Make your home eco-friendly

Make your home eco-friendly

With the rising temperatures, global warming is making its presence felt, making it the right time to develop an eco conscience.

Did you know that small modifications at home can make your living space eco-friendly? BT helps you go green with these simple tips...

Switch to CFL lights

They may not be as soothing as incandescent lights, but CFL bulbs save a lot of energy. For those who complain about them being too bright, there are several options available in the market these days so that you get the effect you desire. What's more, CFL bulbs are light on your pocket.

Plant a herb garden

Many of us like having potted plants at home, but instead of growing decorational flowers, plant a herb garden. They don't require a lot of effort since they are easy to grow. Plus, it's great to know that your herbs are pesticide-free and that what you are eating is healthy .

Make a compost bin

Composting is a great way to turn household trash into nutrient-rich supplement for plants. Take a bin (such as an old bucket) and make a couple of holes on the side and bottom. Layer this with broken bricks and sprinkle some water. Now place bagasse (the residue of sugarcane once the juice is squeezed out) and place it on the bricks. Sprinkle more water. Add a fistful of compost and the pit is ready.

Stop using plastic bags

The reason you have to pay for plastic bags at stores is to discourage its use.

Keep a reusable bag in your handbag or car so that it comes in handy whenever you go shopping -be it at the grocery store or the mall.

Use cloth instead of paper to clean

Find yourself always reaching out for kitchen towels or tissues to clean up a mess? Break the habit and use cloth instead. And you don't have to go out and buy fancy towels either; simply recycle and make rags out of old T shirts or towels.

Use low flow shower heads

Replace your existing shower heads with low flow ones as this can save around a 100 litres of water a day (depending on use). Also ensure that your water heater is insulated well to save energy, or replace it with a solar heater.

Switch off all lights at home

Most Indian families leave at least one light on at night as people believe that a house must not be draped in darkness.

But this is a criminal waste of electricity and is really not required.

Plug leaks

Have a leaky faucet? Get it fixed! You may think that the single drop of water that drips every few seconds isn't some thing that you must bother about, but that single drop accumulates into sever al litres a day . Pay a plumber a nominal . fee to fix a leak and to save water and see a marked difference in your water bill.

Live an unplugged life

Electric appliances like TVs, computers and iPod docks continue to consume large amounts of energy even when they are in standby mode. So ensure that you switch them off completely and even take the socket out of the plug point.

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The 7 Dangerous Acts after meal

1. Don't smoke: Experiment from experts proves that smoking a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher).
2. Don't eat fruits immediately: When you eat your fruits with meals, the fruit is stuck in the stomach along with the contents of the meals and cannot reach the intestines in time. Lying there they get spoilt and spoil the remaining food in the stomach too. Thus it is recommended that you eat a fruit at least one hour after eating a meal or before your meal and preferably in the morning with empty stomach. It is in the morning that the body can best use the nutrients in the fruit and get enough energy to start the day.
3. Don't drink tea: Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult to digest.It is preferable to drink tea an hour after meals.
4. Don't loosen your belt: Fiction, not particularly bad for you! We generally have an attitude that a good meal is that which forces us to loosen our belts. However, loosening the belt is bad, not because it causes the intestines to twist or block but because it means that you have over eaten to a level that you are uncomfortable. Loosening of the belt may also cause you to feel comfortable once again which means you may continue overeating. So eat only to the extent that you can be comfortable without loosening your belt!
   
   
   
   
5. Don't bathe: Bathing after meal will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs & body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.
6. Don't walk about: Fact, it is bad for you! Walking directly after meals is a bad idea, it can result to acid reflux and indigestion. However, walking about half an hour after meals is known to be good for you. Researchers in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina, have found that walking after exercise is a good way to burn energy. The point to note is when to walk, you should ideally walk for about 10 minutes and only 20-30 minutes after meal to prevent acid reflux and stomach upsets.
7. Don't sleep immediately: The food we intake will not be able to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric & infection in our intestine. Courtesy: Conscious Life News's

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Saving versus investing: Tradeoff on risk, returns

As investors we often use the terms savings and investments interchangeably — that is to use one's extra money for some gains. However, there is a fine line which differentiates savings from investments. Savings means when you put your money in relatively safer financial products that give you the freedom to access your money whenever you want, in some cases that may come at a small cost to you like penal interest when you break a bank fixed deposit (FD). A savings account in a bank, an FD, a recurring deposit, money market instruments, etc. are examples of savings. Some of these, to some limit, are even insured by a government agency, which gives these some built in safety net.

Another way to look at this is the returns you get from such safer financial products barely meet the rate of inflation. And if you are one of those investors who have to pay income tax on what you earn, on a post-tax basis your returns become even less. So in effect, at times, when you are just a saver, you are worse off on real terms.

So how does this work? Suppose your current monthly expense on food and other essentials is Rs 5,000. The annual rate of inflation is 10%. So after a year from now you need to spend Rs 5,500 on food and other essentials of exactly the same quantity and quality so that you maintain the same standard of life. Now when that Rs 5,000 is kept in a bank FD that pays you 10%, at the end of the year you get Rs 5,500, that includes Rs 500 as your FD interest income. So far so good. But now suppose you are in the 10% rate of income tax bracket. In this case you need to pay a tax of Rs 50 on the Rs 500 interest income. So at the net basis, even though you get an FD rate of l interest that is equal to the rate of inflation, at the net ba sis you are left with Rs 5,450. Compared to this your month y expenses have gone up to Rs 5,500. So there is a gap of Rs 50 here. Now to keep the same standard of living, you would need to spend an extra Rs 50.

The alternative is to cut down on your quality or quantity of food and other essentials that you buy so that your monthly expenses are reduced to Rs 5,450. In this case, either you spend extra Rs 50 from your other savings or capital, or you cut down on your food and other essentials, you are worse off in real terms.

Such situations do not usually pinch the average people when he/she is working unless the rate of inflation is very high. But the same could be a weighing factor for retired people who are living on their life's savings. Financial planners and advisers say people should try to invest, rather than save. This means when you invest, you take some risks, but you also stand a chance to beat the rate of inflation, and also taxes at the net level so that your real income does not go down.

Financial planners and advisers, however, also warn that when you invest, since you have a greater chance of earning more than when you save, you also carry higher risks. So the ideal situation should be to find out your risk taking ability, and then invest to beat the inflation. Unlike savings, when you invest, you put your money in mutual funds, stocks and other financial products which have higher risks compared to savings banks, FDs, etc. While investing, there is a trade-off between taking higher risks and the chance of getting higher returns.

The two other articles on this page go into greater detail in explaining the difference between savings and investments. Courtesy:TOI

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