:: Change the World Wednesday 24th August

This is a repost of my last CTWW on Life is a Labyrinth, to start the ball rolling

Here we are, Wednesday again and time for Small Footprint’s CTWW. Last week we were on about litter, it was a great challenge, check further down the page to see my post. Unfortunately the post titles on these stand-alone-pages are not ‘httpable’, so I can’t make a link for your convenience; but the good thing is by scrolling down you pas other posts which may catch your eye.

Example of paved street & footpath

Update:

We had a wet weekend, so it was not suitable to de-litter the praça as I would have liked to. After last week’s post, where I explained that I have stopped doing that because of my health, I decided I would do a little. Instead, I swept my footpath (sidewalk for our American cousins. I have no idea why Americans call it a ‘sidewalk,’ because I always walk on my feet – strange habit – never on my side) and extended it to include the whole section of the street and both gutters in front of my house. It was surprising how much rubbish I collected just from that small area. The photo I have included shows the style of street that we have in our small suburb (that’s not our street); you can see the paving stones and the condition of the footpath make ideal traps for small litter.

This week’s challenge:

This week clean and test the furnace. Did you know that your furnace needs cleaning? Yep … it collects all kinds of dust and debris which not only affects it’s performance but could cause a fire. Before you really need the heat, get out your owner’s manual for instructions on how to clean it. No manual? Check here or call a furnace maintenance company. If you have a gas furnace, have it professionally inspected once a year.

Or …

Have you already accomplished this task … or don’t use a furnace for heat? Then we’d like to hear another Eco-tip or idea for the fall months.

*looks around for furnace* Nope, we don’t use furnaces in Rio, as I have explained in previous posts, we use neither hot water or have a need for heating the house (although the last weekend tends to make me a liar there, it was very cold for us).

So I will look at the second part of the challenge.

Hmmmm, that’s not particularly applicable either.

Unlike the northern hemisphere, we are about to enter spring, not autumn (fall for our American cousins, never could understand why they did away with such a lovely word) and so I have cleaned my fan. I still have only one, although another is in the offing, and necessary before the coming summer months. A dirty fan is neither energy efficient, nor does it give the maximum performance. Because they tend to run day & night during the hot summers here (I have only used it once since March), they get neglected. So I have cleaned my fan, ready for use.

So there’s an idea for you Americans (and other northern hemispherers) when you finally switch off your fans after your heat waves, give then a good clean before you pack them away for the winter months.

News

I am adding a news item here:
Here in Brazil most households use margarine as opposed to butter. I prefer butter but I do have a pot of margarine in the fridge for ‘emergencies.’

This is not my brand of margarine, although I am going to look for and buy one to try the quality.

Why?

Because, this brand are now using a biodegradable plastic for the pot. The first brand to do so in Brazil. Reportedly the pot becomes fully composted after 180 +/- days; which is far quicker than conventional plastics. When I am done with the pot, I am going to bury it and see what happens. I may be old, but I am not silly enough to believe anything in advertising any more. I want to see what happens for myself.

Do you have these biodegradable pots or other containers? Have you looked? Do you buy them in preference to other plastics? If yes, and you don’t, why not?

I am also going to have a sniff around at what makes these pots different and if they are still being made with petroleum products. I’ll keep you posted.

That’s my CTWW for this week. Have a great weekend ahead.

 

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