Let’s talk about our buying habits…

We all have known how our personal activities directly affect our environment. There are some indirect factors as well that cause global warming and adversely affect Planet Earth.

Secondary carbon footprint is also a considerable factor that can’t be ignored. Let’s commit to certain things that we may be able to avoid:

·         Don't buy bottled water if your tap water is safe to drink / can be treated with RO system

·         Buy local fruit and vegetables, or even try growing your own. In cases where elders stay with us, we may want to take their help in having our own little kitchen garden

·         Don't buy (labeled-‘fresh’) fruit and vegetables which are out of season; they may have been flown in. Also, don’t be fooled by organic produce. In fact in some states like Maharashtra, they have farmers’ market, try these. This is where you actually get healthy chemical-free vegetables that make you glow

·         Reduce your consumption of meat, it of course disturbs the ecological balance

·         Try to only buy products made close to home (look out and avoid items that are made in the distant lands)

·         Recycle as much as possible

·         Think carefully about the type of activities you do. Do any of these causes an increase in carbon emissions? Are you running the air conditioner for longer hours while you sweat it out in the gym, regular sauna/steam baths?,  do we actually need that hair conditioner everyday and then use double the amount of water to rinse it off? Is that fabric softner so necessary after very wash with detergent? Can’t we just let our clothes to dry out in the sun instead of running the washing machine tub? Do we actually need the fancy and expensive preservative laden bread or juices or eggs for that matter? Aren’t our homemade breakfast options delicious enough?

Think it over.

Hoping you incorporate at least one change out of these if not all. That would be a great contribution towards helping preserve this Planet.

Simple ways work…

Big nations realize it. India too has committed to reduce its carbon emissions by going green. Every business and corporate venture is doing its best. It’s high time we also pay heed to this.

The term “carbon footprint” is used to denote the amount of carbon dioxide produced by your daily activities and use of material goods. Since CO2 is the most common of the greenhouse gases, you can determine your personal participation in Global Warming.

A carbon footprint consists of direct, or primary carbon production, and indirect, the secondary footprint.

Your primary footprint comes from your personal activities that result in carbon dioxide emissions – things like your car burning fossil fuels, the energy you use to heat and cool your home, the electricity consumed at home or work, etc.

 

Some things you may want to change are:

 

1.       You may want to finish your week’s shopping at one go

2.       If you are not in a habit of storing groceries for a week and have much time to buy things daily then please have some air in your lungs, take a walk till the nearby store or pick up your kids’ bicycle

3.       Summers are already there and we all expect them to be harsher. The only way we can be in a better position to face the heat outside is to be tolerant enough. For those who can’t seem to adjust without an air conditioner, please make sure to turn-up the thermostat of the AC in your room to 25 degrees. This can save your electricity bill too and in some time you will realize that this is a comfortable temperature to be in

4.       Thinking of buying that laptop? Do it now. Laptops consume five times less electricity than a desktop

5.       Simply turning off your television stereo, computer, fans, lights when you are not using them will save you thousands of kg of carbon dioxide a year

6.       Replace your most frequently used bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). These use four times less energy and last eight times longer

7.       Drive less. Walk, bike, car pool or take public transport at least once a week if you are a daily commuter. You'll save 1.5 kg carbon dioxide for every 5 km you don't drive. Switch off your car if you stop for more than two minutes

8.       Go solar. Sunlight can be used in many ways to save energy. Use a solar water heater instead of an electric geyser. A 100-litre solar water heater can save around 15 units of electricity every year

Next we shall talk about secondary carbon footprint

Just because summers are upon us we can’t stop exercising

Are you no longer interested to face the harsh sun this summer while you jog? Have you even ruled out the gym for the summer sweat that’s unbearable?  Are you just plain bored of your existing fitness routine but the weight is stuck.

Water is a savior for summers. Water sports or other weight bearing exercises on water can be the best choice. Just in case, you don’t know swimming there are ample reasons for you to try it now.

It would be interesting for you to know that when exercise is associated with learning a new skill, it’s more enjoyable and your body is totally in sync with your happy hormones. Good News! This is the perfect state of mind to lose weight quickly and keep it off.  Swimming is a perfect full body exercise with no sprains and injuries on your weight bearing joints. Perfect for any and all age groups.

The only thing now you need is a Happy Pool.

Premium Pools has dedicated itself to making perfect pools for your ideal fitness / leisure plan. Check us out at

Premium Pools - changing the way people think of pools

What about your safety in the pool…

When a person visits a pool for the first time, he is at a greater risk than others.

• ·    One should never leave first time swimmers on their own in the pool
• ·    These people should be encouraged to use life jackets in water above shoulders. However, this should never replace experienced supervision

One can also control access to avoid accidents

• ·    Alarms can be installed to protect against unauthorized entry

Educate people for emergencies

• ·   People should be made aware of safety measures and emergency actions such as Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) so that they can be safe in case there is an accident

With eighty percent of pools in India being commissioned by unqualified pool professionals who are able to offer enticing prices to the pool owners (because of their lack of knowledge of pool prerequisites, clubbed with their ability to cut down the corners owing to the limited knowledge that they have), chances are eighty percent likely that we are swimming in a pool which is a disaster waiting to happen.

At Premium pools we ensure 100 % safety of the swimmers, by strongly adhering to the international safety standards which we acquire by virtue of our collaboration with the international players who operate in countries where very stringent rules and regulations are there to comply with.

With our collaboration with PPAS from U.S. come the most rigorously followed pool safety regulation and practices in World, and with our Technical collaboration with Albixon, Czech Republic come the best in its class equipment qualifying with the most stringent European safety standards. Know more about us here http://www.premiumpools.org/index.php

How badly designed swimming pools are a threat to planet earth

India is on the move. Mc Kinsey research estimates India’s urban population soaring to 590 million in 2030.

The report also says that two thirds of India is yet to be built and this will happen in the next 30 years.  With a considerable share of urban population staying in metros, our land would be burdened with sustaining our decent lifestyle. Out of other land resources, water is the most important.

For a family of 4-6 persons, about 300 litres of water is required. Out of this a family normally consumes 30 litres as drinking water treated by R.O. filtration process. As much as 270 litres of water is wasted. So a household will further consume more water for domestic purposes, ignoring the fact that water consumption is further set to rise and water is a scarce resource. This residual water can be used for washing, rinsing, mopping and cleaning et al.

Where we talk about being prudent with water usage, pool lovers can’t be ignored.

You can be the proud owner of a pool with a malfunctioning filtration system where the plumbing and filtration cannot efficiently handle the cleaning of pool water. This means you are stuck with water that is always riddled with dirt, germs and potential diseases. Not to forget the fact that the pool would consume high amounts of electricity to run the pump for the filter longer.

And just to add to the problems, should you decide to sanitize the pool with more chemicals; you end up dumping too many chemicals into the water. This will bring in its own set of problems, eventually requiring you to change the pool water.

Here, let’s not blame the pool owners alone. There has been an increasing rise in groundwater withdrawal for various purposes. Talking about our city, Delhi’s ground water level has fallen by 5.83 meters. We all need to pay heed to this imperative issue.

Coming back to pools, it’s important for you to know that the repercussions of not having chosen the right pool builder , is not just limited to frequent draining out of pool water , of late this has resulted into much fatal consequences. Next blog entry talks about your safety in your own swimming pool.

Premium Pools | Changing the way people think about pools 

You can avert some disasters waiting to happen…

Preserving environment is a major challenge. Water is the biggest.  

We are running out of time before we face a very severe crisis of water in our home city – Delhi, if it will be business as usual.

We need to learn to live with efficient use of water.

Today, India has enough water to provide each citizen over 1,820 cubic meters per year. It is estimated that each individual needs 1,700 cubic meters to cover drinking, hygiene and food requirements.  So we have 7% more available than we need. Count this blessing as this availability is expected to drop to 1,140 cubic meters by 2050.

Should we care?  We must – each one of us.

India gets about 1.2 m of rain per year that gets collected in rivers. River flow data in India is classified information because water access is shared with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal and can be a source of political tension.

So instead of telling you more about the disasters waiting to happen, we should look at doing something about it.

The solution lies in better management of existing water resources.

This includes rainwater harvesting, stopping leakages in pipes, dual pipelines for gray water (waste water generated by domestic activities) and drinking water, drip irrigation, growing food / cultivation in wet areas.

Another important area where water is consumed in great amounts is our leisure activities and water sports. We need to look at building efficient pools keeping in mind our commitment to planet earth. Saving the environment is upon us! 
Watch this space for the next post on how we all can contribute towards making Earth a greener place. 
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