By Rayne Neave
With electricity prices on the increase, South Africans regularly feel overwhelmed when month-end hits. It forces a lifestyle change and many are opting for the ‘green’ route – but at what cost?
What if the answer to cutting your bill was as simple as changing the way you think and turning your problems into ‘green’ solutions? By implementing simple greening initiatives in your home, office or school you could gain more ‘bang for your buck’ while simultaneously saving the environment.
Making a concerted effort to live a life that supports sustainability is a noble task and something that everyone should try to achieve – but you need to be aware of the costs as it may become pricey. Not all South Africans can afford to purchase hybrid cars and build green homes as they do in many developed countries. However, you can green your home and lifestyle without burning a hole in your pocket or the ozone layer.
Less water for a greener garden
It has been proven that the use of bark mulch greatly decreases the amount of water needed in home landscaping. The KSU Horticulture Report on water conservation recommends the use of drought-tolerant groundcovers, shrubs or trees to slow down and absorb water, while reducing evaporation by shading the soil. Terracing with appropriate plants is another option.
Reducing water usage is a good idea, even when water is in full supply, since it decreases the demand on municipal water supplies and treatment plants. Incorporating all the above recommendations in your gardening regime can significantly decrease maintenance time and equipment costs.
Be floored by bamboo
Bamboo’s regeneration properties make it an excellent choice when going green since it’s an eco-friendly and vastly renewable material. Bamboo is an ideal alternative to tiling or laying hardwood floors. It’s a tree-like grass which grows abundantly in poor and uneven soil. Bamboo absorbs twice as much carbon dioxide compared to trees and provides consumers with a durable material.
The material is stronger than most hardwoods, which makes it an intelligent flooring alternative when taking wear-and-tear into account. Bamboo is very flexible and can endure greater impact (meaning less damage) than conventional woods. Lastly, it costs less than traditional solid wood flooring.
The upside of downfall
If you implement a water catcher system at your home, office or school, you can save money and water, by up to 80%, depending on the amount of rain your city gets.
Saving water can be as simple as using rain barrels or containers designed to trap and store rainwater. You can opt for either a complex system or a wooden drum that catches rainwater run-off from your roofing gutters.
By harvesting rainwater, you don’t spend a cent. Containing no dissolved minerals, rainwater can be made even safer for drinking if you have a home-made or company-installed filtration system.
Continually reheating water is extremely wasteful of electricity. A geyser blanket can cut electricity costs by as much as 10-20% (or 1800 kW/hour depending on the size of your geyser). The initial cost of the insulation will seem trivial in comparison to how much you will save on your monthly electricity bill. The cost of a geyser blanket ranges from R60-R500. There are no maintenance costs as the installation is once off and will last until you need to replace your geyser again.
Make everyone green with envy
Going green can in fact be affordable and assist you in saving money.
All it takes is to start thinking creatively. Consideration for the environment and sustainable development is an absolute necessity for which we should all take responsibility. By implementing these tips and demonstrating how easy it is, everyone will want to follow in your steps – making a world of difference and a difference to the world.
Rayne Neave, owner of Eco Exhibit, a greening exhibition space in Northgate, Cape Town provides readers with simple ideas on how going green can in fact be affordable and assist consumers in saving money.
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