Check the star rating before purchasing an electrical appliance

Energy star for your appliance plays vital role in saving energy and reducing your carbon footprints. Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products.The Energy Star program was created in 1992 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission by power plants. Energy Star specifications differ with each item, and are set by either the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Energy.The star labeling was made mandatory for refrigerators, AC's, tubular fluorescent lights and distribution transformers from January 2010.


How many of you actually check the star rating before purchasing an electrical appliance? The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has started a national education program on star labeling for AC's. They, along with Emerson Climate Technologies and International Copper Promotion Council of India, launched a program on Wednesday to train 450 salesmen across 120 showrooms in Bangalore. They will be trained by BEE on star-rated products. These salesmen will help customers choose energy-efficient AC's. BEE will also provide 24 touch screen energy calculating kiosks for designated showrooms.

Window AC's have got up to three star rating and may soon get a four star too. However, other models have already got five star rating. From January this year, one to five-star labeling, depending on the energy efficiency of the appliance, has been made mandatory for refrigerators, AC's and tube-lights. The room fitted with AC should be fully covered on all sides, with a firmly closing type door. If you are air conditioning your living room, which is open to the kitchen on one side, then you need to provide a partition.If any windows are exposed to direct sun rays, use a drape or venetian blind to keep away the radiation heat from entering the room.

Green Tips-Simple Things We Can Do

• If you are buying charcoal, make sure it's made from a sustainable source. Enormous areas of tropical rain forest are destroyed every year to produce the 400,000 tons of charcoal burned annually in the U.S.
  

• Create a workable system to always have your cloth bags with you for purchases. Re-use paper and plastic bags, and when they wear out, recycle them.

• Place your air conditioner or thermostat away from lamps, TVs, or any heat-generating appliance. Outdoors, if you shade your air conditioning unit, you could save 10%-15% a year on energy use and costs.

• Cover pans with lids to save 2/3 of the energy used in cooking. Use your microwave rather than the stove and save as much as $50 a year

• CD cases are often made with polyvinyl chloride, which doesn’t recycle easily. By downloading new music you reduce production costs, packaging and CDs that eventually end up in the landfill.

• By watering less, you can make your grass grow roots that are deeper and healthier.Daily watering produces shallow roots.

Reduce waste and Save environment

The majority of the waste ends up in landfill or as litter. Either way, household waste is an environmental problem. Here are tips for you to reduce waste and promote green living.

• Food scraps and garden waste can be composted:The easiest way to deal with food waste is to set up a worm farm and/or a compost heap at your home. And you don't necessarily need a big garden to do this. Apartment dwellers can set up small worm farms on a balcony or a communal compost heap on the ground somewhere.Most food scraps (but not meat or dairy) and garden waste can be composted.

• Reusable products or packaging: Try to only buy products that are reusable or come in reusable packaging - and actually reuse them. Take your own cup when buying a coffee or drink.The best solution to waste is to avoid it in the first place.Avoid altogether items that are designed to be used once only

• Avoid an air-based holiday: Aeroplanes are one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse pollution. In particular, they emit high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and water vapor. For your next vacation discover the secrets of your own state rather than taking an air-based holiday, or travel overland by train or bus.

• Think about what you need: Throwing food away costs more than just the money you paid for it, you're also wasting all the water, energy and other resources that went in to producing the food in the first place.Think about what you need and use what's in the fridge, freezer or pantry before you eat out or get take away.

• Switching to Green Power: Switching to Green Power is the best way to cut your greenhouse pollution in the home. When you switch, you'll see no change in the way electricity comes to your house and there is no supply disruption. The only difference is that for a small extra charge, some or all of the electricity that you use will come from a renewable energy source and directly reduce greenhouse pollution.

Eco-friendly lifestyle for safe environment

Environment and living beings depends each other for its existence. Eco-friendly lifestyle enables you to reduce carbon foot print and minimize damage caused to environment. Here are some tips for you.

• Avoid transportation that uses air-polluting fuel whenever possible. Walking to the store can provide exercise while saving money and being better for the environment.

• Check out manufacturers that use rapidly renewable resources when building furniture, mattresses, flooring and more.

• When it's time to add a little color to your walls, know that some companies produce low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint

• Work with your local waste management company to properly dispose of these materials.

• Avoid the waste of materials and fuel involved in shipping by purchasing locally.

• The use of compact-fluorescent lamps (CFL) is encouraged as they reduce power consumption by as much as 70 per cent.

• Depend less on your electricity company and use self-generated electricity using biogas as fuel.

• Use no geysers and air-conditioners. Use solar water heater water heater.

• Harvest rain water for recharging ground water and storing rainwater for future use.

Spread the Word to Save Environment

Your word has power of saving the environment. We all know that our country is one of the nations that are facing the problem of global warming. You can share your tips with your friends, teachers, neighbors or relatives. You can ask more tips from them. This enables you to spread green living or ideas among your friends and neighbors. Here are some tips for you to share with your friends, relatives or neighbors.

• Don’t place your fridge in a warm spot-near a heater or in direct sunlight.

• For efficient operation clean the condenser coils on the back or bottom of your fridge at least once a year.

• Unlike refrigerators, with freezers size does matter. Larger freezers do need more electricity.

• Don’t waste energy preheating your oven, most ovens don’t need it.

• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). Compact fluorescents use four times less energy, and last eight times longer than incandescent light bulbs.

• Wish your friends and relatives on special occasion with e-card. This is cheapest and easiest way to wish them. Save paper by sending e-card.

You can share your tips with your friends, teachers, neighbors or relatives. Learn one green tip each day and adopt green living in your life. Reduce wastage and reduce your carbon footprint in the world. Your word has power to change the world. Help friends and seek help from your friends to save environment.

Simple tips for reducing your carbon footprint

Here are some tips for reducing you carbon footprint and save environment.

Your television area can usually have a plethora of cords: The television, cable box, stereos, DVD players should all be plugged into a surge protector that you can easily switch off when you are not using them. This way, your appliances do not sap electricity while they are not in use.

Common Area Ligting: Solar Ligting is a useful source of resuseable energy which used properly for common area lighting will save a lot of Energy(Power). Automating the Lighting system will further saves More Energy enabling us to contribute to resolve ISSUE OF GLOBAL. WARMING.

Send an e-card instead of a paper card: Wish your friends and relatives on special occasion with e-card. This is cheapest and easiest way to wish them. Save paper by sending e-card.

Use public transport on your way to airport:Most hub and regional airports have good public transport links, which means you can catch the bus or train instead of driving to the airport and adding to your carbon footprint even more


Dual piping for apartment: Residents can use one pipe for drinking, bathing and utensil cleaning where other pipe will bring in rain water and treated water for toilet, lawns, washing cars, floors etc. This will enables to save 40% of potable water.

Reduce Carbon Footprint with Green Home

Green home reduces wastage of natural resource and save environment and your money. Green living is the mantra or secret of saving earth or environment. Green home enables you to reduce your carbon footprint. Here are some tips for making or converting your home to green home.

• Eat Organic Food: If you have a chance to eat organic food, do so because it will prevent food producers from using pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. Choose local organic food where available, because organic food uses less energy to produce than non-organic alternatives.

• Clean Your Fridge: Refrigerators use a tremendous amount of energy every year. To cut down on waste, clean the condenser coils every year. Also, do not keep the temperature unnecessarily low.

• Buy Recyclable Products: When deciding between products, pick the one that can be recycled rather than sent to a landfill when you are done using it.

• Close Vents and Doors of Unused Rooms: Close all the air vents and the door in the unused room. By doing this, your heating and cooling systems will not have to work harder to regulate extra space that just goes unused anyway.

• Donate Goods: If you no longer need something that might be useful to someone else, try to donate the goods rather than throwing them away.

• Use Compact Fluorescent Lamps: CFL lamps can be used instead of using traditional bulbs. CFL consumes less electricity and emits less heat. This helps to keep room temperature cool and make a good saving on your monthly utility bills

Green Lifestyle for Saving Nature

It is duty of one and all to save environment and bring balance in nature. Never pollute or waste natural resource, avoid generation of waste by recycle, reuse and reduce.

• Healthy ideas - Save water / electricity: Use the water left after rinsing your clothes to wash off the balconies / toilets - save water guys...Use a mud pot to cool water instead of storing it in the refrigerator - will save power and also good for health.
• Plant trees in waste lands: Small pieces of unused land should be used to plant trees. They look beautiful and help bring down the heat.
• Save waste at work - use a mug or glass for your drinks instead of disposable cups, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
• Car pool to your workplace, it only needs a small adjustment in your schedules. You can socialize and get to know your neighbors and colleagues while driving, reduce your driving stress and save the money spent on fuel and maintenance.
• Exchange your old appliance for newer one which consumes less energy. New appliances are designed to save electricity and meet your requirements. Exchange your old appliances and best utilize the offers. Check for labels and efficiency of appliances.
• Walk, ride a bicycle, use public transportation, or carpool whenever possible. Save environment from getting more pollution

How to Turn Your House Energy Efficient

Energy efficient home consumes less electricity without affecting the lifestyle of people living in the house. You can convert your house into energy efficient making small changes in your home. Most of them think they need to spend more at initial stage when setting an energy efficient house. Here are simple points to make your home energy efficient.

• Change ordinary bulbs: Tube lights and bulbs consume more energy comparing to CFL (compact Fluorescent Lamp). CFL emits less heat and helps to keep room temperature cool. Just replace bulbs to CFL in important rooms like living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

• Energy Audit: This helps to find which appliance consumes more energy. Energy audit increase efficiency of the house and helps to you save good amount in your monthly utility bills.

• Replace old appliances: Old appliances consume more energy compare to new appliances. Replace old home appliance with newer one which consumes less energy. Check for label and efficiency of appliance when buying.

• Switch off TV and computer: Switch off TV and computer when not in use. Do not keep in standby mode. It consumes equal energy when they are used. Keep a routine or system to watch TV rather than keeping them on from day to night.

• Dry clothes naturally: When there is enough sunlight or on sunny day dry clothes naturally than using dryer. Let clothes dry naturally, it is good for cloth and helps you save energy.

• Drapes and shades: Keep drapes and shades closed where you get direct sunlight and best utilize sunlight which enters indirectly to light your room during day. Keeping drapes and shades closed in day during summer and in night during winter helps to maintain balance in room temperature. This helps to save on energy which you consume to cool or warm your room using cooler or air conditioner.

These simple things help to keep your home energy efficient. Every one of us knows the value of energy and need not required to explain but need to remind when we forget or ignores. You may have more information or tips to make energy efficient house, feel free to share with us.