Green the way forward

If you put some serious thought into it, you would find there are a number of ways to go green every day and contribute to a much safer and cleaner environment. Going green could also save you money in some instances.

Roland Sukhai of the Environmental Commission of T&T said in a telephone interview, around the house people could start by saving energy—using energy-efficient lightbulbs such as compact fluorescent bulbs or LEDs. 

He said making less use of the washing machine (dryer) was another way to save energy—use the sunlight, make clothing lines to hang clothes. And avoid having your homes air-conditioned.

Sukhai said planting an herb garden using organic manure was a perfect way to go green. Another is creating a homemade compost bin (this can also be used for soil). 

“People should also avoid buying bottled water, especially those that come in plastic bottles,” Sukhai said. 

“Plastics reaching the landfill continues to be a huge problem. Instead of buying water, simply attaching water filters to your taps at home can give you the same good clean water you’re buying or better, and it will also save you some money.”

At the work place, he said having recycle paper bins were important. Going digital also lessened up on the paper build-up.

“One of the most effective ways to be more eco-friendly in your office is to reduce paper waste,” Sukhai continued.

“Switch from a fax machine to a fax modem to send and receive paperless documents. Use electronic forms whenever possible, and e-mail letters and documents to be read online rather than printed out.” 

He said make sure to put computers on “standby” or in “hibernation” mode when they had not been accessed for more than ten minutes, also, they should be taken off completely when leaving the office.

Plants in the office did not only embellish the environment but they actually improved the quality of indoor air according to Sukhai.

The T&T Guardian also interviewed a few people on what they do on a daily basis to go green.

Kwame Kamau
Occupation: Political Research Agent

Kamau helps the environment by being a vegan. He said it created a greater demand for produce void of chemicals and processing versus those with. 

He also purchases non-toxic personal care products and goes digital at the office. He uses herbal medicine instead of pharmaceutical drugs which he said were made with petrochemicals in most instances. 

He also chooses to use organic household products and is even a distributor of a special brand of feminine napkins made entirely of biodegradable material and is coated with healing detoxifying ozone properties.

Rondell Donawa
Occupation: Attorney/Calypsonian

Donawa is big on waste management. He separates his waste before disposing of it.

John Victor
Occupation: Communications Specialist

Victor goes green by maintaining an organic home garden. He uses compost rather than pesticides to fertilise his plants. He grows a variety of items including light vegetables like pak choi, sweet peppers and seasonings. Victor said planting a home garden aided in food secutrity and helped lower the food import bill.

Sandra Chouthi
Occupation: Senior Journalist
 

Chouthi collects glass bottles and partners with Carib Brewery for recycling them. You will also never find any pieces of paper on the ground or in any bin close to her. She collects from newspapers to bank reciept bills which she then takes to recycling companies. 

Her garage at home is stacked with boxes filled with plastics and aluminium cans which she also takes to relevent recycling companies. She has been contributing to keeping a clean and healthy environment for the past four years. 

Melanie Joseph
​Occupation: Pre-School teacher/artist

Joseph said she goes green at her home by only using energy efficient lightbulbs to save energy. She also recycles paper by using it to make ornaments.

Paolo Kernahan
Occupation: Media practioner 

Kernahan said he tried to cut down gas emissions from his car by turning it off while waiting on people. He added that keeping your car running unnecessarily was a waste of gas when there was no need to put the extra carbon monoxide in the air.