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.

Reduce electricity Consumption

when you switch off TV , VCR or DVD player using the remote then also there is power loses so unplug this equipment when not in use.



Use a motion sensor for outside lighting. This helps to save energy and use lights only when light is required rather than keeping light on for whole night.

Turn off the monitor when your computer is unattended, for instance when downloading files overnight, listing songs or going away from your desk.

Use bulbs and other electric apparatus that consume comparably less electricity.

Replace old home appliance with energy star home appliance. Research and collect information on energy star equipments and energy saved by using them.

Switch off lights and fans when not in use.Set the monitor to automatically shut off or switch to standby mode when idle

Save Water, Living beings and the Environment

It takes a considerable amount of energy to deliver and treat the water you use everyday. By reducing household water use you can not only help reduce the energy required to supply and treat public water supplies but also can help address climate change.Leaks inside your toilet can waste up to 200 gallons per day.Here are some tips for conserving water in your home.

Toilet flushing is responsible for about 30 percent of all water used by the household, which means that almost 44,000 gallons of quality water is flushed away per family every year.Stop using potable water for Toilet flushing.

Turning the water off while you lather the soap can save as many as 5 gallons of water each time you wash.


Plant one little sapling for each and every little occasions you celebrate for it grows to remind you of the happiness time and again.

Throwing chemicals in the trash or down the drain means they might end up back in your water supply and come back to haunt you.To ensure sustainable availability of water, every citizen has to play a vital role not only in conserving water but also preventing contamination of groundwater.

Do not dispose of food waste in kitchen sink as it requires lots of water for disposal and also increases unnecessary load on septic tank.

Water should be used properly.Don't leave the tap open while shaving, brushing your teeth etc.

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.

Old toilets consume more water, replace old toilets with new one that helps to save water and consumes less water.

You can save energy by unplugging the appliances which are not in Water your plant or garden in early morning or in evening, this helps is minimizing evaporation of water.

If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons per year which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your septic system.Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers.

Read More Green Living Tips @ commonfloor.com/green-living

Promote Organic fruits and organic Farms

Organic farms do not consume or release synthetic pesticides into the environment.Early consumers interested in organic food would look for non-chemically treated, fresh or minimally processed food.Foods claiming to be organic must be free of artificial food additives, and are often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions.



A major benefit to consumers of organic food is that it is free of contamination. Organically grown plants are nourished naturally, rendering the structural and metabolic integrity of their cellular structure superior to those conventionally grown. As a result, organically grown foods can be stored longer.Organic farming normally does not involve capital investment as high as that required in chemical farming.Crop failure, therefore, does not leave an organic farmer into enormous debt.Organic food prevents food producers from using pesticides and other dangerous chemicals.

In traditional India, entire agriculture was practiced using organic techniques, where the fertilizers, pesticides, etc., were obtained from plant and animal products. Many farmers in India are shifting to organic farming due to the domestic and international demand for organic food. When calculated either per unit area or per unit of yield, organic farms use less energy and produce less waste. Today people are increasingly concerned about the quality and cleanliness of the foods they eat. Organic farms or eating locally grown food helps in the fight against global warming.Eating locally encourages the use of local farmland for farming and eliminates the wastage of fuel in transportation. Promoting organic fruits and locally grown food helps to reduce carbon footprints.

Simple ways to go green and save environment

Replace old appliances: Replace your old, inefficient appliances with Energy Star qualified appliances and save energy and money.

Improve air quality: Upgrading and properly maintaining your home air filters is easy and helps improve indoor air quality.

Compost and recycle: Composting is the smart way to dispose of leaves, yard clippings, selected food scraps, and other organic wastes.Make it a habit to recycle your glass, cans, cardboard, and newspapers.

Natural Air fresheners: Air fresheners listed as “natural” or “unscented” can contain hazardous chemicals. Making your own scented products with non-toxic ingredients such as flowers, herbs, spices, citrus, essential oils, and so fourth is a safe.

Eco-friendly throw pillows: Decorative organic cotton Eco-Art Pillows pillows are hand printed with modern designs using environmentally safe water-based inks.

Save water: Turning the water off while you lather the soap can save as many as 5 gallons of water each time you wash. Skip rinsing your plates before putting them into the dishwasher. In average you will save 15 gallons of water per load.

Simple green tips you can easily adopt in your daily life

Green living is today a buzz word and adopting green lifestyle is easy. You can adopt following green methods our environment and your money. Following are Simple green tips for your daily life.

Turn water off while lathering your hands: Turning the water off while you lather the soap can save as many as 5 gallons of water each time you wash.

Prefer to walk for Nearby Destinations: This would help you save lots of Power, reduce pollution and is good for health.

Avoid extra wear and tear on your car: Erratic driving with sudden accelerating and hard braking uses up extra gas. It puts extra wear and tear on your car.

Live Closer to Your Destinations: Living close to your destinations helps to explore neighborhoods that are near your workplace, have public transportation, and offer easy access to the places you visit most often.

Cycle for Green: Cycle daily to work and you can save the environment and also maintain your health.

Contribute your Green Ideas

Spread Green Living Ideas

Please share this Green Living Ideas with your friends and help spread the Green Consciousness.

Hazardous waste should be segregated separately : Fluorescents bulbs or tube contain mercury, which is highly toxic.each homeowner be required to have a garbage can labeled hazardous waste and only hazardous waste could go into it. Then contact hazardous waste garbage disposal company to pick it up in a separate truck, possibly only once a month.

Say No to Bottled water : Bottled water takes money from your pocket and adds an even greater amount of waste to landfills. Purchase a reusable water bottle to use at work or when traveling so you don\'t have to buy bottled water.


Get a Fuel-Efficient Car : Not only will a fuel-efficient car pollute less and use up less gas, it will save you money too.

Common Area Lighting : Solar Lighting is a useful source of renewable energy which used properly for common are alighting 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.

Live Closer to Your Destinations : Living close to your destinations helps to explore neighborhoods that are near your workplace, have public transportation, and offer easy access to the places you visit most often.

If you have Green ideas to share please add them at http://www.commonfloor.com/green-living