sneh

Green Living Tips

These are some simple and easy steps that you can take to reduce your ecological footprint. We would be very happy to receive your suggestions and your tips that work to reduce wasteful consumption.
Save Wood and Paper

  • Always use both sides of a sheet of paper.
  • Re-use envelopes.
  • Always recycle paper after use.
  • Share magazines with friends and pass them on to the doctor, dentist or local hospital for their waiting rooms.
  • Use recyclable paper to make invitation cards, envelops, letter pads etc.

In your Home

  • Turn off equipment like televisions and stereos when you’re not using them. Choose energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs.
  • Save water: some simple steps can go a long way in saving water like for e.g.: you should always turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth. And try to collect the water used to wash vegetables and salad to water your houseplants.
  • Let clothes dry naturally.
  • Keep lids on pans when cooking to prevent your cooker having to work extra hard. Prefer to use gas ovens, Geysers etc in place of the electric ones.
  • Recycle your paper, glass, plastics and other waste.

In your Garden

  • Water the garden early in the morning or late in the evening. This reduces water loss due to evaporation. Don’t over water the garden. Water only till the soil becomes moist, not soggy.
  • Put waste to work in your garden- sweeps the fallen leaves and flowers into flower beds or under shrubs. This will increase soil fertility and also reduce the need for frequent watering.
  • If you have little space in your garden, you could make a compost pit to turn organic waste from the kitchen and garden to soil enriching manure.
  • Don’t use chemicals in the garden - as they will eventually end up in the sea and can upset the delicate balance of lifecycles.
  • Organic and environmentally friendly fertilizers and pesticides are available - organic gardening reduces pollution and is better for wildlife.

Reuse and Recycle

  • Use washable nappies instead of disposables if you can.
  • Give unwanted clothes, toys and books to charity shops or jumble sales.
  • Instead of a plastic ballpoint, use a fountain pen with bottled ink, not plastic cartridges.
  • Store food and other products in ceramic containers rather than foil and plastic wrap

While Shopping

  • Buy fruit and vegetables that are in season to help reduce enormous transport costs resulting from importing produce and, where possible, choose locally produced food.
  • Purchase solar powered products.

At your workplace

  • Use printers that can print on both sides of the paper; try to look into this option when replacing old printers.
  • Use the back of a draft or unwanted printout instead of notebooks. Even with a double-sided printer there is likely to be plenty of spare paper to use!
  • Always buy recycled paper - for your business stationery and to use in your printers.
  • Switch off computer monitors, printers and other equipment at the end of each day. Though in standby mode they’re still using power - and that adds to global warming.
  • Always turn off your office light and computer monitor when you go out for lunch or to a meeting

During Holidays

  • Don’t travel by air if you can avoid it because air travel uses up large amounts of fossil fuels and creates greenhouse gases.
  • Avoid taking things on holiday that you will throw away.
  • Dispose of any rubbish responsibly - it can be hazardous to wildlife.
  • Use public transport, cycle or walk instead of using a car.
  • Use facilities and trips run by local people whenever possible.
  • don’t leave any rubbish at the beach - turtles are often killed by plastic bags they’ve mistaken for jellyfish and many items take years to degrade as well as being dangerous.

Boats and jet-skis create noise and chemical pollution which is disturbing to wildlife - don’t keep the engine running unnecessarily.