Environment

Save Water – And, Not because you pay for it!

Swati · September 4, 2020 · Leave a Comment

save water and environment — Image Courtesy : Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels

Okay, so my biggest pet peeve has to be that how easily we ignore our responsibility to contribute to the society and the environment! Charity begins at home and that’s the same rule for natural resource conservation. Let me talk about water today and I should be the last person to talk about electricity usage so I would not do that.

Let us take an honest look around our house and calculate how much water we could recycle if we make a little conscious effort.

I conducted an experiment to prove my point. The idea was inspired by one of my neighbors but the thought stayed with me. So, for the past couple of months, I have made a conscious effort to collect the water we use to wash vegetables or while cooking and even the RO’s waste.

I started with using the non-RO water to water my plants but I stopped doing that because I ended up collecting all that water but did not have so many plants to water. So, I decided to instead utilize the collected water in bathrooms. And, surprisingly I did not have to use the flush at all.

Why and How to Segregate Waste at Home?

Swati · May 10, 2019 · Leave a Comment

segregate waste at home, recycle plastic, reuse, garbage, trash — Image Courtesy : Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

For the past few months, I have developed this habit of segregating trash at home. It has not yet become a common habit in India yet but do you know how much you can help the waste pickers and the environment by doing this simple task at home itself? So, let me talk about why and how to segregate waste at home?

Eco-conscious is the new buzz word. Sadly, we are living in India where we need to run campaigns like ‘Swacch Bharat’ which is touted to be wildly successful. And, yet we are not used to segregating our trash even after so much awareness and education earning high salaries and living in cosmopolitans and metropolitan cities.

Why should we segregate waste at home?

Our trash has lot of things from the wet green waste to the unhygienic sanitary and medical waste. Sometimes, we irresponsibly throw in the e-waste and batteries as well. When we do not segregate our waste, the task falls upon the waste pickers.

Did you know that the waste pickers are exposed to an abundance of health hazards because we are not used to segregate waste at home?

Exposure to the sanitary waste exposes them to loads of bacteria and other insects which get attracted to them. When we dispose of even small batteries, the chemicals leak out of them. When waste pickers segregate the waste, they get exposed to these chemicals like cadmium, chromium, mercury, et cetera. These toxic chemicals are also released into the environment causing environmental hazard.

Separating plastic, on the other hand, is a tedious task. Going through the land mines of waste and picking up every small piece of plastic is nearly inhumane. And, finally, at least a little percentage of the plastic ends up getting burned and releasing toxic fumes into the environment.

Helping the waste pickers and environment on the other hand will reduce our personal carbon footprint and help pass down the habit to the future generations. You can also earn money by selling off all the recyclable waste segregated at home.

How to segregate waste at home?

It is common knowledge that we have three categories of waste – biodegradable or greens, recyclable which includes cartons, plastic and glass and rejected waste which includes sanitary and medical waste. Electronic waste (e-waste) comes under recyclable waste.

Loving It / Using It Vol. 15 – 5 Ways to Use the Dettol Multi-Use Wipes

Swati · December 19, 2014 · 3 Comments

Tags : Home >> Product Reviews >> Loving It

5 Ways to Use the #Dettol Multi-Use Wipes product reviews

When I was younger, I always used to wonder what would keep my mom inside the kitchen or around the house for hours together. Her work never seemed to get done. Being a house-maker myself now, I realize how diligently she did all her work and how negligently I carry on!!

Probably the dusting and cleaning and wiping are the most arduous and time taking tasks though they do not even come on our lists of TO-DO things! At least for me, they are. Because I hate water spilled around the wash basins or the hard water stains all around the house.

So, when Dettol sent me these multi-use wipes, that was the first thing I tried them on. The wiping. And, to think of it, I never really thought of using the wipes in this way. So, I did give them a try so let us see what all can we do with these wipes.

Loving It / Using It : Loving It

#Dettol multi-use wipes removes hard water stains? More at http://goo.gl/L7dkW7 via @skyiseternal @DettolIndia #perfectskincareforyou

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Hard Water Stains

Having a hard time getting rid of Hard Water stains? I love wiping the area clean after washing (near wash basins or sinks) with these wipes. For more economical usage, you can use it after the day is over to keep it fresh for the next day!!

Around the Kitchen

Whenever I do a complete cleaning of my kitchen, I have a hoard of arsenal as if going to war – a mug full of water, a dry rag, a wet rag, either a cleaning liquid or vinegar solution. But, no need of them anymore.

Wipe off the microwave or the fridge surfaces or the platform or your gas stove with these wipes. Also, the cupboards can be swiped off with them. Once a day wiping is enough unless you are hosting a party or something!!

In the Bathroom

Ok, when you share the toilet with your family members, the toilet seats need to be wiped off for the next member to use with out the eeks factor! And, I personally do prefer the dry bathrooms so using water all time is really not possible. These wipes can be used for that purpose as well. And, similarly for the wash basin and the other surfaces and not to forget the tiles and the mirrors.

Wiping off the Dining Table

This is one of the most easy tasks. I hate cleaning the dining table after meals but this makes it so damn easy and no need of any cleaning liquid either and the glass (my dining table is all glass) is all clean and the spills and other stains get wiped off in a jiffy. This works as well for wood because you should not use water on it lest it gets spoiled.

And, then, the cosmetic usage

Well, it is a perfect travel partner. No water, use this. You can use it as a face wipe, a makeup remover, clean hands during travels, keep yourself safe in the public toilets and what not?

So, what do you say? Did you ever think that wipes can be used in so many ways and that too for house cleaning purposes? Do share your tips!!

Buy these wipes from flipkart. Click on the button.

5 ways to keep the surroundings clean {Five Series}

Swati · October 29, 2014 · 3 Comments

So, I am a certified obsessive cleaner. Hubs has been saying that since a year for now but I always used to take it for granted but yesterday I was reading this article on cleanliness which made me finally accept the accusations hurled against me!!

Anyways, leaving jokes apart, yes, the disorder and chaos and things thrown here and there do bother me! And, P specializes in it!! I think all guys are like that. They will do the things you specially forbid them to!

But, that is not what is on my mind. A few days back we went to a really good restaurant (where the crowd is generally the high end or well educated class) which is accessible by lift. Unfortunately, while coming back at 11 PM in the night, we find that the lift was littered with discarded mouth freshener packets. I had actually clicked the pics as well but they are in P’s mobile and forgot to transfer them!!

On one hand we are talking about Swacch Bharat Andolan or Clean India Movement and on the other hand we have the same kind of people doing the littering. Yes, it concerns me because if we do not share our responsibility, how do we think we will achieve an objective which is so huge.

Similarly, on Diwali, I noticed that all the burnt crackers and their packaging were lying around for the maids, sweepers and others to clean. We could at least make a heap of them in a corner for someone to pick up. That would make the things easy for someone else!

keep the touristy places clean

Use Dustbins

The irony of India is that you would find the litter at those places where there is No Littering, cars parked at No Parking and people peeing at No Pee zones! Encourage your children to not throw things around even in the house. Once they learn to keep their own bed and room clean, they follow the same principles everywhere.

Enjoy your travel!

We take regular road trips or train trips or bus trips or even in the flights and we have so many wrappers because we Indians love to eat. And, all these wrappers end up being thrown out of the bus windows or in the car back pockets.

Worse still, some people end up spilling more than eating and these days we have vacuum pressured air-conditioned buses which start stinking because of these spills. It is inconvenient and un-enjoyable in the longer run.

Carry an extra disposable bag in which you can store all the things to be thrown or anything which gets spilled. And, try to teach kids not to throw around the food.

Ask the vendors to carry dustbins

We went to a small hill station nearby for this vacation and we found that there were no dustbins near the food stalls. Everyone was forced to throw the coffee and tea cups on the road. When asked, the vendors said the locals do not use the dustbins, only tourists ask for it.

Even after this bit of awareness, they did not realize the need for dustbins. And, how do we really make them aware of the need? Well, that is a difficult question to answer for me.

potted plants in the apartment keep the house and ambience clean

Help out the maids and sweepers

Just because we are paying them to clean does not give us the right to throw things around so that they will be cleared off the next morning. In fact, one good thing about my apartment is that we are not allowed to keep the garbage outside the house after 9 AM because the house keeping staff clears it at that time.

Apparently there is a fine if we are late but the whole point of this is to enforce the habit of keeping the apartment corridors clean, right?

Start composting

Well, this is one of the simplest and best ideas I can give for all to recycle the biodegradable waste which we produce in our house which is the majority of our garbage, anyways! A community compost area is a good idea but we can always keep a separate one at our houses in small earthen pots.

Extra Tip

All those pet owners, please train your pets to not use the roads or anywhere else as their toilets!!

I am so thankful that all things are coming together at the right time. Even Indian Top Blogs has started a campaign to promote the awareness of Clean India Initiative. And, I a glad to be a part of the pledge to help my bit to keep my surrounding, my house and my apartment clean.

So, what do you think about cleanliness? Are you a part of the Clean India Initiative? What ideas do you think can be implemented towards keeping or streets clean?

Do you think ice bucket challenge is cool and fun? {Environment}

Swati · September 6, 2014 · 6 Comments

Well, this has taken entire media by storm. Right from celebrities to family, everyone is doing the fad. Why are they doing it is something I would love to question. Does anyone really know for what was ice bucket challenge started for in the first place?

The answer for me would be a huge NO. Honestly, I have no idea what ALS is all about and I am too lazy to google about it. In fact, I would like to ask a question – has anyone really made the effort to google and read what sort of a disease is ALS? I am sure such a population would be minimal.

Anyways, may be I am over-reacting but just like Matt Damon, I have a tad bit of concern about the wastage of a full or half a bucket of water and ice, especially when there is such a shortage of water. Ok, I do not really mean pouring toilet water is a better solution.

But, then, I was using water in the kitchen today and that is clean water which is at max a little dirty because of cleaning veggies and rice and pulses (at least in veg kitchen) so may be one could collect that over a period of time and reuse it unless you have a garden, terrace or otherwise!! Just a thought.

So, what do you say? Is it a mindless waste of water or is it really doing something for the cause?

How eco-concious are you?? {Environment}

Swati · September 16, 2013 · 2 Comments

15th September which was day before yesterday was the pro-green day. Ok, I don’t really need a particular day to become environmentally conscious but it is always good to have days. That reminds me when is the daughters day?

So, for this Pro-Green day, The Nature’s Co. has started an initiative called the Pro-Green Oath. They are distributing saplings and seeds at their stores and providing discount on the return of the empty containers just like Lush does. But, the main is the Oath.

Every person is supposed to take a environment friendly oath, something very simple and doable like using lesser water or staying without air-conditioning for an hour extra everyday. And, this oath has to be fulfilled till the last date of competition zealously and the best part is you have to pass on the oath. The same oath or a little different would be taken on by the next person in the chain.

Also, to encourage participation, the brand has planned to give out goodies to everyone involved in the process. And, here comes the best part, the bloggers have been given an opportunity to launch a contest sort of a thing. All the bloggers involved would be writing an oath and passing it on. And, the readers should take and pass it on. The longest chain which is built is going to win the contest. Isn’t it a cool way to promote the green initiative?

I am all up for it!! Are you with me? And, don’t forget, everyone involved gets the goodies 🙂 And, I have got some news as well!! Lets keep the curiosity alive for some days 😀

Image Courtesy: greenhomebuilding.com

Rustic Art Little Laundry {Product Review}

Swati · January 27, 2013 · 8 Comments

Price: Rs 160 for 500 gms

Pros

smells really fresh

cleans clothes well

really gentle on all clothes

My Experience

I have been using this laundry detergent since a month, more or less. My clothes are mostly washed by the maid so I had talked to her as well about how the new detergent was faring!!

And, she said that the detergent was good and cleans the cloths well. In fact, it makes the things easy for her because you know how well the maids actually do things, right?

The detergent doesn’t really lather a lot or feel sticky like surf does. And, it gets washed off in just one wash so my maid is happy with less work and complaints!! She is soooooo happy with it.

Anyways, leaving my maid’s stories, how did I find the product? First of all, it smells really fresh and lemony and is not strong at all. No, the smell doesn’t linger on the clothes.

One table spoon is enough 1/3rd or 1/4th of a bucket capacity of water. It cleans the clothes really well. But, it doesn’t really remove the stains or anything as far as I know. But, as they say, detergent is only for cleaning the clothes and not for stains.

I definitely prefer it more than surf and I do guess I shall buy it again. Oh and one more thing, I have finished only half of 500 gms in this one month with a decent amount of clothes load. So, yup, give it a try! But, yes, its a bit expensive.

And, the worst comes now!! I realized just now when I was writing the review that I got the baby clothes laundry powder instead of the regular powder. Shit!! Anyways, next time, I shall have to get the regular one. Do give it a try 🙂

Other Products from Rustic Art:

Rustic Art Spa and Lotus Organic Bathing Soaps

Rustic Art Aloevera Gel

Rustic Art Algae Organic Bathing Soap