– Er. Prakash Acharya
Sad but true that we have been exploiting our resources since hundreds of years and come till 2016. For human interest, so many innocent wild lives have extinct, so many wetlands have disappeared, greenery has been a fantasy now, climate laws have changed and slowly gradually human civilization is threatened. It’s time to rethink now, rethink on how we live, how we eat, what we buy and what we drive.
Being eco smart at our home/ business shall not be a fashion or luxury but a need. Our small steps can lead us to a greener future. Greenery can be saved, fertility can be gained, marine life can rock and only by then, our generations will thank us and smile with a live planet. It’s for sure, they are not going to thank us while seeing green planet on the museum.
Here are some actions you can take to be eco smart your home/business.
- Use of motion/occupancy sensors in corridor, compounds, staircase to conserve energy
Significant amount of energy at your home or business building might have been wasted and probably you are unknown about it. Have you ever noticed fans running even when there’s no one inside the room? Lights are on even in the lonely corridor? Heater is heated in government offices, but officers are outside sunbathing? This kind of energy waste can be controlled with simple technologies. Just by using occupancy sensors, fans stop, and heaters stop when no one is inside room.
- Use Water overflow stopper in overhead tanks
Overhead water collection tank is common in our country. We don’t have regular water supply so we have to collect. Yet, the question is, when water is so much scarce, why do we waste? In average, 50 liters of water per household is wasted due to tank overflow, which can simply be avoided with a cheap technology. Go, just buy it and save water, save mother earth.
- Start composting, it’s easy
Waste handling might not be your choice yet, but believe me it’s not that crappy if you handle it promptly. Waste segregation is the first step, where decomposable waste can be collected in a compost bin to produce highly nutritious fertilizer for your garden. Your daily kitchen waste can be enough to produce compost manure necessary for your garden.
- Collect plastic bags and return them to grocery for reuse.
Avoiding plastic bag is always better, but sometimes they are not totally avoidable. In that case, collecting and returning them to grocery store for reuse is bold step you can take to reduce plastic consumption. Who knows, grocery owner might have special discount for you then!!
- Power your home with solar
Bring future to home, power your home with Mr. SUN. Solar is abundant and free! Feel the freedom of generating required power at your home itself. Isn’t it something interesting? You save your energy bill while you save the planet in bonus.
- Winter is chilling, solar geysers can be economic.
Solar geysers are one of the most reliable technologies among renewable technologies. If you are living in a region like Kathmandu or Pokhara, they will serve you hot water almost 350 days a year. Also, these technologies need very rare maintenance and last long.
- Replace bulbs with LEDs, they are available in reduced cost
Who says LEDs are expensive. They are available in same price to CFL now, while life and light of LEDs in comparison to CFL is triple. LEDs pays you back with long life and small energy bill.
- A simple LP gas leak detector can save your life
LP gas in kitchen is sometimes a monster and takes lives. We have heard much news of accidents caused by LP gas leakage, although we can be safer in kitchen with a simple technology. Put a LP gas leakage detector in kitchen and get alarmed whenever there is threat.
- Firefighter is not just a gas cylinder, sometimes it’s a savor of your whole property
We are living in such a weak system that there is always threat of fire at our property. Unfortunately, if there is, then what to do. Fools cry, scream and run for help but smart people blow off fire with the fire fighter. So, prepare for the worst, bring a cylinder of fire fighter for safety.
- Rooftop garden can create peace in you.
Gardening is one of the best things to do in earth. Rooftop gardening will make your terrace beautiful and create peace of mind in you. You will just love to see nature at your home.
- Remember other side of a printed paper can be used for unofficial documents or writing.
In every reuse of 8000 sheets of paper, you are saving a tree. Reduce paper waste to save greenery on earth.
- Setting your PC monitor go off in few minutes while it’s in idle mode can help you save energy for free.
A small step can be a giant leap with supporting roles. Shutting your computer off in the idle mode will save not only electric bill but also promote good culture towards energy.
- Waste water treatment for reusing might be costly but worth it for environment.
Big Volume of water from our shower, kitchen and toilet flush is drained and wasted. The drain water from shower, laundry and kitchen can be recycled to be used for gardening and toilet flush. If every one of us is doing this, we would be able to save more than 60% of water of present consumption.
- If you are making a new home, don’t forget to include rainwater harvest technology.
In a city like Kathmandu where water is so rare, rainwater harvest technology can help a lot to reduce dependency on national grid. Rainwater is cleaner and safer which can be used for shower, laundry, car washing and other cleaning applications.
- If you are fond of SUKUTI, JHILINGA, SUN DRY TOMATO etc. then solar dryer are for you.
Solar dryer reduces drying down time and dries different food product in a hygienic environment. With solar dryer, you won’t need to worry about dust, rain, bird’s faucets and other kind of pollutions.
- If you own a hotel, a master switch in each room will help you save a lot of electricity and money
A simple technique I highly appreciate is a key locket which works to ON and OFF a master switch of a hotel’s room. This is just simple and awesome. In a hotel, there mostly is a situation where guest is outside the room and electrical appliances like TV, fan and lights are ON. So, master switch can help you avoid this kind of energy wastages.
- Kawadi wala pays your one day meal, if you recycle newspaper bottles, old battery and metals once a month.
Waste can be wealth .Throwing old newspaper, beer bottles and scraps to municipality truck will give you nothing but Kawadi wala will happily pay you for them. Your waste can create wealth for you, for Kawadi wala family, for collector’s family and so on chain goes on.
- Take a shopping bag from home, no plastic bags.
Saying NO to plastic bag is most holy thing we can do for planet.
- Go Online.
Exploit technology, pay your electricity bill, water bill, and phone bills online. There are so many online payment platforms available even in Nepal. Avoid paper bills, recharge cards. Save paper, save trees and save energy.
Prakash Acharya is an Industrial Engineer and the CEO of Mukti Energy. He can be reached at prakashccg@gmail.com.