going green and saving our environment

hello every one!
i hope you all know the phrase "going green" - A phrase referring to individual action that a person can consciously take to curb harmful effects on the environment through consumer habits ...

so as responsible human lets share the ways of going green and you know we are a part of big social networking so that it will make good change and let's teach our kids too..

as my share .. i did the following changes

* reduced the use of paper towels for cleaning the counter tops..etc and replaced with a tissue like cloth in walmart..

* started using cloth napkins after washing hands

* changed my dh habit of leaving the water faucet on while brushing

i know these are commonly practiced in India but here we don't do like that

more in next post

any ideas frens.. and views

thanks
anoo

oops i started it in a wrong subject area

That's great anooch,

This makes me think that our old Indian ways were so right, but we left them for western ways of thinking. I remember my grandma using cloth napkins in kitchen and to wipe hands etc... But I keep using paper ones... I think I should stop now

hi sonya4mdelhi!

u r right our old traditions conserve nature.. i am very much worried after seeing the following power point presentation...

Hi Anooch,

Very good thread. I think this should be a sticky thread. My grandmother is my recycling guru. She will reuse everything containers, clothes...I am also trying to model my habits after her.

hi beeamma!
good.. even my granny is also the same.. do post some useful recycling tips we can do in our daily routine with ease
thanks
anita

Hi Anooch

Few other things we all can do............We see this soo regularly on TVs here and so I just picked some from what I can remember to share with all of you.

* Switch off the plug on the wall, if anything is not being used. Like if the TV has been switched off, then switch it off at the wall as well.
* Same thing can be done for the music system / computer etc
* Use energy saving bulbs at home.
* Use the washing machine only when you have a full load.
* Here in Australia, due to water shortage, people use grey water ( water from the washing machines / shower ) to water the plants. But dont use them on vegetable patches.
* Government promotes shower head exchange programmes. In exchange to our normal shower heads, they give us water efficient shower heads. You need not wait for the programme to come into play, but can find out if one such is available around your area and maybe change them over.
* We also get these attachments to the taps ( not sure what they are called - maybe water flow restrictors or something ). This reduces the amount of water we use and we hardly get to notice the difference sometimes.
* Stop using plastic bags. We have bought a few cloth bags and make sure we carry them always when we go shopping at the supermarket or fruit/vegetable shop.
* If we have been provided with recycle bins/green waste bins/general waste bins, then we need to make sure that they are being used the right way and not just dump anything in any of them.

I never throw out used plastic bottles and boxes. I use them to store water and food items. This way, I save money and throw out much less toxic waste in the environment than others.

Try this! Don't throw out soft drink bottles, jam jars, etc. and use them to store your masalas, sharbat, dry food etc.

Hi Folks,

Its nice to see a few of you trying to promote the going green and saving the environment concept.

Planning and time management also helps in reducing your work. How????? here you go.

Plan your day, meals and other activities.

If possible try to finish all the cooking at one go...you not only save time, energy but also water and fuel.

This way you use less vessel, hence less water, less time wasted in washing, less soap used etc. etc.

You also save your time and energy to do more things or spend more time with your family when they come home in the evening.

Many have the habit of washing their night dress daily, even the bath towels and the clothes that they wear even for some time. If it is not really hot and humid then you can wear the clothes more than once.

Collect water after washing the vegetables, rice etc and use it to water the plants.

The water in which the clothes are soaked can be used to wash the bathrooms.

Holiday evenings, we normally sit out in the patio, switching off all the lights in the house, this also becomes family time when all get a chance to interact with each other.

Keep the windows open and let the fresh air circulate instead of sitting in the ac all the time.

More later.

hi knot2share!
those are really useful tips.. but here in US we don't have switch for every outlet... so it couldnt be possible but i try to off those one's with switch. the thing is even government should encourage such things...

diapers are great form of land polluting substances.. but they are really convenient for moms.. lets share our ideas to minimize our time if we use cloth diapers.. i am planning to switch but don't know if i could work out with twin son's