Tips for green living

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.
• Use rechargeable batteries.
• Send e-greetings instead of paper cards.

In your Garden

• Water the garden early in the morning or late in the evening. This reduces water loss due to evaporation. Don’t overwater the garden. Water only till the soil becomes moist, not soggy.
• Explore water efficient irrigation systems. Sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation can be adapted to garden situations .
• Make your garden lively - plant trees and shrubs which will attract birds. You can also put p nest boxes and put food.
• Try growing sturdy grass in bare patches of land , and convince people in your neighbourhood to do so too.
• Put waste to work in your garden- sweep 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 fertilisers 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.
• Recycle as much as you can.
• Give unwanted clothes, toys and books to charity shops or jumble sales.
• Use mains electricity rather than batteries if possible. If not, use rechargeable batteries.
• Use a solar-powered calculator instead of one with a battery.
• 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.
• When buying fish look out for a variety of non-endangered species and buy local fish if possible.
• Prefer vegetarian options for your meals.

On-line Shopping

• Purchase solar powered products.
• Send e-cards, if you can, rather than buy paper cards.
• Shop online, not only will this reduce fuel consumption and emissions by not driving to the shops, but each time you buy something on-line WWF receive a donation. You may even buy products from the nature shop.

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.

(via WWF India)