UNEP has listed our some simple tips that we can follow in our homes.

AT HOME…

• It would seem to go without saying, but many of us forget that we can save water in simple ways like not letting the tap run while shaving, washing your face, or brushing your teeth.
• Insulating your water heater will help save valuable energy, and you can go the extra mile by installing showerheads with a low flow in your bathrooms for bathing purposes to help save water. You can also put a timer on your heaters to save power.
• Using an electric razor or hand razor with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors goes a long way to cutting back on waste. And plant a tree.
• Use towels for drying your face and hands instead of tissues that are used and thrown away. Also, hang your towels to dry so that they can be reused several times. You are after all clean when you use them!
• Juice or yoghurt lovers can do their bit by buying juice in concentrates and yoghurt in reusable containers instead of single serving packages.
• Many of us like to leaf through the paper as we munch on breakfast, but consider reading the dailies in communal spaces like the office or coffee shops. However, if you prefer to have your own copy, make sure you recycle!
• When packing your lunch, opt for reusable containers for food storage instead of wrapping the food with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
• As you leave the house, don’t forget to switch off all the lights and appliances at the wall unit (if you have this feature) and unplug chargers as they continue to consume even if they are not charging; saving energy helps reduce air pollution.

Sunseeker II

It’s reassuring to see increasing experimentations in using renewable energies to fuel vehicles of the future. Just yesterday GM in partnership with Segway launched P.U.M.A , an electric vehicle powered by lithium-ion batteries.  A capsule-like prototype vehicle however is many years away from being mass produced. More here.

Then there’s the Sunseeker II, a sleek-looking solar powered plane that looks like a dragon fly of the skies. Already, the 506 pounds lightweight aircraft is on a trans-European jaunt. More here.

Read more. Click here.

P.S. It’s not a bad idea for us to be inspired and start an offKarnataka or for that matter even an offIndia.

Watch video.

Summers then usually meant lots of playing, cycling around town, climbing trees, eating, studying (at mum’s insistence only) and helping mum with her garden. Her brother, an armchair botanist, excellent musician and budding apiculturist, had given her lessons in grafting roses. I distinctly remember how mum spent the summer multiplying her rose plants. Cut carefully at the stem and attach it to another rose plant’s stem. Wrap the cut stem with a piece of plastic and over the next 10 odd days monitor its progress.

Then there were those days when my brother and I had to go on a recci for some red coloured mud. This was the late 80s and there was usually an abundance of dug up mud thrown around. Along the way, we’d scoop up cow dung off the roads or scrape out someone’s drying dung off the walls. We also tried to slink into small dairies to steal more cow dung. Unfortunately, the dairy farmers were fairly vigilant which meant we usually had to plead with them. Thanks to their grudging generosity, we’d return home with cartons of dung, triumphant and smelling.

Those were the cow dung and mud adventures days. Then we grew and refused to indulge our mum. But to this day, her plants mean a lot to her, sometimes more so than us I think. Long before there was this frenzy over sustainability, she had her own ways of re-using waste, which she maintains to this day. Egg shells and used tea leaves are collected everyday, stored and used as manure. Same with some vegetable waste. Her biggest gratification is how the plants return her affection, flowering beautifully and creating a riot of colours. Yay to her!

Thought this one had good info on grafting roses – How to Graft Roses

Peter Miller, Senior Editor at National Geographic shares how he measured his carbon footprint and went on a carbon diet with his wife.

Not long ago, my wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer a nagging question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is heating up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are trapping heat in our atmosphere. But what can we do about it as individuals? And as emissions from China, India, and other developing nations skyrocket, will our efforts really make any difference?

Read on.

It proposed a unique yet comprehensive Solar 4 all program during a filing with the State’s Board of Public Utilities. This proposal by PSE&G has one segment that includes the largest pole-attached solar installation in the US. The program is predicted to save municipal and county budgets and said to utilize brownfields and underdeveloped property for solar power generation.

PSE&G plans to invest, own and operate these grid connected solar energy systems and collaborate with experienced manufacturers, installers and solar developers. The installation will create environmental benefits such as a carbon free solar generation to all utility customers.

This investment will not only let New Jersey address an expected shortfall in its present solar energy requirements but also generate hundreds of jobs helping to stimulate New Jersey’s economy. One investment that reaps two benefits is a bull’s eye in today’s environmental and market conditions.

The 120 megawatts of capacity will wipe out the 1.7 million tons of CO2 emissions, the same as removing 310,000 cars from the road for a year, imagine that! Every utility investment will be recovered in over 15 to 20 years. Installation costs are estimated at $6.44 per watt of installed solar capacity. The impact on a residential customer is predicted to be 10 cents per month in the first full year of the program and rises up to 35 cents per month in 2013.

A reflection of this initiative can help other parts of the world. Smaller economies can make their big differences by welcoming such initiatives and embracing them. We don’t need to sit back in awe rather get up and measure how this can work for us. The company plans on recovering the program and invested costs over the years, a definite return on investment.

Read more about PSE&G here.

Related articles:
Indian Solar Loan Program

Here’s an incident:
My cousin and I were driving back home one evening after a long day out. He was chewing gum and decided to wrap it in a tissue and throw out the window. I literally yelped! “Why did you do that?” was my immediate reaction. He was dumbstruck and had no clue why I was so hysterical. I explained how we can make a difference to our already infected surroundings. After we reached home we were still talking about it (I was still talking and he patiently listened), then I played my copy of  ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ for him. He sat through the whole thing without even sipping from the glass of water in his hand. I was thrilled that I had reached out to a fellow human being, though he is family. He went back to Chennai (where he is studying) and called me asking to send him a copy of the documentary to show his friends. Ah, needless to say, I felt a sense of achievement.

My hand bags all through college and till today have had scraps of waste (only because no one with me could be bothered to walk upto a dustbin), like discarded toffee wrappers, sugar sachets, unimaginable amounts of chewing gum chewed by god knows who, used tissues and even paper cups. All this would finally find its ways into the bin at home. I have never been one for much activism but definitely want to make that difference where it counts, without much noise.