Satireday on Eco-Crap

Change the World Wednesday – 28th May

I have been free of the dreaded lurgy for a week; touch wood. But beset by other problems, all is outlined in my post Up in Smoke. I am using my laptop as a result.

Just imagine, bacon flavoured wings

The chances of me becoming fully vegetarian are about as great as pigs flying.

My scare last week in realising that red meat was a factor with my dreaded lurgy proved groundless, I had red meat on the weekend with no ill effects.

My first power bill arrived this morning by email. Not that I am pleased with a bill, but the lack of paper is a bonus.

During the week I salvaged all the wood from a table, yesterday, I bought the screws necessary to put it back together. All I need now is the glass centre and Ill have a dining table. Now I am worried, it rained last night with a lot of wind and it managed to wet the wood which is a composite type. I have been outside and dried it, so I hope I wasn’t too late.

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This week’s CTWW.

We are talking about Monarch butterflies.

This week, ask the EPA to adopt tough new restrictions on the weed killers that are wiping out monarchs. Please sign this PETITION (appropriate worldwide).

 

OR …

If you do not wish to sign a petition, please write a post about the environmental dangers of using herbicides and pesticides. Please include suggestions on how we, as consumers, can avoid them.

 

OR …

Consider planting a butterfly garden which includes milkweed and nectar plants. And, of course, avoid the use herbicides and pesticides in your garden.

 

Well, I don’t do petitions, I help promote them. Most petitions are not do-able from Brazil.

I’ve posted before about the dangers of pesticides and herbicides.

This morning I picked a sprig of milkweed, at least I think it’s milkweed, I’ll google it and check. It’s in water and I am hoping it will root. So I have started my butterfly garden.

“Butterfly gardening is a growing school of gardening, specifically wildlife gardening, that is aimed at creating an environment that attracts butterflies, as well as certain moths. Butterfly gardening is often aimed at inviting those butterflies and moths to lay eggs as well. Because some plants are not fed upon by adult butterflies, the caterpillar host should also be planted for a bigger population of butterflies. Butterflies typically feed on the nectar of flowers, and there are hundreds of such plants that may be planted to attract them” – Wikipedia.

There are some interesting facts and suggestions on Wikipedia about the control of pests like aphids, etc; and what to do if the caterpillars eat all the available milkweed.

Simple Green Ideas

This one’s not actually so simple, but if you manage it, could be a great conversation piece.

Got one of these in the attic?

Time and a bit of ingenuity with a touch of technical know how, and you could have one of these…

Or, if you thinks that’s too much trouble…

One of these.

Or, if there’s only parts lying around…

Use your imagination.

Monday Moaning

The Fracking Truth

Hydraulic Fracturing, or Fracking, has raised hopes, promised riches and seen as the highly needed source of new fossil fuels.

America has been blinded to the truths of fracking. England’s David Cameron is pushing the cart as Britain’s solution.

Billions of barrels, just waiting to be plundered.

But wait, check out this story.

Write-down of two-thirds of US shale oil explodes fracking myth

Industry’s over-inflated reserve estimates are unravelling, and with it the ‘American dream’ of oil independence

Read more

Next month, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will publish a new estimate of US shale deposits set to deal a death-blow to industry hype about a new golden era of US energy independence by fracking unconventional oil and gas.

EIA officials told the Los Angeles Times that previous estimates of recoverable oil in the Monterey shale reserves in California of about 15.4 billion barrels were vastly overstated. The revised estimate, they said, will slash this amount by 96% to a puny 600 million barrels of oil.

Wow, so that’s one myth about to be busted.

UK looks to boost fracking with new land access rules

Read more

The UK government has proposed new rules regarding rights to access land in a bid to speed up the introduction of fracking.

It proposes that shale oil and gas companies are granted access to land below 300m from the surface.

David Cameron’s myopic views as he pushes fracking as the solution to Britain’s woes.

The majority in Britain are opposed to fracking. There have been strong anti-fracking protests at Balcombe, West Sussex, against test-drilling which opened the eyes of the British people.

The effects of fracking include, polluting underground water supplies, mini (at the moment) earthquakes and methane in local water supplies. But the politicians are turning a blind eye to all this as they see riches dancing before their eyes.

Honestly, the verve with which politicians are pursuing this fracking is pathetic.

The people’s voices must be heard.

 

Nature Ramble

Study offers snapshot of rare Ecuador Amazon parrot

Researchers came back with “more questions than answers” about the Ecuador Amazon parrot

UK researchers that headed to South America to learn more about one of the world’s rarest parrots have returned with “more questions than answers”.

A team from Chester Zoo spent three weeks studying Ecuador Amazon parrots.

The parrot was only reclassified as a species in its own right in December, before which it was deemed to be a subspecies of a common group of birds.

Only 600 individuals are estimated to remain in the wild, prompting the new species to be listed as Endangered.

“The truth is that we came back with far more questions than answers,” explained expedition leader Mark Pilgrim, director general of Chester Zoo.

“Suddenly, there are a whole number of things that we didn’t expect and we now have questions about.”

One example was how the birds chose their roosting sites amid the mangroves of Cerro Blanco, located along the coast of western Ecuador.

“We knew from literature from our previous visit that the parrots roosted in the mangroves and flew to the dry forests to feed,” Dr Pilgrim told BBC News.

“The assumption was that they did that to protect themselves from predators that were not found on the mangrove islands, but they fly very far out into the mangroves.

“Shrimp farms use bird scaring devices, which are designed to frighten the herons and shore birds and stop them eating the farms’ stock.

“So is this affecting [the parrots’] behaviour? We don’t know.”

Lovesick parrots?

The study also raised questions about the birds’ breeding behaviour.

Read more

Satireday on Eco-Crap

Make you Fink on Friday

I saw this Tweet.

“I am so excited about this outdoor clock, it’s the perfect accessory for my…”

It makes me wonder where people’s heads are at.

1. I wouldn’t give you sixpence for such a monstrosity.

2. It looks like something someone would throw out.

3. That some small minded person finds this perfect is disturbing.

It’s a waste of space, resources, money on such a pathetic item.

There should be laws against making crap like that.

Here we are in the midst of a global recession and the only thing that someone can think of is so trivial that it’s perfect for my… whatever.

People, please

Hey, Vegans & Vegies… Mexican!

Like the look of this?

I think it’s vegan, if not certainly vegetarian.

::Whole Wheat Tortillas::

::Tomato, Corn & Zucchini Salsa::

::Black Bean & Pepper Filling

::Cashew Cheese Sauce::

::Guacamole::

Full recipes and instructions on: http://shineonbeutiful.com/

I’d like it!

 

Change the World Wednesday – 21st May

Yesterday I was hit by the dreaded lurgy again. Spent a very uncomfortable day until I got to the chemist in the evening. Milk of Magnesia, instant relief.

This is not a person who eats red meat

One comment on yesterday’s post suggested I could have IBS and the irritation be caused by some food item. The only food item in common with the two was red meat… I am doomed! Am I to become a vegetarian? Oh, woe is me!

A fate worse than death itself. Rabbit food forever.

Clorinha is well, no re-occurrences. She is growing up and getting more adventurous. Since yesterday she has developed a new trick. Runs into the room, off the floor on to the box, on to the shelf, on to the next box, out the window and on to the old stove in the carport; now that all seems pretty ordinary, but when you consider that she does it all in one fluid movement and the time lapse would be measured in tenths of a second. If there was an Olympic event for window jumping, she’d be a champion in the making.

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This week’s CTWW is a simple one. I’ve discussed it before, but there is a small innovation.

This week, eliminate junk mail from your life. Here are suggested ways to do so:  There are lots of suggestions along with the challenge, but most of them are not applicable in Brazil; read the full CTWW by clicking on the banner.

My solution is not so much for junk mail but regular mail, in my case the power account. I have signed up for the company’s ‘ContaVerde’ (Green account) which means I’ll get my power account via email and not delivered on pretty white paper with lots of ink.

I still have to print it so I can pay it at the Lotérica (betting shop) where I pay my internet bill and from next month my rent. I walk to the Lotérica, so instead of getting a bus to town to pay the rent, I can now do it all by walking. The ability to print the power account at home means I can use recycled paper and not the pretty white bleached stuff.

Regarding the junk mail, most of it comes on non-glossy paper, so it doesn’t even get inside the house, it goes straight on to the compost heap.

So, I take small steps towards becoming greener.

 

Simple Green Ideas

Plastic bottle caps again today. Nothing fancy like the curtain idea a couple of weeks ago. But a good idea in the kitchen.

Clever?

I thought so.