Green Living Tips

25 Water Saving Tips at Your Home

2012-03-02T15:24:00.000+05:30

Water is our life. Therefore we can’t do anything without water.

Do you know how much water available us in the world today? 97.5% of water cover as oceans (saline) and only 2.5% we have as fresh water. Although we have 2.5% of without saline, finaly we can use only 0.08% for domestic usage.

Therefore we can start to save water from our home. Because we are wasting water carelessly at most of the time such as cooking, washing, bathing, gardening, etc. But I think we can save lot of water if we can do small changes for our day today activities. I have mentioned bellow 25 simple water saving tips you can do with your day today life. As well as check out "20 energy saving tips" I posted before.

01. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway and sidewalk and save water every time.

02. Adjust your lawn mower to a higher setting. A taller lawn shades roots and holds soil moisture better than if it is closely clipped.

03. Normally we are more likely to notice leaks indoors, but don't forget to check outdoor faucets, sprinklers and hoses for leaks.

04. If you have an automatic refilling device, check your pool periodically for leaks.

05. When buying new appliances, consider those that offer cycle and load size adjustments. They're more water and energy efficient.

06. Upgrade older toilets with water efficient models.

07. Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak. Fix it ASAP.

08. Designate one glass for your drinking water each day or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.

09. Grab a wrench and fix that leaky faucet. It's simple, inexpensive.

10. When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.

11. Teach your children to turn off faucets tightly after each use.

12. Use a water-efficient showerhead. They're inexpensive, easy to install.

13. Know where your master water shut-off valve is located. This could save water and prevent damage to your home.

14. Use a commercial car wash that recycles water.

15. Avoid recreational water toys that require a constant flow of water.

16. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.

17. If your toilet flapper doesn't close after flushing, replace it.

18. Install an instant water heater near your kitchen sink so you don't have to run the water while it heats up. This also reduces energy costs.

19. Make sure your swimming pools, fountains, and ponds are equipped with recirculating pumps.

20. Wash your car on the lawn, and you'll water your lawn at the same time.

21. Drop your tissue in the trash instead of flushing it and save water every time.

22. Run your clothes washer and dish washer only when they are full.

23. Turn off the water while you you shave and wash your hair.

24. Use a water-efficient showerhead. They're inexpensive, easy to install.

25. If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead with a water-efficient model.

Environment Friendly Air Car from TATA Motors (TATA Mini Cat)

2012-02-25T11:55:00.000+05:30

Indian TATA Motor Company is going to introduce an environment friendly car running by air. They have given the name “TATA MINI CAT” for this mini air car.

There are two tanks of compressed air which turn an almost-conventional piston motor and drive system. This engine can generate around 105km/h of speed. As TATA saying, the Air Store enough to run 300km and user need to refill the air tanks from compressed air filling station.

TATA is planning to release this air car in India this year (2012) with 12000$ starting price. Anyway this car will be a turning point of environment friendly car technology after the Hybrid Technology.

Top 10 green living tips for computer users

2012-01-20T09:39:00.001+05:30

Is this a joke…! What kind of green living tips for computer users? No it’s not a joke. Green living tips are very important to each and every person today.

All of you are using a computer now. I know that, because you are now reading this by using a computer. Actually today the computer is a part of human life. Today there are over than one billion active Personal Computers with the 7 billion populations in the world. Then you can imagine the power consumption for them. The power consumption will be a huge amount. But there is one simple thing to remember all of us. That is “increase power consumption unit by unit is equal to warming environment day by day”. Therefore we should have a commitment to the environment.

As computer user we can save our environment by saving power consumption. Read bellow 10 green living tips and start to practice if you interest.

01. Buy energy star certified computers

Energy star is a certificate can be obtained for energy efficient products and services. They allowed to paste the energy star sticker on the product. Therefore you can reduce your energy consumption by using energy star certified computer.

02. Buy LCD or LED monitors

When you buy a monitor don’t go for a CRT, try to go for a LCD or LED monitor. LCD and LED monitors use less energy with comparing CRT. Specially recommend for gamers.

03. Buy a small one

It is better to buy a laptop rather than desktop PC. Because less energy consumption and less waste generation (physically). As well as tablets are better than laptops.

04. Energy saving mode

Set the energy saving mode of your computer. Then the computer will sleep until you getting your lunch or tea break.

05. Switch off the computer

Switch off your computer when you don’t use it for a long time. Some computers are running 24 hours. As a habit switch off the computer when you are sleeping.

06. Use USB gadgets

Switch off lights and fans in your room. Use USB fan and LED USB spot light with USB power. They save lot of energy.

07. Use blackle

Use energy saving webs and apps. Try to use energy saving search engine like blackle. Simply you can set blackle as your home page like me.

08. Discuss green things

Facebook is the number one social networking site in the world. As well as there are some green social networking sites to share green things. Ozoshare is a green social site like facebook.

09. Use green web hosting

If you are going to start a website, you can use a green web hosting package for that. Green web hosting providers use renewable energy to their servers.

10. Recycle your CRT and PCB

CRT monitors and Plastic Circuit Boards (PCB) are top rated hazardous waste. Therefore try to reduce CRT and if you already have CRTs, please handover to a recycle company. They will take needful actions.

Ok. How many green tips you already practicing? Is it 10, 5, 1 or 0? It’s ok; if you are interesting about these green living tips, try to practice. I’m also not doing all of above. But we can do something. So let’s start to be green with computer.

Green solutions to improve your health

2012-01-12T15:47:00.000+05:30

A healthy life is a dream of each and every person today. You have a huge berry? Is it abnormal your body weight? I’m 50% sure, your answer will be the “yes”. Today we have thousand of health problems. But about 80% of those health problems can be controlled by us. Just we need to change living style and our bad habits.

With arising of green living concept, people are looking for green solutions to improve their health also rather than common solutions such as exercising, dieting, etc. I have described bellow top d green solutions to improve your health.

01. Drink green tea

Always we use different kind of beverages for thirst, refresh, etc. But lots of those soft and cool drinks contain high amount of sugar and other unhealthy component.

Most of people use tea as a refreshing and stimulating beverage. Tea also can be categorized as black tea and green tea. But we have to use green tea rather than black tea. Because of green tea will improve your health while refreshing you. Such as, reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer prevention, increased immune function, fat and weight loss promotion, etc.

02. Organic foods

“Organic foods are foods that are produced without using synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, genetically modified organism, irradiation and other hazardous components”

Therefore it will not harmful to the health and organic foods will improve your health and nutrition.

03. Do manually

Thousand of automated machines and equipment are coming day by day. With this new technology we are shifting our each and every task to an automatic machine. But this situation has been badly affected to the human health. As examples:

– If you can sit and cut grass in your land by scissors (without using grass cutter), it will be a good exercise to your huge berry.

– Can’t you wash your cloths manually, without using washing machine? It will help you to strong your arm, shoulders and fingers.

– Don’t use vacuum cleaner, try to sweep your home.

Therefore try to get those free exercises. Then no need to go to the fitness center.

04. Use the bicycle

Using foot bicycle is a very good green traveling method. As well as cycling is very good method to maintain your fitness. Therefore try to use a cycle when you travel (especially for short travels).

05. Reduce your hazardous waste

“Hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment”

Mercury containing items, florescent bulbs, batteries and plastic circuit boards are some of examples to hazardous waste. Need to be careful when disposing those kinds of hazardous items. As well as try to reduce usage of hazardous things. Then you can reduce the risk for your health.

How you feel about above 5 tips. I think this is the time to start your green life.

Environment friendly lunch packaging system in Asia

2012-01-04T17:06:00.002+05:30

Normally country to country food pattern is totally different. Asian countries have their own meals and they are totally different from Europe. Rice and curry is the base of Asian peoples’ meal especially for the lunch.

Here I am going to tell about an eco friendly lunch packaging system. So when we need to lunch as a pack? We have to use a packaging system when we carry our lunch away. Because normally we share-out our lunch with a plate at the home.

People often use polythene papers to wrap their lunch. But we know this polythene is a big problem to our environment. That is why we need to use environmental friendly packaging system like Banana Leaves.

Using Banana Leaves is a traditional food wrapping system in Asian countries like Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka. There are some advantages of this green packaging system. Such as,

- These leaves are biodegradable. Therefore this method is not harmful to environment like polythene.

- Lot of health benefits.

- Adding extra taste and good smell. It will encourage eating.

- This is an extra benefit of the banana Tree.

How to use Banana leaves to pack my lunch - Step by step

01. Sever a leaf from the Banana tree

02. Clean the leaf properly

03. Cursorily drying up the leave by using fire. Then it will get brown color. This step is very important. Otherwise we can’t wrap and tear off the leaf.

04. Now you can use to wrap.

Eco friendly travelling tips to reduce your carbon footprint

2011-12-29T17:23:00.000+05:30

Travelling is a nice hobby. We are traveling for many purposes such as for job, biz, leisure, etc. Some times you have never think about environment impact of your travel and how to reduce it.

Here I have mentioned 10 simple tips to reduce your carbon footprint when you are travelling. Some times you feel those are very simple and not very important. But simple action may be making a big change. Just you need to change your travelling behavior. Then try to be an eco friendly traveller by using these tips.

1. Plan your travel before start it. Specially make it ready your accommodations, tools equipment you need. Don’t forget anything. Because no need to buy things already you having. (Ex: Camera, Hat, None book)

2. Unplug and switch off electric equipment before you leave your home and stop unnecessary energy wastage in your home.

3. Try to use bicycles and public transports like bus and train to travel. Especially bicycle is the best solution for crowded cities.

4. Don’t buy plastic water bottles. Some travellers use plastic bottles as a habit. But it is better if you can buy a refilling water bottle like the bottle that use bicyclist.

5. Carry a digital camera. Don’t use camera those need film reels. Because finally film reels can be a big hazardous to the environment.

6. Don’t stay a five star hotel and try to find an eco friendly or ISO 14000 certified hotels.

7. Buy traditional foods from the area you visit. Normally those foods are making by environmental friendly manner.

8. Don’t throw polythene and other used items to open environment. Dispose them as responsible manner.

9. Don’t pick plants or anything belongs to the environment. As well as don’t damage to the environment. I have seen some people write their names on trees and rocks. Avoid from this bad habit and behave as responsible manner.

10. Normally we are buying souvenirs to remember our journey. But don’t buy souvenirs have made by using parts of fauna and flora.

I think above environment friendly travelling tips will assist you to reduce your carbon footprint. Wish you a green journey.

How to save energy at my home

2011-12-22T16:32:00.001+05:30

Energy, energy, ….. and energy. This will be the most dangerous word in future. Because energy sources like fossil coal are vanishing day by day. Therefore we have to go for an alternative. Is this the reason for saving energy? No, actually we have a responsibility beyond that.

We use more energy means we warm our environment little by little. Because lot of Green House Gases are emitting when produce energy by fossil and coal. Therefore those emissions directly cause to the global warming. That is why we need to save energy.

So how we save energy? It is better if we can start from our home to although there are thousands of methods, places and processes to control and minimize energy wastage and consumption. Actually no need to go for big projects and moderations, simple change can make a big saving. Here I mentioned 20 simple energy saving tips for you to do at your home.

1. Don’t put hot foods in the refrigerator, Allow them to cool off before putting otherwise it will take extra energy.

2. Change all florescent bulbs with CFL or LED and ask your neighbors to change their light bulbs.

3. Discuss about energy saving tips at the family gathering and guide your children to follow them.

4. Check to make sure your refrigerator door seal. No need to waste energy call the supplier if it is not closes well.

5. Switch off light bulbs and unplug other electronic appliances when them not in use.

6. Don't put uncovered liquids in the refrigerator. Because liquids are evaporating and it will effect to increase of compressor workload.

7. If you iron socks, under wares and stockings please don’t do it again. Actually no need to iron them.

8. Try to iron bulk of cloth at a time (once a week or twice a week). Don’t heat the iron for a single shirt of skirt.

9. Install a solar thermal heating system for your home. Then you can save energy and money.

10. To make naturally cool ventilation in your home, keep some natural plants. It will increase the air quality as well.

11. Reduce some lights and use natural light. To get the maximum advantage from natural, open windows and curtains in day time, remove covered furniture, photos, etc.

12. Open windows and switching off AC on cool days.

13. Analyze your monthly energy bill. Then make a goal to reduce your energy consumption such as I reduce by 5% in next month or I reduce by 10% in next three months. Take some actions to achieve your goal.

14. Regularly clean the condenser coils of the refrigerator.

15. Try to steam vegetables. It will save water rather than boil.

16. Turn off lights, fans and AC when leave the room.

17. Select the container according to requirement. I mean use small pots to cooking small portions.

18. Use task lights in every possible time and area. Specially for working table in your room. Today there are lots of LED task lights in the market.

19. Use light colors when you paint inside walls in your home, Then you can reduce light bulbs you are going to use.

20. Before purchasing or building a home ask architecture to apply energy saving principles.

How you feel above list. I think it is very easy to do. If you have any suggestions, please add them as comments.

Check this Out - 25 Water Saving Tips at Your Home

Information About Green Tea

2011-12-17T16:15:00.000+05:30

Most of people use tea as a refreshing and stimulating beverage. Sometimes you also now taste a tea. But do you know what is green tea, how to make green teas and what are the health and other benefits of green tea? Read bellow to get basic idea about green tea.

What is green tea?

Normally we are using black tea as the tea since thousand of years. But day by day green tea became popular among tea lovers. Green tea is a kind of tea which has more health benefits rather than other teas. Leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant use to make green tea and these plants are growing mainly in parts of Asia. But origin of green tea is China.

How to produce green tea?

As mentioned above green tea produced by using Camellia Sinensis leaves. The taste of the tea is depending by age of the leave. After picking leaf buds and young leaves, they are drying immediately before wilted. That is why green tea gets brown mix green color. These color, taste and quality of the tea can depend on growing conditions, horticulture, production processing, and harvesting time.

Why people use green tea and what are the benefits of green tea?

The main reason to use/drink green tea is health benefits. Such as cancer prevention, increased immune function, fat and weight loss promotion, reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, etc. The taste and aroma are the other main reasons to regularly drink green tea.

Click here to more details about green tea.

Why we have to recycle our Christmas tree

2011-12-03T13:05:00.001+05:30

With the excitement of Christmas, the last thing on our minds is the natural resources that bring such pleasure to this holiday season. The lights, decorations, glitter on greeting cards, and wrapping paper add to the excitement of the holidays. Perhaps the image of the Christmas tree is the most memorable of all. Have you ever thought about the raw materials that bring together this image? The majority of these raw materials were furnished by the mining and petroleum industries.

Some people drive to the forest to cut Christmas trees. Most Christmas trees are grown on tree farms. Like all crops, the trees are grown with fertilizers. About half of the world’s production of sulfur and over 90% of the production of phosphates and potash go into fertilizers, of which the sampling trees receive a share. Surface and ground water resources are also need for the growth of the trees.

Strands of tiny lights have replaced candles on the trees, adding to the list of minerals that bring holiday-cheer. The wires are made of copper; the insulation and wall plug are formed by the combination of petrochemicals with pumice, limestone, marble, vermiculite, silica, feldspar, or trona. The glass bulbs contain feldspar, silica, clay, nepheline syenite, and trona; filaments in the bulbs are made of thin conductive strips of tungsten metal, which comes from the minerals scheelite and wolframite.

The glittering tree ornaments are made of ingredients similar to light bulbs, and also contain borate and metals such as iron, copper, and lead. The star at the top of the tree could be made from aluminum, silver, or copper. The ornament hangers and tree stand also are typically a metal alloy containing iron or aluminum. Colorful paints and glazes used to decorate the ornaments are based on petrochemicals, mica or clay, and are pigmented with ingredients such as lithium found in spodumene, titanium in rutile, manganese in pyrolusite, and rare earth elements in bastnesite and monazite. The papers and woods that the paints are applied to commonly contain clay as an additive or filler.

Well over 20 different raw materials are used to create a decorated Christmas tree. And what about the natural resources those go into the gifts, or the electricity to light the tree? That is why we need to recycle our Christmas tree. Wish you a Green Christmas......!

Source : http://www.mii.org/

How to Certify ISO 14000 - Step 01: Preparing a Team to EMS

2011-11-30T19:20:00.001+05:30

Go to full process of ISO 14000 implementation

Why we need a team?

We can do any task easily,quickly, effectively and correctly with a team rather than individually wedone. ISO 14000 certification also can be do writhing a short period and veryeasily with a good team. EMS team will be very busy when implement EMS projectsand conducting training and awareness programs.

How to select EMS team?

The team should be consisting evena member of each department.

It is better you can select themfrom middle level management or above. Otherwise subordinates will not berespect to team member and what they are telling.

Before select team, you have toidentify departments those are highly engage with environment such as highwaste generate, High resources used, etc. Then you can select two or threemembers from those departments. It can be depending on industry to industry.

Ex: Hotel – Kitchen, Garment –Cutting

Maximum numbers from maintenancedepartment – All the utilities like electricity, water and fuels are handlingfrom maintenance department. Therefore this will be the main responsibledepartment in ISO 14000 implementation.

How to give authority and identification to EMS team?

First we have to give writtenmembership by a letter. The appointment letter has been mentioned theirresponsibility as a EMS team member. This letter should be sign by Environmental Management Representative or Human Resource Managerand need to add a copy to members’ personal files.

It is very important communication about EMSteam. After selecting team you can put them on the notice board with names andpictures. As well as you can provide them to an identity card like employee ID.If you like, you can give a nice name to your company EMS team like greenfriends, eco team, etc.

How to Certify ISO 14000 - Step by Step

2011-11-30T19:05:00.001+05:30

With increasing the concern ofenvironment protection, people have changed their buying behavior to greenproducts. Therefore now suppliers have to produce green products or at leastthey have to minimize their environment impact during production process. It iseasy to do if your company has a proper Environment Management System (EMS).

“Environmental management system refersto the management of an organization's environmental programs in acomprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner. It includes the organizationalstructure, planning and resources for developing, implementing and maintainingpolicy for environmental protection.”

ISO 14000 is an EMS and 14001provide a guideline to make that EMS. But this is not an easy process. Topmanagement involvement and commitment is very important to success of ISO 14000implementation. The main responsible person from management is call asEnvironmental Management Representative (EMR). Followings are the main steps ofISO 14000 certification process.

Step 01 : Preparing a Team to EMS

Step 02 : Established an Environment Policy

Step 03 : Aspect Identification

Step 04 : Identification of Significant Aspect

Step 05 : Project Prioritize and EMS Register

Step 06 : Training and Awareness

Step 07 : Documentation

Step 08 : Internal Environment Audits

Step 09 : Certification Audit

Step 10 : Monitoring and Reviews

These are the main steps incertification process. If you are able to go through these steps, definitely youwill certify ISO 14000.

10 Useful Environmental Website – Green Sites

2011-11-24T19:39:00.001+05:30

If you type list of environmental websites, green websites or eco friendly websites on Google, you will find a huge list of websites. But can you gain the relevant website or blog to your actual requirement? Because most of green sites have been give everything about green. But there are some green websites that are talking about any special area. So I have a useful list of 10 environmental websites bookmarked when I browsing internet. I think this list may be useful to you also.

01. Environmental News

The Environmental News Network -ENN is one of best news network like CNN and BBC. This site reports about all environment related things including environmental issues in the world. As well as you can get daily news updates by subscribing to this site.

02. Green Living Tips

You can join the green livingtips site and learning about going green and reducing environmental impact in the home, at work and in business.

03. International Environmental Laws

This is a very important website. There are lots of lows locally and internationally for environment sector. You can find those laws from this site. Even though this website focuses to UK, they have categorized laws to England, European, International, etc under a separate page call Law Locator.

04. Environmental Magazine

EMagazine is a green website like a magazine. But you can subscribe to a print edition also. Here mainly talking about environmental issues on EMagazine.

05. Environmental Forum

A forum is a very good place to sharing knowledge and resolve problems. If you are looking for an environmental forum, TheEnvironmentSite Forum is the world number one. Threads: 38,977, Posts: 274,185, Members: 27,035, Active Members: 7,706 are the current statistics of this forum.

06. Green Certification for websites

Green Certified Site is an eco-friendly web badge that calculates your website's environmental footprint, finds ways to make your site more energy-efficient, automatically neutralizes its calculated carbon footprint, and displays the widely-recognized trust mark shown here. You can get this certificate for any website or blog.

07. Green Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE) is an electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. The EoE is a free, expert-reviewed collection of content contributed by scholars, professionals, educators, practitioners and other experts who collaborate and review each other's work. The content is presented in a style intended to be useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.

08. Green Consultancy

It is very easy and important if have a consultant when we are doing eco projects. So Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is a leading global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, and social consulting services. They have over 140 offices in 40 countries and employ around 4,000 people.

09. Knowledge Sharing for Sustainable Business

2degreesnetwork is a website like this and it gives you access to the knowledge, contacts and commercial opportunities you need to reach your sustainable business goals faster. This site is very useful for businesses.

10. Green Products

BuyGreen is a shopping place like eBay and Amazon. But here they are selling only environment friendly products only. BuyGreen have a huge list of green products and It will help you to reduce your carbon footprint.

I think you will interest even one site from above list. If you know different different important green websites please share on comment box.

The Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming and Climate Change

2011-11-19T10:35:00.001+05:30

The greenhouse effect and global warming

The greenhouse effect is the process whereby solar radiation, reflected by the Earth's surface, is trapped by a number of 'greenhouse gases' in the atmosphere and warms the Earth. The process is called the greenhouse effect because it is thought that the gases retain the heat like the glass in a greenhouse.

There five six main greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere that trap heat from the sun and warm the Earth:

– Carbon dioxide— released when fossil fuels are burned

– Methane—released as a by-product of animal digestion

– Nitrous oxide— released when fossil fuels are burned

– Fluorinated hydrocarbons (hydroflurocarbons or HFCs) — released when refrigerants leak from air conditioning systems

– Sulphur hexbfluorides — released by leakage from electrical sub-stations

Most of these gases are naturally occurring, and life is only possible on Earth because the atmosphere retains heat from the sun. However, human activities— in particular, the production of carbon dioxide from industrial production and pollution and methane from waste and animal husbandry— have led to conditions that have increased the 'greenhouse effect', which has, in turn, caused global warming and climate change. Global warming is the average annual increase in global temperature.

The impacts of climate change

Climate change is the result of global warming and has different effects in different parts of the world, such as:

– A rise in the mean global temperature

– Melting of the polar ice caps

– Rising sea levels

– More frequent and extreme weather events, such as droughts and storms

These effects could, in turn, cause:

– Environmental damage, human injury, ill health and loss of life

– Increased risk of flooding and rising sea defense costs

– Land surface loss due to rising sea levels, resulting in population migration and infrastructure adaptation costs

– Agricultural disruption, affecting food availability and increasing the gap between rich and poor

– Increased risk of water- and food-borne diseases and the spread of tropical diseases

Tackling climate change

Climate change is being tackled on a global scale by international laws and voluntary commitments to reduce consumption of carbon-based fossil fuels and, therefore, GHG emissions. For example:

– The Kyoto agreement introduced the concept of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' — the European Union has committed to an 8 per cent reduction by 2012 in GHG emissions compared to 1990 levels.

– The European Union energy policy commits to a 20 per cent reduction in GHGs by 2020.

– The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) introduced carbon trading, a legally binding framework that requires businesses in key sectors — such as energy, steel, cement, glass, brick making, and paper/cardboard manufacture— to buy carbon credits for the amount of carbon dioxide they emit.

– England and Wales, under the Climate Change Act 2008, are committed to an 80 per cent reduction (against the 1990 baseline) in GHG emissions by 2050 and the introduction of corporate carbon reporting

Free eBook: The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change

Source: Chartered Institute of Environment Health

5 Reasons to Use eBooks and Not Use Paper Books

2011-11-11T14:54:00.001+05:30

eBook is a popular topic among internet and computer users. Because eBooks have lots of advantages rather than paper books. According to Wikipedia, the definition of eBook is,

“An electronic book (also e-book, eBook, electronic book, and digital book) is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices”

It means eBook is an electronic view of a paper book. Today we can find lot of free eBooks downloading websites in internet. Now you have a question like, why people use eBooks and why we need to use eBooks. Is it ….? Yes, there are lot of advantages of eBooks and using eBooks. If describe one by one,

01. Save trees

Do you believe it is possible to save trees by using eBooks? Yes, all we know how to make papers. Trees are the main material use to make papers. Therefore if you can use more eBooks against paper books, you will save trees to environment. Do you have any idea about how many trees are using to make a paper ton. Actually as an average we have to cut 18 trees to make a paper ton.

02. Durability

An electronic book can be view / use thousand of time without any damage and can be keep it to an unlimited time period. But paper books couldn’t be used more times without damage.

03. Save space

Assume the space for 10 books which are having 500 pages each. It will be a cardboard box size “1x1x2” feet. But if these are eBooks, they will be 10 PDF files. Think about your home library. Sometime you can save to a 1GB thumb drive. Then assume about public library in your city. Is it huge …..? But you can save all books in library to your personal computer hard disk or a small server.

04. Easy to use and save time

When you travel, are you carrying your novel what you are reading these days. But always you have your laptop. So if your novel is an eBook you can reduce weight and items you carry. Lot of people today show read the newspaper through internet. I think it is a good point. Actually it is save your time.

05. Reduce paper wastage

Finally all paper goes to a dump yard or an open land. But how you remove an eBook, you can do it just clicking delete button and it goes to recycle bin. Recycle bin never harmful to the environment.

What you think about, paper books or eBooks. Try to use more eBooks in every possible time. Don’t buy paper books.

100 Green Living Tips for Your Life

2011-11-09T11:31:00.000+05:30

Everywhere in the world talking about environment conservation, environment saving, environment protection, energy saving, ISO 14000 Certification, green concept and so on. But savings, implementations, protections and all the things couldn’t be happen without our contribution. It means we have to give our contribution personally. I found very good list of environment saving tips from www.seql.org. Here I listed to share this 100 list and I think you will get some good ideas from it.

In your home—conserve energy

1	Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month.
2	If you have central air conditioning, do not close vents in unused rooms.
3	Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120°.
4	Wrap your water heater in an insulated blanket.
5	Turn down or shut off your water heater when you will be away for extended periods.
6	Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.
7	Set your refrigerator temperature at 36° to 38° and your freezer at 0° to 5°.
8	When using an oven, minimize door opening while it is in use; it reduces oven temperature by 25° to 30° every time you open the door.
9	Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every load so that it uses less energy.
10	Unplug seldom used appliances.
11	Use a microwave whenever you can instead of a conventional oven or stove.
12	Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
13	Reverse your indoor ceiling fans for summer and winter operations as recommended.
14	Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use.
15	Purchase appliances and office equipment with the Energy Star label; old refrigerators, for example, use up to 50% more electricity than newer models.
16	Only use electric appliances when you need them.
17	Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (or LED) to save money and energy.
18	Keep your thermostat at 68° in winter and 78° in summer.
19	Keep your thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter when you are away from home.
20	Insulate your home as best as you can.
21	Install weather stripping around all doors and windows.
22	Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.
23	Plant trees to shade your home.
24	Shade outside air conditioning units by trees or other means.
25	Replace old windows with energy efficient ones.
26	Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible.
27	Connect your outdoor lights to a timer.
28	Buy green electricity - electricity produced by low - or even zero-pollution facilities.

In your home—reduce toxicity

29	Eliminate mercury from your home by purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items containing mercury at an appropriate drop-off facility when necessary (e.g., old thermometers).
30	Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items that do not use hazardous chemicals.
31	Buy the right amount of paint for the job.
32	Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a little more elbow grease.
33	When no good alternatives exist to a toxic item, find the least amount required for an effective, sanitary result.
34	If you have an older home, have paint in your home tested for lead. If you have lead-based paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead of sanding it or burning it off.
35	Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers.
36	Have your home tested for radon.
37	Use cedar chips or aromatic herbs instead of mothballs.

In your yard

38	Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment.
39	Use an electric lawnmower instead of a gas-powered one.
40	Leave grass clippings on the yard—they decompose and return nutrients to the soil.
41	Use recycled wood chips as mulch to keep weeds down, retain moisture and prevent erosion.
42	Use only the required amount of fertilizer.
43	Minimize pesticide use.
44	Create a wildlife habitat in your yard.
45	Water grass early in the morning.
46	Rent or borrow items like ladders, chain saws, party decorations and others that are seldom used.
47	Take actions that use non hazardous components (e.g., to ward off pests, plant marigolds in a garden instead of using pesticide).
48	Put leaves in a compost heap instead of burning them or throwing them away. Yard debris too large for your compost bin should be taken to a yard-debris recycler.

In your office

49	Copy and print on both sides of paper.
50	Reuse items like envelopes, folders and paper clips.
51	Use mailer sheets for interoffice mail instead of an envelope.
52	Set up a bulletin board for memos instead of sending a copy to each employee.
53	Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence.
54	Use recycled paper.
55	Use discarded paper for scrap paper.
56	Encourage your school and/or company to print documents with soy-based inks, which are less toxic.
57	Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of a disposable cup.

Ways you can protect our air

58	Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or telecommuting.
59	Recycle printer cartridges.
60	Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.
61	Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.
62	Don’t use your wood stove or fireplace when air quality is poor.
63	Avoid slow-burning, smoldering fires. They produce the largest amount of pollution.
64	Burn seasoned wood - it burns cleaner than green wood.
65	Use solar power for home and water heating.
66	Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes and paint strippers.
67	Purchase radial tires and keep them properly inflated for your vehicle.
68	Paint with brushes or rollers instead of using spray paints to minimize harmful emissions.
69	Ignite charcoal barbecues with an electric probe or other alternative to lighter fluid.
70	If you use a wood stove, use one sold after 1990. They are required to meet federal emissions standards and are more efficient and cleaner burning.
71	Walk or ride your bike instead of driving, whenever possible.
72	Join a carpool or vanpool to get to work.

Ways to use less water

73	Check and fix any water leaks.
74	Install water-saving devices on your faucets and toilets.
75	Don’t wash dishes with the water running continuously.
76	Wash and dry only full loads of laundry and dishes.
77	Follow your community’s water use restrictions or guidelines.
78	Install a low-flow shower head.
79	Replace old toilets with new ones that use a lot less water.
80	Turn off washing machine’s water supply to prevent leaks.

Ways to protect our water

81	Re-vegetate or mulch disturbed soil as soon as possible.
82	Never dump anything down a storm drain.
83	Have your septic tank pumped and system inspected regularly.
84	Check your car for oil or other leaks, and recycle motor oil.
85	Take your car to a car wash instead of washing it in the driveway.
86	Learn about your watershed.

Create less trash

87	Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted.
88	Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33% of what we throw away is packaging.
89	Buy products that you can reuse.
90	Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.
91	Check reports for products that are easily repaired and have low breakdown rates.
92	Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
93	Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
94	Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.
95	Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.
96	Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
97	Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.
98	Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspapers make great packaging material.
99	Compost your vegetable scraps.
100	Buy used furniture - there is a surplus of it, and it is much cheaper than new furniture.

	source: http://www.seql.org/

7 Billion Population and Environmental Pollution

2011-11-09T04:49:00.000+05:30

World population marked 7 billion on 31 Oct 2011. Many countries celebrated this time and few babies were lucky to be the “7 billion baby” in each country.

Actually do you can happy or do you can celebrate this occasion. Yes, you can but not too much. Within 12 years (1999-2011) one billion of population added to the world and another billion will be added within next 14 years as predicting statistic specialists. But the thing is, it will not increase natural resources, water, land area or anything against to population. Therefore this 7 billion will make 100 billions of environmental issues. Here I have described few environmental issues affected with huge population.

01. Scarcity of natural resources

I think this will be the most dangerous issue which we have to be faced in future. Fossil fuel, coal, mineral, sand, etc are the natural resources that we using rapidly. These resources can name as non renewable natural resources also. It means they are not regenerate within our life time. They take millions of years. The usage of these natural resources will increase parallel with population.

Already we are facing a fuel crisis. Vehicle usage, machines and equipment will be increase according to the population and then the demand for fuel also will increase. Because of that our fossil deposit will come to a close early. As well as coal resource usage will increase with increasing the demand of energy. Mineral, sand and all non renewable natural resources will be face this issue.

02. Speed the global warming

When we breathe, we get Oxygen (O2) and release Carbon Dioxide (CO2). CO2 is the main contributor to increase global warming. Although it is a small amount as a person, 7 billion will make a reasonable effect to the worming our environment. And as discussed on point #01, increasing of fuel burning is the main reason to rising global warming.

03. Land and water pollution due to wastage

This world is amazing. Some people spend lives without their basic needs but some one consume more than two, three time of their needs. Which side you in…..? Actually we are wasting about 50% from our consumption. As examples,

– Food wastage (this is the main)

– Damage and old goods, machines, equipment and vehicles

– Removed constructions

All of above wastages finally add to the land or water bodies. Therefore this issue will increase with increasing population. To face this situation we have to go for a sustainable consumption pattern. Good and service suppliers also have to practice green marketing concept.

04. Limit the agricultural lands and soil erosion

Housing problem is another main issue for this increased population. Because of the limited land resources, people are moving to free spaces by clearing forest cover, mountains and other agricultural areas. This will be a reason for soil erosion and decrease agricultural lands.

05. Social problems

Slums, diseases and more social problems will make this population.

These are the some of main issues affected by increasing population. But there are lots of issues more. Think a minute then you will see some of them.

Not About Marketing, It's Green Marketing

2011-11-07T15:36:00.000+05:30

It is better if you have an idea about “Marketing” before you learn “Green Marketing”. Marketing define as

“The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitability”

In the marketing concept consider only earning profit by fulfilling requirements. Since 1950 the population of world and consumption level within industrializes societies have explosive growth especially during the last two decades. This consumption pattern has been created lot of environment issues such as,

– Resource depletion by using more resources

– Global warming by burning more oil

– Pollution of land and water bodies by dumping wastages

Now people are getting understood about this situation and consumers now always trying to get green products. This is the reason for converting marketing concept to green marketing.

What is this green marketing concept. The “Green Marketing” can be define as

“The holistic management process responsible for identifying satisfy the requirements of customers and society in a profitable and sustainable”

It means supplier should be consider the environmental impacts of the product (by total life cycle) not only profit. But because of the demand for green products supplier will be earning a good margin.

When you are practicing green marketing as a businessman you have to consider three issues.

01. What it takes

This refers to the materials and energy resources that are removed from the earth eco system through mining, exerting, cutting, growing, hunting and other ways.

02. What it makes

The decision of conversion is what products and services that are derived from those resources through industrial conversion and transformation process.

03. What it wastes

This represent eco cost defined hear as the collective cost of society of garbage, waste, pollution and the ongoing destruction of the natural system.

Fundamentals of green marketing

There are three fundamentals,

01. Social responsibility

Here we can identify 4 common elements under social responsibility

– Businesses have responsibilities that go beyond the production of goods and services at a profit.

– Businesses are responsible to a broader constitutionally than their shareholders.

– Businesses have impact that go beyond simple market place transaction

– Businesses save a wider range of human values. That can be capture by a sale forces on economic value.

02. Sustainability

The ability to provide for the needs of the world current population without damaging the ability to provide needs of future generation. When a process is sustainable it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects. Today it applied to many disciplines including economic development, environment, food production, energy and social organizations.

03. An holistic approach

Hare the idea that a business should be manage a total system and not simply as a collection of function or business unit.

Energy Saving Search Engine - Blackle

2011-11-03T13:11:00.001+05:30

Blackle is a search engine which created by Heap Media. They have developed this search engine for search with saving energy. Therefore this is not a traditional search engine.

How Blackle save energy?

According to Roberson et al, 2002

"Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen."

This search engine gave us a black window. This is the secret of saving energy and it will help to save your eye also. It will have a very small energy saving per view. But this will be a very big saving after they all add up.

Your Contribution

You can see the amount of watt hours they saved below the search box. If you wish to save any single watt, convert your home page to Blackle. It will help to reduce your carbon footprint also.

What is ISO 14000?

2011-11-02T22:12:00.002+05:30

Fist of all you need to know the meaning of ISO. Please visit to the post What is ISO? and get some idea about that.

Each and every standard developed and published by International Organization for Standardization has a unique number like 9000, 14000, 22000. But there is no any relationship with this number and standard or International Organization for Standardization. The number is only for identification.

Ok…Now we will see about what is ISO 14000. ISO 14000 is a series of international standards has been design to help enterprises meet their environmental management system needs. It provides a framework for the development of an environmental management system and the supporting audit program. The demand for this standard has been increased with increasing of environment concern of people.

Reasons for an Environment Standard

International Organization for Standardization has developed this standard to face environmental issues increasing day by day. But there are more reasons today to get ISO 14000 such as ISO 14001 is a great improvement tool & certification assists the company improvement, Cost Savings, Customer Requirements, Market opportunities and Corporate Image.

ISO 14000 also a voluntary standard any size or type organization can follow. This Environment Management System help to identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to improve its environmental performance continually, and to implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

Standards related to ISO 14000 series

14000	Guides to Environmental Management Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques
14001	Environmental Management Systems - Specification with Guidance for Use
14010	Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - General Principles of Environmental Auditing
14011	Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit Procedures - Part 1: Auditing of Environmental Management Systems
14012	Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Qualification Criteria for Environmental Auditors
14013/15	Guidelines for Environmental Auditing - Audit Programs, Reviews & Assessments
14020/23	Environmental Labeling
14024	Environmental Labeling - Practitioner Programs - Guiding Principles, Practices and Certification Procedures of Multiple Criteria Programs
14031/32	Guidelines on Environmental Performance Evaluation
14040/43	Life Cycle Assessment General Principles and Practices
14050	Glossary
14060	Guides for the Inclusion of Environmental Aspects in Product Standards

Implementing EMS

If you are going to get ISO 14000 Certificate to your company, you have to certify your EMS by a certification body. This process is not simple and easy because the company has to prepare lots of document s such as Environment Policy, EMS Manual, EMS Procedures, Audit plans/Check lists, etc. There are more activities to do in addition to document part like Training and Awareness, Data monitoring, Auditing, etc. Therefore many companies give this implementation part to an external party or a consultant. As soon as you fulfill the minimum (basic) requirement of the Standard you get certified.

What is ISO?

2011-11-02T05:14:00.001+05:30

Do you have seen some producers have displayed their certificates on their products? Such as ISO 9000 certified, ISO 14000 certified, ISO 2200 Certified, etc. Some time you don’t know what is certificates and even what is the meaning of ISO. I think this post will help to get some idea about ISO.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the largest developer and publisher of International Standards in the world. It means it is the place what most responsible organization to create standards relating to any field. ISO is not a word created by using fist letters of “International Organization for Standardization”. This is a word derived from a Greek word called “isos”, meaning "equal". Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.

This institute having 162 members, one member per one country and every member has the fully and equal rights to develop of any standard. Normally they use best practices of world top companies to make these standards. Their head office is situated in Geneva, Switzerland.

All these ISO standards are voluntary. International Organization for Standardization, Government or any authority doesn’t tell you to follow ISO standards. However, countries may decide to adopt ISO standards - mainly those concerned with health, safety or the environment - as regulations or refer to them in legislation, for which they provide the technical basis.

Followings are the most popular ISO standards

ISO 9000 – Quality Management System (QMS)

ISO 14000 – Environment Management System (EMS)

ISO 22000 – Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS)

ISO 27000 - Information Security Management Systems (ISMS)

What is Sustainable Development

2011-11-02T05:13:00.002+05:30

I put “Sustainable Development” on Google Search and hit enter… Do you believe there were 119,000,000 search results for that… If you not sure please try it with any search engine.

Today lots of people (Specially politicians and medias) talking about sustainable development, sustainability and more words with “sustainable” such as sustainable consumption, sustainable agriculture, sustainable living, etc. But many people don’t know what is sustainability or sustainable development. Do you? If we start from the definition,

"Meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

is the world accepted definition for sustainable development. The ultimate goal of SD is to extend the lifetime of the planet. If we can do our development activities as sustainable manner, we will save our world to the future generation.

According to the definition simple meaning is “minimize the waste-save to the future”. So how can we do this? By controlling consumption or production…No. we need to fulfill our needs but have to have a proper utilizing method. As examples,

– If we are going to build a Hotel by clearing a forest, it will be affected to the animals, plants and total eco system in the forest. As well as it will effect to water streams also. It is not the sustainable development. Because we can’t talk about only economic factor, we need to consider social and environment factors also.

– Today we are using lot of chemicals and fertilizers to agriculture. Because of using these things, the quality of soil will be degraded. Therefore future farmers will not be able to get good harvest and harvest will be decreased year by year. To overcome this issue farmers have to reduce their chemical usage and try to use organic fertilizers.

– Everybody have a home. It may be small or big or very big. Normally people are like to spend luxury life with a very big house, two three vehicles, etc. But you have to think about other peoples also. When you use more resources today it will be affect to tomorrow resources depletion.

I think now you know what the sustainable development is and how live in sustainable manner. Finally I can say SD is a combined development of Economical, Environmental and Social factors (Triple Bottom Line – TBL). Therefore we have to add the word “sustainable” with our development activates.

Top 5 Hybrid Cars 2011

2011-11-02T05:12:00.001+05:30

A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors. Hybrid vehicles are popular because they appeal to a wide range of consumers. The environmentally conscious can appreciate the ultra-low to zero emissions and amazing fuel economy, while the economically minded can appreciate the low vehicle depreciation and savings in costs at the gas pump. I have listed the Top 5 Hybrid Cars List bellow and you can decide what is the best hybrid car to you.

1. Toyota Prius Hybrid

Toyota Prius is the third best selling gas-electric hybrid model in the United State. The Toyota Company has produced their first Prius Hybrid car in 2003. Toyota has begun selling their third generation of Toyota Prius in 2009. When they are selling third generation, other companies are starting to introduce their first Hybrid car.

Specifications

Bigger and more powerful than previous models, The four-cylinder engine grew in displacement from 1.5 liters to 1.8 liters, Combined with a 36 kW electric motor, Reduction in zero-to-60 time by a full second, Boosts horsepower from 110 to 134, MPG: 51 cities / 48 highways.

2. Honda Insight Hybrid

This new, five-passenger Insight continues to use Honda's conventional, mild hybrid system called Integrated Motor Assist. While it is less expensive than the Toyota Prius, it is also less roomy and rear access is awkward. The ride is stiff and choppy and road noise is pronounced. Handling lacks agility and can be tricky at the limits. Stability control is glaringly absent in the base LX version, but is standard on the EX. Crash-test results are impressive.

Specifications

Automatic climate control, remote keyless entry, power windows, door locks and outside mirrors, tilt-and-telescoping steering column, manual driver’s seat height adjustment, AM/FM/CD audio system with two speakers, auxiliary audio input, and unique seating fabric. All Insight models are equipped standard with electronic stability control for 2011.

3. Ford Fusion Hybrid

The Ford Fusion Hybrid launched to the United State market in March 2009 as a 2010 model, together with its twin the Mercury Milan Hybrid. This is a gasoline-electric hybrid powered version of the mid-size Ford Fusion sedan developed by the Ford Motor Company. The Ford Fusion Hybrid establishes a new benchmark in hybrid technology. It marries a seamless, sophisticated hybrid powertrain to the outstanding Fusion platform—positioned solidly in the middle of the mainstream market.

Specifications

10-way power driver's seat, dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights, keyless entry, power windows, mirrors, and locks, capless refueling, traction control, and ABS. Also included are six-speaker stereo, eco-responsible seats, 17-inch wheels, traction control and a reverse sensor.

4. Honda CR-Z Hybrid

Honda's latest foray into the hybrid realm, the CR-Z, is a new take on the hybrid question. Honda is marketing the CR-Z as a sport hybrid, rather than a purely eco-minded car. CR-Z stands for 'Compact Renaissance Zero,' which likely plays on its new approach to the use of a hybrid engine to give a blend of sport and economy. But no matter how Honda explains how they ended up with the CR-Z name, the car is an obvious successor to the popular CRX hatchback of the 1980s and early 1990s

Specifications

Heated mirrors, fog lamps and HID-projector headlamps inside, this hybrid gains Bluetooth, available navigation, leather-wrapped steering wheel, aluminum pedals and polished interior accents, a six-speed manual transmission with an aluminum shift knob, and ambient lighting.

5. Lexus RX 450H Hybrid

Lexus has timed the introduction of its latest RX450h to perfection, coming at a time when ecological issues are grabbing the headlines and buyers at all price points are looking closely at fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions. Where this generation takes a big step forward is in those hard figures, delivering a claimed reduction in fuel consumption of 28 per cent. Lexus' RX model has been on sale since 2001 and has always offered a comfortable road-biased take on the SUV sector.

Specifications

Gas Mileage is 32 mpg City/28 mpg Hwy, Engine type - Gas/Electric V6, 3.5L, EPA Class - 2WD Sport Utility, Style Name - FWD 4dr Hybrid, Drivetrain - Front Wheel Drive, Passenger Capacity – 5, Passenger Doors – 4, Body Style - Sport Utility.

Check out this - Environment Friendly Air Car from TATA Motors