Saving Electricity

I have always been proud of the fact that in my circle of friends and relatives, my power bill has always been the lowest. If theirs is in three digits, mine will be in two. And when theirs goes up - like in summer - mine does too, but it is still less than theirs. To me it is a measure of how well I conserve electricity.

It helps that I am not addicted to TV, that I can sit without a fan for ours - not penny pinching there, but I genuinely don't get affected much by heat. I close the windows and keep the curtains drawn so that the heat blast within the house is less. I have one window open to let in light.

I am particular about switching off lights and fans when no one is in the room. I don't switch on the AC even in peak summer except if children insist - and then also they are allowed to only cool the room and then switch it off.

So when my two months' electricity bill was low at 300 something, I felt justifiably proud.

Till my neighbour, in a chance conversation, wondered - hers was less than 200! I have a long way to go.

If you have a conservation story to share, please leave a note and I shall post it as a blog... Don't know how to enable others to post.

Inviting Articles

Hi Friends, friends of friends, and friends of nature

All of us today are talking of saving earth in some way or the other. I believe that the fact that ice melted and lands became available for habitation is in itself evidence that even without human intervention, the global warming was a reality. The extinction of dinosaurs happened without man's help. Poompuhar, Atlantis...and other lands we may not know submerged under the sea even without industrialisation.

I know man alone is not responsible for all the destruction on earth.

I believe that we are too addicted to our progress and have explanations - convenience, fighting corruption, shrinking the globe, exploring - to justify this process.

I believe many of us have improved purchasing power and the availability of money gives us license to spend more and so demand more from our resources.

I believe all of us try to save waste in some ways.

I believe if all of us share our ideas, we can do wonders and probably restrict the destruction. I can learn something from you, you from someone else, and someone else from someone else...

I hope you will join me in this exchange of ideas.

I am no environmentalist, I am no specialist, I have no experience. I am a human being concerned about destruction of the world unnaturally. I am concerned about the world we will leave behind for our children.

If you share this concern too, you could contribute your ideas here.