Save the earth and some money

Now that the races have been run, the photographs clicked, the speeches delivered and page 3 events to save the earth attended, let us get a little serious about saving the earth. Let us realize that trying to save the earth is not just a media hogging opportunity it is the need of hour that each one of us earthling needs to take seriously every day and not just on world environment day.

Here are some things that we can do to save the earth and save some money for ourselves. Remember being environmentally conscious can be good for your pocket also.

1. Take the bus or metro and avoid the car. Especially if you have a fixed office timings and need to go only from point A to B and B to A in the course of the day. So why waste money on petrol? Why not sit comfortably in the Metro or the bus (though buses are not nice I must admit) and reach our destination. In winters it is better as you don’t have to worry about 2 much body odor.
2. Keep the AC thermostat at 27degrees as compared to 21 degrees most people keep their thermostat at. Remember the lower the AC temperature you keep in a room the higher is the amount of energy it will take which means higher energy bills and more impact on the nature.
3. By the same token switch to CFL lamps and also switch of lights and fans in rooms that are not being used by you.
4. Go trekking: Instead of going to Europe or Hong Kong in the plane go to nearby hills for trekking. It is cheaper and more environment friendly. But please do not spoil the hills with your litter.
5. Take the One Bucket Test: All of us who claim to be championing the green cause here is my ultimate test for you. How much water you use for shower? I bet most of you have no idea so next time try this… Fill a bucket of water and take bath with only this one bucket of water. You will realize that not only it is possible to take bath with only one bucket of water it is also much more environmentally friendly and the freshness you will achieve is exactly same as the shower in which you waste may be 10 times more water. The problem in most Indian cities is that water is almost free of cost due to high subsidy on water. May be government should consider revising the cost of water upward which will force people to save some water. After all it is being said again and again that the next world war could be for water between groups of nations.
6. Walk instead of taking the car to nearby destinations it is more eco friendly and free of cost.
7. Eat less: This applies the most on me. Trust me most of us including me eat much more than our body needs. We make our bodies the dumping ground for food left in fridge and on plates. This not only makes us fat but is also going to cost you more money in long run due to need of specialized care in hospitals. If each one of us just starts eating only half a loaf of bread less we could feed millions of people. Eating less will also cost you less and will be less burden on Mother Nature. We not only eat more than we need we eat highly processed food that require more energy to convert them into their current form + preservatives adding to more pollution and cost so let us try to eat foods as close as possible to their natural form. It is cheaper, healthier and friendlier to nature.
8. Stop the car on red light: Saves fuel and tension, and causes less emission so less pollution plus your car will give higher mileage. By same token there is no point is driving at 90 KM/hr when 50 is the speed limit in the city you any way will get stuck at the next red right so what is the hurry? Speeding is more polluting, gives less mileage and if you get in an accident extremely costly.
9. Car pool. So easy to do yet hardly anybody follows the same in NCR it s popular in other cities especially in US but not in India.
10. Don’t take printouts: Most of us are fond of taking printouts may be because we take even personal printouts in office. This practice should be actively discouraged by companies and each printout or photocopy should be accounted for. Saving paper will save not only money for your company or for you ( in case you are doing it at home). It will also be saving some poor tree some where in the deep jungles which may be housing the nest of a little sparrow. So for the sake of this little sparrow think twice before shooting that printout. Also subscribe to email statements for your bank accounts/ credit cards etc. With unlimited space being available on most email servers today it will not only keep your statements safe and handy for when you need them it will also save paper.

So let us see that not only we do our bit for environment and mother earth for the photo ops let us incorporate these small steps in our day to day life and imbibe them as habits this will not only help our planet for which we do not have a backup, these steps are also pocket friendly too. Remember the old saying-- “a penny saved is a penny earned.”