Water your garden lawns in the morning to avoid losses from evaporation.
- Don’t run the water when you brush or shave. It can save significant gallons of water.
- Avoid hosing down your driveway or sidewalk; use a broom instead and save hundreds of gallons of drinkable water.
- Wash vegetable and grains in a pot or utensil filled with water, instead of in running water.
- Don’t use running water to thaw meat or frozen foods. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator, or use defrost setting in the microwave.
- Run only full load of washing machines & dishwashers i.e. utilize full capacity in each lot to save water and energy both.
- Avoid using harsh chemical detergents. Check with your local stores for non-toxic, Eco-friendly alternatives.
- Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket –save CO2 emission.
- Save L.P.G. by making prerequisite preparations while cooking.
- Use leakage prevention measures while using L.P.G. Refer LPG manual or contact your local gas service provider.
- Cover the utensils while cooking, to save L.P.G./fuel/electricity.
- Use solar cookers for cooking food, whenever possible.
- Reduce the amount of waste you generate, wherever possible. Don’t overbuy.
REUSE
- Plant more & more trees in-house as well as neighborhood.
- Store food in ceramic/reusable containers instead of disposable bags/containers.
- Reuse kitchen waste water for gardening. Encourage children to reuse their leftover drinking water for watering plants.
- Motivate your child to reuse old books for studying and donate your old book stacks to schools, library or to poor students.
- Humbly donate your old and used clothes in intact condition to people of poorer sections in a dignified manner.
- Enlist your unused but properly labeled medicines and donate them for poor in nearest hospital OPD.
- Donate your unused prescription glasses to the needy, Contact your local optician / doctor for the same.
- Reuse canvas bags for domestic carry.
- Use rechargeable batteries.
- Use washable baby nappies instead of disposable, whenever possible.
RECYCLE
- Recycle everything you can’t reduce or reuse. Check with your local council or environmental authority to find out what and where you can recycle?
- Recycle torn/old clothes for making smaller garments, bags or for wiping/cleaning purposes.
- Recycle your glass wares, aluminum articles when out of use or broken at home.
- Recycle your plastics (only certain kinds of HDP are recyclable).
- Recycle your news paper and other paper wastes, in order to save trees and forests.
- While purchasing a product ask for the recycled ones, e.g., recycled bags, recycled wall pieces, other utility and decorative products.
- Regularly visit sites on net to check updation regarding recyclable articles available at home.
Get designed a green home:
- Green home refers a home with 75% less energy consumption than in an average home.
- Get your home audited, ask an electrical expert for energy audit.
- Instead of oil based paints, use latex paints for painting your house, latex paints releases significantly fewer fumes while drying.
- Get designed water harvesting systems to save precious water.
- Install green roofing on roof tops at home and help reducing global warming.
- Worship the Sun: Sun is a profound source of energy; it produces more energy in one second than all the fossil fuels we burn in course of a year. Sun rays sanitize your home, linens and a good source of vitamin-D for improving health.
- Use solar energy appliances e.g., solar cooker for kitchen, solar lighting system for home and garden, solar water heating system during winters. Now-a-days, lots of budget solar items are available to make solar energy affordable for the most.
- Plant more & more trees in-house as well as neighborhood.
