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Vettiver - Natural choice for Green Home Solutions
>> Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Have you heard of vettiver? It is the English man's pronunciation of the very Indian name "Vettiveru" the tamil name for a grass native to India. It literally means - root that has been dug up.This grass is also called Khus (not the poppy seed though!).If you are familiar with Indian air coolers, sun shades and awnings, then you would know the uses for this fragrant grass variety. It brings in a cool and refreshing scent into the surroundings it is used in.
Image source: mimifroufrou.com
Image soruce: tarladalal.blogspot.com
The unique leaf tips make this grass a good choice for indoor ornamental use.
Image source: finegardening.com
image source: mumbai-magic.blogspot.com
This grass is considered a miracle herb and has been cultivated in the Asian particularly Indian cultures for over thousands of years. This grass also grows as a weed and can grow untamed.
Image source: totallandcare.org
Image source: vetver.org
Vettiver oils and extracts are popular in the fragrance and beauty industry. The oil extracted from this grass, roots and the stem finds its way into our homes as natural aroma therapy oils, herbal soaps and other skin care products.
Image source:ayalamoriel.com
This is considered a divine grass by ardent gardeners as it (is)-
- Absorbs water and maintains soil moisture
- Absorbs minerals and nutrients
- Decomposes well and is eco-friendly
- Absorbs toxic substances in chemical fertilizers and pesticides and reduces risk of soil turning non-arable
- Insect repellent and rodent repellent
I fondly remember the fresh grassy scents from the summer afternoons in my grandparents' house. My thatha (grandfather) used to hang these vettiver grass mat shades on the windows for tackle Indian summers. These shades had to be watered from time to time through out the day...and ah! we kids had fun doing that...This natural eco friendly air conditioning system not only improved the air quality inside the house, but also let us avoid air conditioners, and ensured minimal power consumption! Another very good reason to prove that we had a very earth friendly lifestyle until the late 90's. In fact we still live minimal and try to do our best in reducing our carbon foot print. It is just amazing to realize that our parents and our grandparents did their bit with out even knowing about the global warming phenomenon.
Image source: comfortgurus.com/
Is it not better to choose a naturally occurring, grass/roots as a room freshener instead of glade (from the family company which doesn't bother about the amount of plastic and other non eco-friendly items it pumps into the market/environment?).This is their room freshener spray with "sensors"..how sensible is it anyway? There must be similar products in every market across the world.
Image source: glade.com
Image source: imghost.indiamart.com
Image source: keralatoursim.org
Similarly, you will love this vettiver and bamboo blind or some other natural product instead of a plastic /metal blinds
Image source: exbali.com
Image source: secretclosetgifts.com
than this...
Image source: arecycledbin.blogspot.com
Here is a glimpse of the range of vettiver products
Image source: vetiver.org
There are many more such wonderful uses for this versatile grass. Possibilities are endless!Better be earth friendly and live well right! If not vettiver, we could look for locally available natural solutions and not suffocate the planet further.
5 comments:
Hey Sudha, awesome job there. I was doing a bit of research on the Grass Cooler (I didnt know what it was called all this while, was googling KHUS to find only irrelevant hits). Anyways, I plan on using this Vettiver grass on my windows , this darn Bangalore heat is killing me (Global warming, I know, my place Bombay is getting cooler, no qualms there).
I was wondering, where could I get it (I meant what sort of a place should I go looking for this) and what do I call it other than Vettiver/Cooling Grass/ etc. My Kannada proficiency is as good as a 2 month old kid trying to speak to his mumma.
Thanks !
Sudha
very informative article on Ramacham. Appreciating yr good work. Keep going...
Good work Sudha....how i missed this blog of yours'..
thanks sangeeta...this is a lesser known blog of mine :)
Hello Sudha, like Harish above, I also want to buy a few screens for our terrace canteen in our corporate HQ building. Please guide me to some on line store, or if you know where to go in Indore.
Thank you,
Rakesh Gupta
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