Going Green..

Olympics 2008 has started. And the Chinese authorities had been doing their best to make Beijing cleaner. Some of their moves to clean up the city have been really cool. But I don't know how the people of Beijing are taking it.

Looking at the way my city has grown in the past decade-and-a-half (its no Beijing but its surely been growing), and the problems its started to have, its amazing to even to think that its the same sleepy town it used to be when we had first set foot here. The wheels of development can surely move fast if people take the right initiatives and implement them. Anyways, since now I call it my home, I have decided to give something back to help my city in my own small way. So I have decided to go green to some extent. Its been some years since I had cut down on commuting by vehicle. I walk down (though the pedestrian walks are almost non-existent) to nearby stores. I wish the city civic authorities make the city more pedestrian friendly. No more plastic bags for me as far as possible. And of course, water. The city had a severe water shortage sometime back. Its taught me a valuable lesson in conserving water. I will never forget that lesson.

I had read somewhere that to save an email it takes around 20 tonnes of coal (no kidding!). So while I was backing up my system, I deleted a whole bunch of .pst files which contained some pleasant and unpleasant memories (I'm sure I wouldn't have read those emails again anyways). I have also cut down on my time in front of the computer and TV to save a few kilowatts of power. And from now on, will try to keep my posts small too. Slowly but surely, these are small but significant changes coming into my lifestyle. Its tough but I'm hanging in there. And if it can save a few trees and keep the air clean then I guess its the least I can do. I wish more people from the community start doing their bit too. Good for the city and good for the planet. Just like the Olympics.