Sustainability is the ability to maintain or support a process over time. Sustainability is broken into three core concepts: economic, environmental, and social.
We can lead our sustainable lifestyle in a sustainable home. I am listing below few important points which can be practiced by everyone of us to save our Mother Earth.
- Water Conservation : Water is an important component in our day-to-day life. We need to consider the availability of potable water for future generations. The availability of potable water in the world is reducing day by day due to global warming . We can use less water for bath , washing of vessels and clothes, operate washing machine at full load , use RO reject water for other purposes , used water for flush and vegetable wash water for garden. Taps can be fitted with aerators
2. Solar Power : we should explore installing solar panels to generate additional power for our day-to-day use. We can go for net metering and this enables us to sell the excess power generated to the power generating company . The Indian government is offering financial subsidy and bank loans to install solar panels. We can refer PM Surya Garh scheme for more details
3. Rain Water Harvesting : Water availability is reducing day by day in lakes and catchment areas . Conventional wells are disappearing and dug borewells yield water after reaching 1500 feet or more . We should harvest rainwater and try to store it for later use and the excess water should be used to recharge the borewells, the rainwater collected should also fill up the existing temple tanks and lakes
4. Waste Management: we all need to segregate waste generated at home into wet waste, Drywaste , sanitary waste, electronic waste and Hazaras waste. Wet waste can be Compost in different ways like aerobic composting , Bokhasi composting and Vermi composting . The Compost generated can be used to enrich the soil. Dry waste can be recycled . Medical waste should be carefully handled . By doing the above we can avoid waste getting in to landfill.
5. Gardening and Tree Planting :
The compost generated at home can be used to develop the terrace garden by adding red soil, Cocopeat, cow manure and other essential nutrients for the plant. The garden produces fresh vegetables in an organic way and by this method we can avoid vegetables sold in the market which are produced by using chemical nutrients. Save the fruit seeds you get at home , keep them safe , produce seed balls and throw them on the way when you travel . Trees produce oxygen and we need more trees to protect nature .
6. Others : We can avoid plastic as much as possible. For example, we can carry cloth bags to buy vegetables and groceries, and if any plastic bags are available, we can try to reuse them as much as possible. We should get back to our olden days like taking containers to the hotel for buying snacks and use more steel cutlery in marriages. We should plan to conduct more green weddings . Also bring down the pollution by bringing down the carbon emission which emanate from burning of lights, TV usage, computer usage, and so on. They all should be switched off when not in use. We can use more LED bulbs in our lighting. we can try to use public transport like buses, trains, and aeroplane and avoid taking our own cars. Car Pooling should be adopted wherever possible