How to Live an Eco-Friendly Life
Do you wish to 'go green' at home and reduce your environmental footprint, but not sure how? Here is how you can start
We are all familiar with the pollution, global warming and resource depletion besetting our planet Earth. Eco-living can not only improve your home life in terms of health, but also help you save a few bucks in the process. You just have to invest a bit of passion and a little effort. It sure will go a long way in helping revive our degrading ecosystem. So, are you ready?
Use less electricity
Utilise as much daylight as possible by opening up the windows and skylights during the day. Even otherwise, turn on lights, kitchen appliances like the microwave, recreational gadgets and cooling or heating equipment only when you need them.
Although underrated, insulating the windows and entryways can cut down the transfer of heat and cold between the outdoors and the interiors.
Besides double-glazing the windows, increasing the thermal mass of walls and roof and installing overhangs to aid shading are additional ways to help you conserve energy by reducing air-conditioning loads.
Check your house doors and windows for cracks and keep the indoors weather-proof to prevent the waste of energy and money. If the windows are not sealed properly, your air-conditioners, for example, will not be able to cool effectively, leading to a greater consumption of electricity.
You can go a step further by replacing older appliances (ACs, lights, fans, ovens and the like) with newer, more energy-efficient models to help you cut down on consuming energy, thereby reducing bills considerably.
Check out these nine ways to say NO to the AC and reduce electricity costs
Utilise as much daylight as possible by opening up the windows and skylights during the day. Even otherwise, turn on lights, kitchen appliances like the microwave, recreational gadgets and cooling or heating equipment only when you need them.
Although underrated, insulating the windows and entryways can cut down the transfer of heat and cold between the outdoors and the interiors.
Besides double-glazing the windows, increasing the thermal mass of walls and roof and installing overhangs to aid shading are additional ways to help you conserve energy by reducing air-conditioning loads.
Check your house doors and windows for cracks and keep the indoors weather-proof to prevent the waste of energy and money. If the windows are not sealed properly, your air-conditioners, for example, will not be able to cool effectively, leading to a greater consumption of electricity.
You can go a step further by replacing older appliances (ACs, lights, fans, ovens and the like) with newer, more energy-efficient models to help you cut down on consuming energy, thereby reducing bills considerably.
Check out these nine ways to say NO to the AC and reduce electricity costs
Go for kinder materials
When undergoing a construction job or interior renovation, try and source recyclable materials from local suppliers. This will save you time, energy in production, and costs of transportation.
You can introduce recyclable wood, bamboo and wicker for wall panelling, partition walls and furniture; natural stone, eco-glass and terrazzo for counter and table tops; cork and bamboo for flooring; low-VOC paints and earth plaster for the walls; reclaimed wood, recycled aluminium and recycled paper for furniture and accessories. These materials are good friends to the environment.
When undergoing a construction job or interior renovation, try and source recyclable materials from local suppliers. This will save you time, energy in production, and costs of transportation.
You can introduce recyclable wood, bamboo and wicker for wall panelling, partition walls and furniture; natural stone, eco-glass and terrazzo for counter and table tops; cork and bamboo for flooring; low-VOC paints and earth plaster for the walls; reclaimed wood, recycled aluminium and recycled paper for furniture and accessories. These materials are good friends to the environment.
Go ‘green’ overhead
A green roof has loads of benefits – it adds to the insulation and thermal mass of the structure, it aids in rainwater harvesting, it combats the heat-island effect and it looks very pleasant. Although it does demand time and capital, a green roof can bring you closer to nature and offer immeasurable long-term rewards.
Slate, terracotta, white lime plaster paint, roof membranes, and metal roofing are a few other roofing products, each with different merits.
The roof is a great place to harness the renewable energy of the sun. You can install solar panels to convert solar energy into usable electrical and heat energy.
Here are eight smart and eco-friendly options for roofs
A green roof has loads of benefits – it adds to the insulation and thermal mass of the structure, it aids in rainwater harvesting, it combats the heat-island effect and it looks very pleasant. Although it does demand time and capital, a green roof can bring you closer to nature and offer immeasurable long-term rewards.
Slate, terracotta, white lime plaster paint, roof membranes, and metal roofing are a few other roofing products, each with different merits.
The roof is a great place to harness the renewable energy of the sun. You can install solar panels to convert solar energy into usable electrical and heat energy.
Here are eight smart and eco-friendly options for roofs
Plant! Plant! Plant!
Growing your own food is a one-time investment for yielding fresh organic edibles regularly for the long run. Plus, planting them lets you contribute to the level of oxygen, increasing the air quality around you.
Carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers, beans and brinjal are common vegetables that you can grow at your home’s kitchen garden.
You can bring in easy-to-grow herb plants like coriander, basil and fenugreek, and citrus fruits like lemons and oranges, which are used in the kitchen almost daily.
Use leftover food, scraps and peels to make compost for the kitchen garden.
You can also bring in inedible but decorative plants such as areca palm, money plant, peace lily and snake plant indoors. They are known to have absorptive properties to naturally purify air. Mosquito-repelling plants like lemongrass, Indian catmint and marigold can be grown, too.
Read more:
Should Glass Be Used on Home Facades in India?
Why the Fly Ash Brick Is Today’s Go-To Material
Tell us:
So, are you up for living a sustainable life full of good intent? Share your thoughts in Comments below.
Growing your own food is a one-time investment for yielding fresh organic edibles regularly for the long run. Plus, planting them lets you contribute to the level of oxygen, increasing the air quality around you.
Carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, radishes, cucumbers, bell peppers, beans and brinjal are common vegetables that you can grow at your home’s kitchen garden.
You can bring in easy-to-grow herb plants like coriander, basil and fenugreek, and citrus fruits like lemons and oranges, which are used in the kitchen almost daily.
Use leftover food, scraps and peels to make compost for the kitchen garden.
You can also bring in inedible but decorative plants such as areca palm, money plant, peace lily and snake plant indoors. They are known to have absorptive properties to naturally purify air. Mosquito-repelling plants like lemongrass, Indian catmint and marigold can be grown, too.
Read more:
Should Glass Be Used on Home Facades in India?
Why the Fly Ash Brick Is Today’s Go-To Material
Tell us:
So, are you up for living a sustainable life full of good intent? Share your thoughts in Comments below.
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You can install efficient bathroom and kitchen fittings, such as low-flow showers, low-flow WCs, a water-sensible washing machine and so on, to reduce water consumption. Even if you keep your old fixtures, do keep your faucets and pipe connections in good repair to avoid wastage due to leaking.
In the garden, turn big lawns into catchment areas to arrest as much rainwater as possible and collect it with the help of slopes and gutters. Reducing lawn cover directly cuts down the garden’s water requirement and the collected rainwater acts as a reservoir for your home. Replace it with shrubs and low-growing ground-cover plants, interspersed with trees. Plant your garden with native species. Finally, install a drip-irrigation system; it makes for an efficient watering process, turning your garden into a sustainable one.
You can also capture rainwater runoff from the terrace, balconies and roofs, and channel it into a storage tank. This water can be redirected into the home’s water input for flushing toilets and watering plants.
Here are the eight most effective water-saving techniques for your garden