Change the World Wednesday – 26th Feb

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A sad note to start of the day. Lois, of Living Simply Free and a regular contributor to CTWWs and other environmental matters has decided to step back from blogging. Lois has been an inspirational source of what can be done, and I personally will miss her well thought out and pertinent contributions. She explains all in a post New Adventures, then follows up with Paradise Lot – I Thank You

Lois, good luck for the future.

No wonder it died; half its guts are missing…

I had a drama on Monday, of course, it had to be a Monday; perpetuating the myth.

My PC died again. Third time in as many weeks. All this began to happen after Brazil suffered a pane (power cut) that affected half the country three weeks ago. I was forced to reinstall XP again, to compensate for the corrupt config.sys file. But it has led me to believe that my PC needs to be rePCed.

Now I am not going to rush off and buy a new one (ecologically unsound), I am opting for a reconditioned one for a quarter of the price. Also, the reconditioned one comes with XP, not the horrendous Windows 8 that would be forced on me if I bought new.

I wouldn’t touch Windows 8 with yours…

I see they have put the ‘Start’ button back on, but why on earth up top, why not where people were used to it?

One of the things I hate about Microsoft is they force things upon you.

Like last night with my laptop at work, it upgraded IE, to 8. I didn’t want it upgraded and I couldn’t stop it. The only useful function for IE is to download FireFox; the programme is useless, pathetic.

</rant over>

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Now we must truck along. This week’s CTWW.

Water!

To begin, test your water conservation knowledge by taking this QUIZ.

 

THEN …

Install at least one low-flow aerator on a faucet in your home. These are relatively inexpensive from hardware stores and are easily installed (just screw them on).

 

OR …

If you’ve already installed aerators on your faucets, choose one other way to conserve water this week. Need some ideas? Eat no meat, pork or poultry (they all require a lot of water to produce). Reduce or eliminate spending (except for true essentials). Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap. Review your water bill history to determine periods of high use and make plans to reduce during those times (it’s also a good tool for determining leaks). Fix leaky faucets or toilets. Consider removing some of the lawn (or all of it) and planting native shrubs, plants, trees, etc. When refreshing your pet’s water, or changing the water in a fish tank, use it to feed your plants. Get creative and find a way to reduce your water footprint.

First part. Well, that was a failure – 1/5.

Second part. I have only one tap in the house, the kitchen sink, and it has an aerator. The other tap in the bathroom leaks, so I disconnected it because I never use it. Done √

Third part. In the heat of our present season, I take many brief showers to cool off during the day and night. I bought a large bowl to put in the shower to catch the run off, and that goes on my houseplants and garden. I am already eating less beef, so that is also a saving. I keep iced water in the fridge, rotating two bottles from the tap to the freezer to the fridge. My water bill is static, I always get charged the minimum, so my water use is below that level. Done √

Now I’m off, going to hunt a new PC.