The air we breathe, the water we drink, the security of all the living creatures on earth, the fertility of the land on which we grow our food, have all deteriorated in the past few years.’I'll go out for a breath of fresh air’ is an often-heard phrase. But how many of us realize that this has become irrelevant in today’s world, because the quality of air in our cities is anything but fresh. The moment you step out of the house and are on the road you can actually see the air getting polluted; a cloud of smoke from the exhaust of a bus, car, or a scooter; smoke billowing from a factory chimney, fly ash  generated by thermal power plants, and speeding cars causing dust to rise from the roads.

When the environment becomes less valuable or damaged, environmental degradation is said to occur. There are many forms of environmental degradation.  When habitats are destroyed, biodiversity is lost, or natural resources are depleted, the environment is hurt. .  The largest areas of concern at present are the loss of rain forests, pollution , ozone depletion, and the destruction of the marine environment. There are a number of serious issues that we, globally, have to deal with, for our own, our children’s and our grand children’s sake. Nature provides us with the very essence of life. However, the world is increasingly taking recourse to synthetic and toxic materials, which is polluting the atmosphere and curtailing human longevity.

Green issues In the broadest sense, all issues faced by a city relate to the environment in some way, even if only indirectly. At their core, green issues are about the choices we make and the impact those choices have on the environment around us. Below is a selection of major issue areas that demonstrate both the interconnectedness of green issues, as well as the many ways in which they intersect with our lives.

Green sleep Organic sleep system has been proven to provide a healthy, restorative sleep for our body and mind which is based on extensive studies and uses only the finest organic materials that nature has to offer.

-Even if we are sleeping enough hours, if we don’t spend enough time in deep sleep, our body and mind will not be refreshed. Even in the absence of an obvious disorder, many things can disturb the quality and timing of sleep like medications, alcohol, stimulant use, even our exposure to strong lighting.

-Brewing a cup of tea made from relaxing, non-habit-forming herbs, which is a gentle sedative; chamomile, which helps calm our nerves and sooth the stomach; or passionflower, a safe sedative that eases anxiety, worry, or an overactive mind.

-Coffeealso promotes anxiety. It makes us constantly think about the next thing on  the  list so we cannot fall into a deep sleep.

-Sitting with our feelings for a bit at least 15 to 20 minutes a day and eventually we will see a huge improvement in our sleep. Meditation helps us remember that it’s really just our monkey mind taking over and keeping us from relaxing.

-Millions of people complain about not being able to sleep or simply not feeling rested after a night of rest.

-Poor air quality is definitely one of the things that can be factored into not getting enough zzz’s. Another method of breathing easier in the bedroom is to use a clay plaster that produces negative ions. It’s thought by some that these negative ions can increase the flow of oxygen to the brain.

-Even a two-year-old pillow can attribute 10% of its weight to the critters and their droppings. So, if our mattress is old and heavy, we should get a new one. If absolutely cannot get a new one just, there is still a smaller step we can take; we can get a hypo-allergenic, natural mattress cover. The following are some of the tips for goodnight sleep.

-We must stick to a schedule. Erratic bedtimes do not allow for our body to align to the proper circadian rhythms.

-We should avoid daytime sleep if possible. Daytime naps steal hours from night time slumber.

-Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help us sleep. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.
-Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.
-We should avoid spicy foods before bedtime. Giving at least 2 hours from when we eat to when we sleep, allows for digestion to happen well before we go to sleep.

-Sleeping with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.
-We should avoid alcohol before bedtime. It’s a depressant; although it may make it easier to fall asleep, it causes us to wake up during the night.

-Houseplants will purify the air in our bedroom, countering the stink of endless farts and abandoned socks. They filter out pollutants and toxins, add moisture to the air and reduce the incidence of allergies.

-We should avoid mothballs, as they are not just harmful to moths, but potentially bad for the environment. Mixing up cedar chips, rosemary, mint and peppercorns, and finishing off by sprinkling in a little dried tobacco will give a better result.

Green diet A green diet is a healthy, diverse diet that involves eating real foods. A green diet is a return to fresh, flavorful foods. Green Food stands edible produce and processed products produced in sustainable environment and technical standards with whole-some quality control, non-pollution, safety, quality and special logo. It is not about sacrificing an entire food group, or strictly eating vegetables, or giving up the foods we love.

Many people consider a vegetarian diet to be insufficient in terms of the major food groups. The biggest virtue of a vegetarian diet is that it allows for substantial add-ons to the total fibre intake while also allowing the incorporation of good quality fat. All wholegrain cereals and coarse grains like bajra, jowar, thalipeeth, oats, and pulses, as well as dals, nuts, oilseeds, and even green leafy vegetables, are not only full of soluble and insoluble fibre but also have good quality fats like omega 3 fatty acids and mono unsaturated. These are needed to prevent the onset of diabetes, heart diseases and cancers. A major benefit of including these foods in our daily diet is that they help to lower cholesterol and blood sugar, and also help in creating a protective environment in the body.

In order to aid the absorption of iron from these foods, vegetarians should also incorporate foods rich in vitamin C into their diets include capsicum, cabbage, drumstick leaves, guava, amla, orange juice, and sprouts. We should eliminate processed foods, high-fat foods, canned foods refined grain products such as white bread, white rice, pasta and all-purpose flour, which are less healthy and replace them with whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice, fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season, and preferably local and organic.

Green holiday Holidaying closer to home helps us cut down the emissions of our trips. It can also help minimise travel time and, in many cases, save money.
Closer to home, there are many simple ways to become a greener traveler –about shunning from cycling to driving efficiently; we can reduce the environmental impact of our travels at a stroke. If we have no choice but to drive a lot of miles regularly, then choosing a car with low emissions will lower our impact on the environment. Switching from model rated “fuel efficiency” will reduce the emissions per mile by around 40 per cent. If we drive only rarely, an even more ambitious move would be to get rid of our car altogether and join a car sharing club instead.   Idling should also be avoided – if a car is stationary for more than around ten seconds, it’s usually greener to turn off the engine.

Green energyGreen energy is a term used to describe sources of energy that are considered to be environmentally friendly and non-polluting, such as geothermal, wind, and solar power. The more we use renewable energy, the more we benefit the global environment.

Solarenergy is created by heat and light radiated from the Sun.
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into electricity using wind turbines. Groups of these turbines are called wind farms, which are connected to electrical grids.
Geothermal process uses energy generated by heat stored beneath the Earth’s surface. Hydropower comes from the energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator.

Biomass produces energy which can reduce the use of fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as reducing waste management problems. Most electricity generated using biomass today is by the direct combustion method, primarily burning waste wood products generated by the agriculture and wood-processing industries.

Green fitness Exercise is important for health and keeping  less weight  Many people go to a gym, but gyms aren’t the greenest places to  do it . Gyms use a huge amount of  air conditioning, operating the equipment, and heating pools.

We can get greener exercise in the nearest park or at home.  Housework is a good form of exercise and it’s no more boring than spending time on the treadmill and we save on those gym fees. Personal fitness makes our body strong enough to better resist illness. We may need some basic equipment such as mats, bands, balls and other exercise and sports equipment.  Walking, biking, dance, yoga and Pilates are examples of exercise types that have good physical benefits without adding pollution to the environment.  “Green gyms” have emerged on the scene to help fitness buffs focus on natural healing fitness strategies.
Natural fitness gives us a greater chance to connect with the natural world around us.  Walking around the neighborhood, the park and other eco-friendly places is good for our spirit and the earth.   Taking friends or family members along when we exercise; it not only helps the entire family stay in shape, it promotes a green way of staying fit in a manner the entire family can enjoy.

Green communicationThe success of a green office policy is the active involvement of all members of staff, and this can be achieved by establishing good communication from the beginning. Office environmental policy is special because it needs everyone from the top of the organisation down to the junior office clerks at the bottom of the ladder to play their part. It is crucial to the success of a green office policy to maintain good communication between all levels of employee, and at all stages of the process. If employees are to embrace the green initiative, they need to be worked with rather than dictated to. Businesses that have implemented sustainable workplace initiatives and encouraged their staff to get involved have been pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm and willingness to support the programme. Regular meetings or briefs should be held and newsletters or e-mail updates sent out, informing everyone what changes are going on, why, when and how they can contribute.

The relatively recent phenomenon of companies encouraging staff to speak out and tell them what they think is a positive development, but too often employees literally cannot because they work within their own little bubble unaware, and uninterested in anything going on in the rest of the workplace that doesn’t directly affect them. Establishing a green network of communication will help give staff a power and interest beyond their desk.

Green areasspending time in green areas lowers stress levels. This could in part be due to our bodies being attuned to a more natural environment. Many of us know that being in pleasant natural surroundings can be relaxing. A walk in the countryside or through a leafy park feels as though it is doing us good.

It could be that the lack of crowding and lesser likelihood of crime in leafy areas give rise to less psychosocial stress; the poor are predominately urban dwellers. It can be refreshing and probably healthy to feel the wind, rain and cold on our bodies. We are also programmed to deal with danger. In urban environments, surrounded by strangers our stress response may be continually stimulated at a low level thereby providing a constant stream of stress hormones.

Green technologyGreen technology or clean technology is the application of the environmental science to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies.

-Hardware and software auditcould unveil inefficiencies in our business processes. We could steam-line our resources to make them more energy efficient.

-Printer & hardware maintenance will extend the life of the machine and save energy.

-By sending our incoming faxes straight to email, we save our business money on resources and enable electronic document organisation especially in combination with using document management software.

-By making an electronic filing system rather than a paper one, we can save printing resources, time and office space. With all our files stored in a categorised electronic system, we can search easily for our files and utilise the space that would normally be filled by filing cabinets.

-Allowing our employees to work from home can make them more efficient. By enabling our employees to manage their time better, eliminating commuting time and making family commitments easier to deal with, we could boost our business and reduce our office space, energy, bills and our company’s overhead.

-Using mobile communications to work on the move can aid our employees in working more efficiently.

-Although face-to-face communication will always be vital to some sales, using video conferencing, we reduce the cost per sale through less travel time and more flexible customer engagement. Virtual seminars or product demonstrations can also be created using IP surveillance cameras which can be logged on to by the viewer from any Internet capable computer, eliminating the need to travel and allowing multiple persons to view at once.

- Having to call in emergency IT support costs our company time, energy and money. By having a facilities management agreement, our IT support service can monitor our company’s technology remotely, alerting us to many problems before they occur, enabling a swift resolution before a call out has to be made.

Being environmentally aware is very important these days. Whether buying a Christmas tree stand or looking for an executive rental, for many consumers it’s important to know how environmentally friendly a product or service really is. That’s the gist of this post, it’s an explanation of the environmentally responsible policies we, as a hotel, enact in an attempt to do our part to achieve sustainability.

Your average hotel is not very environmentally friendly. I don’t mean this as a criticism; it’s the nature of the business. Hotels, by definition, use a lot of resources in their day-to-day operations. There’s the water and electricity for all the rooms, the cost of washing the linens, all those little soaps and shampoo bottles to dispose of… Hotels are environmentally expensive to run and maintain. That’s why here at O Hotel Suites we have initiated a number of policies in an attempt to cut down on the waste and enhance the level of sustainable practices we already had. All of the suites here at O are equipped with full kitchens and laundry appliances. However, all of the major appliances are environmentally friendly models. Even the ovens are convection models, which cook food faster and at a lower temperature thus using less energy than older electric or gas models.

This practice includes not only the kitchen appliances, but also the amenities chosen, as well as the water usage. The high quality amenities that we provide for our guests are ‘green’ products supplied by Aveda, and even the little cardboard boxes they come in are made from recycled materials. Also, the taps, faucets, shower heads, and toilets are all low-flow models designed to mitigate wasteful usage. Admittedly, the solution isn’t perfect (low-flow showerheads mean no needle spray, for example) but it’s definitely progress.

Biodiesel has many benefits, but one of the most exciting things about biodiesel is that anyone can make it at home. Imagine being able to make your fuel for your vehicle or even to create energy for your home right in your garage. That would mean major savings for you.

Making Biodiesel is not really that difficult of a process, either. It is great to get into making your own biodiesel if you are able to because you will get even more rewards from using biodiesel thorough doing so.

Supplies

To make a small batch of biodiesel at home all you need are a few supplies. You need the actual ingredients to make the biodiesel – alcohol, lye and vegetable oil. You also need some supplies to mix the fuel – empty plastic bottles, duct tape, a blender and measuring cups. Be sure anything you use to make your biodiesel is only used for that purpose and never used again in the kitchen for cooking.

Once you have gathered your supplies you are ready to begin learning how to make biodiesel.

Safe Process

Making biodiesel is a relatively safe process. There is little risk for fire or explosion as you may expect with fuel. In fact, the only major area of concern, as far as safety, is burning yourself. Just be careful and realize the mixture does get hot.

You will go through the easy process of making biodiesel which involves mixing the ingredients, letting it set, separating the byproduct and biodiesel and then cleaning the biodiesel. The whole process can take a few days to a few weeks. That depends on how clean your vegetable oil was to start with.

Small or Large Scale

You can make biodiesel on a small scale or a large scale. Biodiesel kits can great if you want to make a few gallons of biodiesel at a time. If you are running your lawnmower or other lawn equipment then a biodiesel kit would be perfect. It is simple to use and will require a small amount of supplies.

If you are looking to make more biodiesel, say to fuel your vehicle, then you will need a biodiesel processor. This makes the process super simple, so you can make more than a few gallons at a time. With a processor you will need some more supplies but you also will not have to spend a lot of time making biodiesel since the processor does most of the work for you.

Anyone can make biodiesel. It’s easy, you can make it in your kitchen, it will save you money and it’s good for the planet. Your diesel motor will run better and last longer on your home-made fuel, and it’s much cleaner — better for the environment and better for health. If you make it from leftover cooking oil it’s not only cheap but you’ll be recycling a troublesome waste product that too often ends up in sewers and landfills instead of being recycled.

Best of all is the wonderful feeling of freedom and independence and reducing your carbon footprint. To find out more click here.

Planet Earth is facing a multitude of problems. They are: water shortage, climate change, melting ice- caps and global warming to name a few. The root of all her problems can be traced to the injury caused to her by the enormous population of the human species. The problem has arisen because Man is successfully defeating her efforts to reduce the population. Till the nineteenth century, she had a huge mortality of infants and children with hardly a few of them surviving to become adults. Adults faced epidemic diseases and famines which killed millions of them. She occasionally caused natural calamities like floods to wipe out hundreds of villages. She created illnesses that caused most of the people to die at an early age. This effectively limited the population on the planet. The consumption of her resources by the small population did not challenge her in any way.

US Census estimates that the population of the World in 1 AD was about 170 million and after 1804 years it had grown to about 1 billion. The second billion was added in about 123 years and the population had grown to 2 billion in 1927. The next billion was added in only 32 years and the population had grown to 3 billion in 1959. Thereafter its growth accelerated and the planet added a billion people in each of the 3 periods of 15, 13 and 12 years. Thus by 1999 the population had grown to 6 billion people. We are now 6.8 billion in 2009, projected to grow to 9.4 billion by 2050. As against average yearly addition of less than half a million prior to 1804 AD, the World population is now growing at an alarming rate of 80 million per year!

As you can see from the above figures, planet Earth was doing a pretty good job at controlling the population growth until Man began to defeat her in her efforts in the twentieth century. He built dams to control floods, developed medical science and produced medicines to reduce infant and child mortality and to cure diseases. This resulted in more infants becoming adults and in more adults living a long life. Life expectancy thereby increased rapidly and has gone over 75 years in most of the countries of the World. Japan leads with a life expectancy of 82 years! That means the children born 82 years ago are still alive as grandparents!

World population, with its present growth rate, will more than double to reach 14 billion people by 2100. At that level of population, the resources of the planet, particularly rain water and arable land area would have to be worked twice as efficiently. If we do not succeed, the quality of life would be compromised.

Let’s look at it in another way. There is a popular belief that if a couple produces 2 children, there will not be any growth in population. But this is a fallacy as before the parents are dead; their children are producing grand-children for them! Thus 2 have produced 4! Now with further increase in life span, most couples will see their great-grand-children which mean that 2 parents have produced 6 offspring in all! The population of 2 has now gone up to 8! The truth is that increasing lifespan results in increasing the number of generations that are alive and thereby the population size increases steeply.

Some scientists believe that the population will stop growing with increased literacy and prosperity and will stabilize at about 10 billion. But this reminds me of the Ostrich who buried his head in the sand and believed that the storm had gone away. Population size will stabilize only when the number of births during the year equals the number of deaths in that year. It is true that the number of births per thousand people from year 2000 has reduced from 22 to 20 in year 2009, but on the other hand, the death rate has gone down from 9 to 8.2 per thousand within the same period. Death rate includes infant and child deaths which are bound to go down rapidly thanks to Government efforts. As the numbers of death reduce, the numbers of birth may not match their reduction. There is a limit to reduction births as every year about 40 million marriages take place and there are at least 200 million couples within the population who are potential baby makers. In 2009 the number of babies born would probably end up above 140 million.

There were several remarkable advances in medicine in the last century that has resulted in increasing the length of life from 30 years to 80 years. It seems now that life expectancy is beginning to level off. But the next phase of Man’s efforts for increasing longevity has begun. Rapid scientific progress is taking place in growing new organs and body parts from stem cell culture biotechnology which will lead to quantum jump in the length of life span of people. It is said that the generation which will live for 200 years is already born on the planet. But even though a woman may live 200 years, her child bearing age cannot change significantly and she will probably be having her first child around 30 years of age. Therefore when the lifespan increases to 200 years, there will be at least 7 generations alive at any one time leading to vast increase in the number of people surviving on the Earth! We have to concede that a steady state situation where the number of deaths matches the number of births is a long way off, much beyond this century. Till such steady state is achieved, the population will continue to grow.

The short and bitter truth is that the population problem is far bigger than one would like to face. Governments do not appear to have any effective legal measures to control population growth as enacting harsh laws is not politically possible. On the citizen’s level, however, “Green Earth” consciousness does exist and there are voluntary organizations devoted to reducing consumption of fossil fuels and planting trees. Whether population control will come up on their agenda is anybody’s guess. For all we know we might have a Green Movement advocating abortion liberation, one-child family, same-sex marriages and childless co-habitation! These efforts must continue to be made to create awareness about family planning which eventually and hopefully stabilize the population sometime in the distant future.

But is the increasing number of people a bane or a boon? Is it a problem or an advantage? Economists tell us that we will face an economic disaster if the numbers of births reduce drastically! Demand would fall and profits will disappear in the industry. We need to produce babies to keep our economies going. We need a growing population for sound financial health of any country. But on the other hand food production may not be enough to feed the increased population and people may starve. Therefore, “to grow or not to grow”, is the question for the population.

The answer to this enigma is for us to surrender and accept the fact that growth of population is unavoidable and inevitable for the next hundred years. We should look at it positively as a boon and gear up our efforts to manage the supply of food and water for the ever expanding future population. We have to simultaneously control and reduce the effect of this increasing population on the functioning of planet Earth. We must not disturb the delicate balance of the planet which may trigger drastic changes in rainfall and climate which in turn will affect the life on Earth. Governments must work on war footing to support, subsidize and promote non-fossil-fuel energy generation, augment water supply by rainwater harvesting and seawater desalination, and fund research to find innovative ways to increase our food production. Many of these basic infrastructure projects may take several years and some of them perhaps several decades to become productive and the earlier our Governments initiate focused attention on them the better are the chances of avoiding shortages in future years and prevent food prices from sky-rocketing. Let us all hope that they are successful to increase the food production and we do not face famine as the population grows. And at our individual and collective level, we must make every effort to heal the injury caused to planet Earth by Global warming and help her to cope with her inundation with us human beings.

Are you really concerned about the environment? Maybe you should consider a veggie patch.

Growing your own food is on the edge of becoming trendy. As more people become switched on to thinking “green”, interest in home vegetable gardens increases. Growing vegetables and fruit at home minus pesticides and food miles is one of the best ways to help the environment and also directly benefit your health. Once vegetable gardens become established your enjoyment of your home-grown produce will become motivation in itself.

For people in the know, growing some of your own vegetables and fruit seems an obvious and simple way to help our environment. Yet according to the National Gardening Association only 31% of U.S. households participate in food gardening. What’s in it for you if you take up vegetable gardening? The personal benefits include better health, cheaper produce and the satisfaction of knowing that you’re genuinely making a positive difference to the environment.

Maintaining a home vegetable garden enables you to help the environment in numerous ways.

• You can set up a semi-closed system which recycles your kitchen waste into compost (and possibly chook food).
• Tip debris can be re-used as gardening containers, greenhouse frames, vegetable bed borders and various other creative gardening solutions.
• Gathering your food just steps from your back door reduces food miles.
• Organic gardening methods embrace sustainability and biodiversity and provide you with guaranteed pesticide-free produce.

Perhaps the most enjoyable personal benefit of vegetable gardening is just how good your home-grown vegetables and fruit taste. There’s really a huge difference in flavour between a shop-bought and home-grown tomato. Picking your own food fresh just five minutes before you eat it can give you a real kick.

Starting a vegetable garden needn’t be an overwhelming task. If you launch into a full scale veggie patch, then yes, you’ll need to devote significant time and effort to the project in order to set it up well. However, you can start as simply as growing greens in a large container, planting a self-pollinating fruit tree or sprouting mung beans in a jar on your kitchen bench. It all counts.

There are many solar energy advantages when compared to other forms of energy. Solar energy is a renewable resource that will never run out unlike fossil fuels. Even fossil fuels come from plants millions of years ago that received their energy from the sun. The amount of solar energy that hits the earth in one hour could supply the earths energy needs for a year, so the amount of solar energy available for people to use is enormous.

Solar energy can be used for a multitude of things. That’s why there are so many solar energy advantages. Some of the most popular uses for solar energy are electricity, hot water, cooking, and heating. With so many uses almost everyone can find a way to benefit from solar energy.

The great thing about solar energy is that it’s environmentally friendly. Solar energy doesn’t produce any pollution unlike fossil fuels. Whether global warming is real or not solar energy does not contribute to it. Even if global warming isn’t real it still can’t be good to release so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Another solar energy advantage is the fact that solar energy doesn’t produce any noise. So, solar power could help reduce noise pollution all over the world. Solar power is completely quiet because there are few if any moving parts. This is great because the less moving parts something has the less likely it is to break. This also means that solar power requires much less maintenance than other forms of energy.

One of the main reasons that people want to use solar power is to save money. Solar power is a great way to save money because once the initial solar power cost is paid for all of the energy that is produced after that is free. The only real disadvantage with some forms of solar energy is the initial solar power cost.