Living | A plan of action for 2009 - Business of Life

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•With home loan rates heading south, now is a good time to invest in realty. If you are already a home owner, consider a vacation home.

•Invest in at least one piece of local art or craft.

•Consult an architect or interior designer to maximize the use of natural light, heat and ventilation in your home. This will also reduce your lighting, heating and air-conditioning costs.

•Reduce the use of upholstery and soft furnishings at home for health reasons as well as sustainability.

•Ask your nursery to suggest local rather than exotic plants for your garden.

SAVE

Make energy efficiency and sustainability your goal in 2009:

•Mark your calendar: On 29 March, take part in global action on the environment by turning off all lights for an hour. Visit www.earthhour.org

•Install Snap CO2 Saver on your PC to reduce your computing carbon footprint. Download from http://co2saver.snap.com

•Unplug the geysers in your bathrooms and kitchen. Instead, use them as storage tanks for hot water from a single rooftop solar water heater system (one that doesn’t use photovoltaic cells needs less maintenance).

•Plant some solar-powered lawn/garden lights in your backyard.

Also Read PICKS OF THE YEAR

The mango house

Back to the basics

The mall and the city

Spaced out

Size matters in Chettinad

•Avoid flat contemporary facades with huge glass windows. If you have them, add awnings or ledges above windows to minimize heat gain.

•Chiks (fabric and bamboo or reed blinds) outside large windows or greenery partially blocking them can also help. Chiks and curtains placed behind a window won’t prevent heat gain, they’ll only block light.

•Where possible, use interior windows between rooms and transom windows over doorways to maximize natural light and reduce air-conditioning needs.

•Replace faucets and showerheads with low-flow fixtures.

•Make your own compost.

•Change all the bulbs in your house to either LEDs or CFLs (choose the “greener” ones—Havell markets them in India —to reduce the environmental impact from the mercury and lead that most CFLs use).

STORE

The columns and beams projecting from the walls of your home are not a blemish; they are an opportunity. These projections are often 2-3 inches in depth.

•If your kitchen door is fixed to such a projection, fit a 5-inch deep shelf behind it. Doesn’t add up? The nearly 2-inch thickness of the door frame and the 3-inch column projection total 5 inches. What can it take? Plenty! It’s cheaper, easier and faster to buy slim jars than build an extension to the kitchen or redesign cabinets.

•Run shallow 6-inch shelves along corridors and between vertical pillars—the perfect size for those paperbacks.

CHOOSE

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been associated with asthma and allergies. Yet VOCs seem to be everywhere: in our homes, in offices, in schools and public spaces... To lower exposure, keep these points in mind:

•Low-VOC paints are now available in India.

•Buying a rug or carpet? Natural fibres (jute, sisal, wool, cotton) won’t produce formaldehyde like synthetics do; but applying pest repellants, fire retardants or stain guards changes that. If you’re worried about moths or mould, an untreated washable nylon rug is safer.

•Compressed wood products (plywood, particle board, laminate) emit formaldehyde. Why not buy secondhand solid wood furniture? Older furniture doesn’t use solvent-laden adhesives either.

•Permanent-press fabrics, mattress ticking and upholstery often produce formaldehyde.

•Printers, correction fluid and permanent markers emit VOCs.

•So do household cleaners, dry cleaning agents and sealants.

DOWNSIZE

Are you planning to buy a new house/apartment? Or are you looking to update your furniture or renovate the kitchen?

When you can afford it, it is tempting to try and get the biggest bang for your buck, whether it’s a car, a home, a kitchen, a bedroom, a wardrobe or an appliance. However, when correctly designed, small is a big blessing, not just beautiful.

Big is big on maintenance and effort. Twice the house can mean twice the time and cost to clean and furnish. Twice the kitchen means twice the avoidable walking around. And almost always, more room translates into lots more rupees. It can be cheaper to buy some customized storage than invest in real estate. So think small.

VISIT

If you are planning a trip to the UK, don’t miss these two design landmarks—the Design Museum and Legoland Windsor.

On the south bank of the Thames, the Design Museum offers a unique blend of installation art, architecture and a collection of artefacts from around the globe. Featuring tapestries, furniture, cutlery, devices, cars and even music album art, it divides the last century into a movement of displays which, put together, look like an evolutionary chain in aesthetics, ergonomics and form. From a wooden prototype of a car created by Le Corbusier to Beatles-inspired illustrations of Alan Aldridge, the building offers visitors a peek into how design infiltrates every facet of life.

Address: 28 Shad Thames, London SE1 2YD, UK

Ticket: £8.50 (adults)

Timings: 10am to 5.45pm

Visit:www.designmuseum.org

If you have a flair for putting things together, visit Legoland Windsor. A mini city built with multicoloured plastic blocks, it has everything from taxis and cafes to roller coasters and water rides. If you are there between March and October, you could take part in various workshops for building models. It’s a child-friendly destination that gives grown-ups boasting rights as well.

Address: Winkfield Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 4AY, UK

Tickets: £35.24 (adults), £26.43 (children)

Visit: www.legoland.co.uk

— Arjun Jassal

RENT

If you are renting a new apartment, keep the following tips in mind:

•Discuss painting in advance with your landlord. Is it allowed?

•Ask to share expenses of improvements, such as chiks, that will stay with the house when you leave.

•Clean everything before moving in.

•Little touches, such as new cabinet knobs or a new faucet, can make a big difference.

•Bring all storage boxes into your living space and set a deadline for unpacking them. They tend to sit around longer when they are stored out of sight.

•Spend time organizing the closets. You’ll feel at home right away.

•Do one room at a time if possible. You’ll be better able to assess what you can use and what you can’t.

•Have the place sprayed by a pest control service before moving in.

INSTALL

It is never too early to make the home safe for the elderly. The good thing, of course, is that a home that is safe for the old is safer for the young too. These measures could help you avoid mishaps and injuries:

In bathrooms

•Older people often suffer falls from slipping on wet or smooth bathroom floors. Anti-skid tiles are the first step, although some of them aren’t so easy to clean.

•Fix grab rails in shower areas, over baths and near toilets.

•Placement of basics such as the soap dish, light switch and towel rack is important. They should pose no danger even when you are wet and bleary-eyed.

Across levels

•A level difference of one or two steps between adjoining spaces is a hazard. Ensure that there are at least five steps when you change levels so that the difference is easily visible.

•Always ensure that there is a hand rail within easy reach for the full run of steps.

Along staircases

•Ensure that staircases have hand rails on both sides.

•A simple round pipe fixed protruding about 2 inches from the wall should be enough.

PLANT

Houseplants for cleaner air:

•Sansevieria

•Dracaena varieties

•Money plant and other

•Philodendrons

•Dieffenbachia

•Chamaedorea palm

•Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)

•spider plant (Chlorophytum)

•Ivy (Hedera helix)

•Wandering Jew

•Rubber plant

•Syngonium

—Kavita Devgan

PROTECT

The sparrow is disappearing from Indian cities. As trees and bushes make way for no-holes, chrome and concrete structures, sparrows lose nesting and foraging space.

Faced with this realization, naturalist Mohammed Dilawar decided to convert anxiety into action. He gave up an opportunity to study the tiger in his effort to raise awareness about the threat our cities pose to the sparrow.

Nashik-based Dilawar, 28, is doing his bit to keep the birds alive. He sends shelters and feeders across India at no-profit no-loss costs. Time magazine counted him among the Heroes of the Environment 2008, the first ornithologist to have been so honoured.

The specially designed feeders ensure seeds are not wasted; the shelters, made of recycled wood, keep enemies (cats and crows) at bay.

To order, contact Dilawar on 0253-2579852/2411175, 9890087988

—Benita Sen