greenjobs

The  green energy sector which is growing rapidly in India is expected to create about one million new jobs in India over the next two years.

A ‘green job’ is employment in any industry that contributes to preserving or restoring environmental quality. A green job can be a white or blue-collar job in any sector: agriculture, manufacturing, research and development, administration and service activities such as IT, finance, teaching and so on.

“These are just a few sectors and jobs out of the hundreds of jobs that will be transformed and created into the future,” Kamal Meattle, the Promoter of GreenSpaces and CEO of the Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park, said.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Udit Mittal, the Managing Director of Unison International, an HR consultancy firm, said the scope is so vast that “around one million green jobs will be generated in India over the next two years.”

The holiday season is approaching again. While we all love holidays, it is also a time with huge waste of energy and materials.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, one million extra tons of garbage is generated each week in the U.S.

However, with a little green thinking and effort, we might be able to reduce that figure significantly.

1. Christmas tree

Plant a small potted tree and use it for Christmas each year.

Although artificial trees cost un-renewable energy to produce, if you can use it year after year, it shouldn’t be too bad.

If you must have a real cut tree, most cities have a program to recycle it into mulch and compost.

2. Lights

Switch to LED Christmas lights. They are 90% more efficient than traditional ones. They also last longer and emit little heat.

3. Gift wrap

Save wrap from previous years and reuse it.

Use newspaper, old calendars, posters, magzines, or catalogues as gift wrap (better yet, skip the wrapping).

Recycle any wrap that is no longer useful.

4. Other

Recycle greeting cards, gift tags, and especially cardboard or use them for crafts.  Avoid using disposable tableware. Save and reuse holiday decorations.

Hope we all have a greener holiday this year. For more green holiday ideas, click here.

If you are building a home, or it’s time to replace the old siding on your house, consider using fiber-cement siding.

Fiber-cement siding has been around for a while, although their benefits just started drawing attention from builders and homeowners.

Fiber-cement siding is composed of cement, sand and wood fiber (often from recycled wood fiber). It comes in a wide range of colors, finish and styles that resemble conventional siding products.

Fiber-cement siding is a great green building material not only because of its  composition, but also its durability and longevity. It often outlasts conventional materials for decades.

Fiber-cement siding resists many common hazards, including fire, wind, rain and insects. It won’t rot in humid areas. No termites can undermine it.  And it is virtually fire-proof. Fiber-cement won’t release toxic chemicals like other materials do.

In addition to its durability, fiber-cement holds paint much better than other materials. It doesn’t need to be re-painted for about 25 years! All these contribute to its low-maintenance and low cost in the long run. 

Because fiber-cement is made of inert materials, even if it eventually ends up in a landfill, it does not endanger the environment.

To learn more, click here.

A conventional tank water heater always loses heat through the wall of the tank while hot water sits unused (standby loss). It can waste up to 20% of the energy if the water heater is a less efficient model.

On the contrary, a tankless water heater does not suffer standby loss because it does not store hot water. It generates hot water when there is a demand. It heats up water rapidly. In a matter of seconds the temperature goes from 50 to 120 degrees.

It is estimated that compared to a storage water heater, a tankless water heater can save up to 35% on the cost of heating water. Also using natural gas instead of electricity saves more.

If the water heater is installed close to a major point of use, it reduces heat loss from hot water sitting in the pipes when the faucets are turned off due to shorter pipe run. This could save a significant amount of energy as well.

Tankless water heater also lasts twice as long compared to conventional one.

Tankless water heater is small, easy to repair, long-lasting and durable. It reduces your family’s impact on the environment by reducing your energy demand.

To learn more, go here.

The Global Sun Oven

Back in the Stone Age, people used sun to cook their meal. Ironically, tell 1000 Green Steps how often do you hear about this solar powered cooking in our modern era? To overcome that issue, Sun Ovens International applies the principle of cooking which had been used centuries ago, and combines it with the available technology . These are the green steps The Global Sun Oven offers you!

• Bakes, Boils, or Steams Any Kind of Food with the Power of the Sun – No Fuel Needed!
• Create your favorite recipes as you feast upon natural sun baked treats!
• Reaches Temperatures of 360 to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit!
• Totally Safe – No Danger of Fire – Never Burn Dinner Again!
• Versatile, Easy-to-use, Portable as a Small Suitcase!

Available online at $279.00, but this price is totally reasonable since you could reduce huge electricity usage and no fuel is required to make this techie appliance work!

Happy Green Living!

1000 Green Steps have told you before on how technology has affected our life, along with the list of greenest brand to the least green ones. Now that we know that email could be the greenest method of delivering mails, do you know which ones are really green?

Read more »

Researchers have developed a new way to make LEDs, and that could reduce your household lighting bills by as much as 75% within the next five years, according to a recent article in Science Daily.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) is a synthetic semiconductor that can be used to make LEDs. It emits brilliant light and uses very little electricity and make that as their green steps.

However, until now, researchers had to grow GaN on expensive sapphire wafers. These high production costs kept GaN from widespread use.

Read more »

Dell has announced plans to simplify and revolutionize its computer packaging and make it as their green steps. The company estimates that over the next four years, these new green packaging intiatives will save more than $8.1 million and about 20 million pounds of packaging material.

By 2012, Dell wants to:

• Reduce desktop and laptop packaging materials by approximately 10 percent worldwide.
• Increase sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent.
• Ensure that 75 percent of packaging components are curbside recyclable.

Read more »

Green Small Business

Maybe you are wondering what reasons are 1000 Green Steps throwing at you now, but 1000 Green Steps will always have the list for you to read along and here they are:

1. Attract more customers

As you see each day people are growing more and more aware to our environment status. They keep on changing their life habit into green ones. So if you can show them what a ‘green’ you could be, you’ll attract even more people in.

2. Saving your unnecessary energy bills

Having too much money spent just to pay for electricity or water is such a waste to your income. Save your environment by first saving your own money!

3. Develop your brand

By going green you have the chance to help develop your business brand. This positive association will remind clients about your business when they think about environmental issues.

Happy Green Living!

Don’t tell 1000 Green Steps you haven’t heard about the fun way to reuse rubber and car tires

Well, 1000 Green Steps found the way and we are about to share it to you readers! The good news is that the fun way can add up your style. Yes, Simple Shoes convert those non-organic materials into something useful through a simple innovation called eco-friendly shoes.

Wonder what have they reused so far?

· Car tires

· Bamboo

· Rubber

· Hemp

· 100% post-consumer recycled paper

· Carpet padding

· Silk

· Plastics

· Organic cotton

· Eco-certified leather and suede

· Coconut

· Wool

· Inner tubes

· Natural Crepe Rubber

· Cork

They have made so many shoes addressed for men, women and kids through their ecoSNEAKS and Green Toe collection. However if you still worried for not finding matching bags for your shoes, 1000 Green Steps have good news for you. They also make eco-friendly bags with a lot of different styles. So 1000 Green Steps guess it’s time for a green shopping spree!

Happy Green Living!