Change the World Wednesday – 13th Feb

Last week’s CTWW on fracking was an important one. I visited many of the blogs who had fracking posts and the surprise to me was that so many people had written of the complacency surrounding this practice.

I read this story:

The Promised Land: A Small Town’s Struggle With Hydrofracking

OXFORD, N.Y. — The remains of abandoned farm houses mark the rolling hills and woodlands of the Town of Oxford in the southern tier of upstate New York.

It is here, and in other rural communities in the state, that the most hard-fought regional environmental battle of this generation is playing out — whether to allow the contentious form of natural gas drilling, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing entails the pressurized injection of hundreds of thousands of gallons of fresh water mixed with sand, lubricants and other chemicals deep below the surface of the earth, in order to “fracture” shale formations and release gas.

Because the shale is located below underground water sources, some scientists —including those affiliated with the City of New York — have questioned whether methane or drilling fluid could be inadvertently released and cause water contamination. Drilling proponents maintain that drilling technology and well construction continue to advance; they also say that fracked natural gas could help the U.S. obtain energy independence.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signaled that southern tier communities like Oxford may be able to decide whether to allow the practice, even as the state continues a multi-year review of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale and other formations upon which much of New York sits.

This past Tuesday, the small village of Oxford — located within the town of Oxford and alongside the Chenango River between Binghamton and Utica — became the first community in Chenango County to effectively ban activities related to high-volume hydraulic fracturing. But along the way to making the decision, divisions were brought to the fore over the promise that natural gas drilling holds for reinvigorating the tepid local economy and the potential environmental hazards.

Those divisions — between residents, residents and farmers, farmers and other landowners, and even between the village and the town itself — threaten to tear apart the community.

Source: Gotham Gazette Read more

These people are talking about the water supply of 9 million New Yorkers, half the state.

You can win!

Click for the full post

On with this week’s CTWW.

1. 1. Take a look through your fruit, vegetables and fresh items in the fridge to see what needs using up. Write it all down – it’s easier to keep track that way.
2. Plan some of your favorite meals around the foods that need using up.
3. If you need inspiration, write your food list on Mrs. Green’s post (you’ll find it HERE) and her community will help or … check out the recipes section at Love Food Hate Waste.
4. Enjoy some great meals, knowing you are saving money and protecting resources.

Well, I did this yesterday, before knew about this week’s challenge.

Last piece of pork in the first round, you’ll note the BBQ is made of a recycled wheel rim. My house is just to the left of this shot.

My fridge is almost empty. We had a BBQ, ex and the kids came over and all the regulars at the botequim participated, some even went home and got meat from their fridges to add to the pot. BBQ started at 2pm and finished at 11pm.

We had the BBQ on the footpath that surrounds our little park. In front of the house and botequim. You’d never get away with this type of neighbourly fraternisation in the US, or other developed countries; that’s why I love it here in Brazil.

As a result, this is my stock take:

1kg frozen Alaskan pollock (two meals),

2 x inch thick pork chops, frozen,

500g mincemeat (ground beef) that gets metered out daily as cat food, got to look after Lixo.

1 jar of smoked cream cheese spread,

2 x potatoes,

2 x onions,

6 x bread rolls

So I don’t have much to play with as far as planning a menu for the next three days, in fact I have to buy to complete my menu.

Yes, these are green lemons, they are not limes

Yesterday we used all the garlic to make garlic butter, some of which is left and will get used over the next couple of days. All the meat that was bought for the BBQ was eaten, only the bread rolls above remained from the 30 bought. I used up the four lemons yesterday too, add a wonderful taste when squeezed over pork.

I don’t buy extra stuff at the supermarket; only what I will use during the week, so there is little left over, and certainly no waste. Really, the only waste I have is like when one of the potatoes goes off prematurely, that sort of thing. Tomatoes also have that habit, but they are off the menu at the moment, because they are 5x their regular price, and I refuse to buy at extortionate prices.

So, this challenge is an on going thing for me, it’s part of my routine.

See you for CTWW next week…

Now, I have to clean up. My kitchen looks like the aftermath of a hurricane, dishes and cutting boards everwhere. There was no way I was even going to consider the dishes at 11pm.