Carbon Footprint
It was almost 14 years back when I initially heard the term Carbon Footprint; thanks to Applied Materials. That time I was a novice and wondering what it means. It didn't take too long to unravel. It started off with exploring options to reduce carbon footprint. The first step we took was to spare efforts for a plantation drive. It was a very satisfactory moment to give back to the environment.
After a long hiatus, it was a Deja vu for me in the year 2020. Please note this had nothing to do with the pandemic. It all started off with great motivation from friends & families. These are the means by which my journey had passed (in the chronological order):
Plants - We went in for some crotons which needs very less maintenance. Watering once a week would also go well. Moreover, to our astonishment we saw that sowing a single stem in the pot resulted in such wide spread growth that we now had to prune them periodically. This was the cheapest way of being environment friendly.
Solar - I got my home running on the powerful & abundant renewable source of energy available all throughout the day. It turned out to be an inconceivable moment when I was able to run all my electrical equipment leaving out Geyser & Microwave. The motive was not on the savings which I know most of us would like, but more towards going greener
EV - Once the solar panels were in place, I got motivated to take the next step and turned towards the 2 wheeler. I own the Okinawa Praise pro (no marketing intent). It’s a pretty good one and has the features I was looking for. And guess what, it definitely adds up when most of the companies today have a charging station in the campus. If not free food, free fuel for sure :)
Water heater - Next one on the list was the solar water heater. This took me 1 full year to gauge the solar power. It’s very easy to implement and works well even with mild sunny conditions. During summer, the water gets heated so much that you would need to have a mix. More inspiring is when your local electricity board gives you a discount on the monthly bill.
Public transport - I have been fortunate to have a bus stop right in front of my house & right next to my office with a direct bus connectivity. This really helped me and also my friends who are kind of to give a drop on the return. I am optimistic that once we have the Metro running in all directions, there would be a good drop in the private vehicles.
Any guesses on the next mission? You guessed it right - EV car. I have been exploring options here. Based on the inputs and guidance received, I have decided to run my car to complete the 15 years life after which the switch shall be made. In parallel, counting on the technology to bring down the costs & the automobile industry for a surge in the charging stations.
These are some additional titbits staying in line with the R3 formula - Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.
1. One can easily reuse the plastic bags that accumulate in home from many sources. I personally reuse them here and avoid picking new or paper bags:
- Garbage bags & Groceries shopping
2. There are small stores which collect paper and plastic. Segregating these from your household waste and handing over these to these outlets would make the whole recycling process effective & efficient
3. As much as possible reduce using packaged food. For eg: I opted to get milk delivered using cans, we make curd at home and we prepare the batter. Do note, the motive here is only to encourage the other retailers to go bio clean.
There could be many more means of contributing in this noble cause. Do share your experiences so that we can learn. I am very sure all of us can do our bit in making this beautiful earth cleaner & greener. It’s very important to retain the integrity for the wellness of generations to come. Looking forward to have you onboard and accompany me in this eco-friendly tour.