Change the World Wednesday – 30th Apr

Vegan cheese – image: Bunny Kitchen

So, my secret is out. I can eat vegan… Like I said, I do from time to time, it’s just not planned, and it’s more likely to be vegetarian.

I was pleased to hear from die-hard vegans that the vegan cheese link I posted was good, or at least worth trying.

Because you are such nice people, I’ll share another link with you.

I guess old hands will now about this stuff already, but it may be new for some.

Cashew Cream, can be used as a dairy substitute in many dishes and recipes.

The comments have many useful links for the veganish.

Clorinha waiting for new sand in her box

I just had a Kit Kat and coffee break.

The coffee is real enough, but the Kit Kat, Clorinha, needed new sand in her box.

Last week’s CTWW was about bees, and one of the challenges was about making flowers available.

Well, good news for the bees, my main chili pepper bush has produced a new crop and is flowering again. It is dotted with lots of little white flowers.

Lots of Red Hot Chili Peppers

Lots of little white flowers

So, my bees are happy. They’ll be even happier when the passion fruit vines start flowering.

Before we get on to CTWW for this week, São Paulo’s reservoir levels have dropped to 11.3% of capacity; down from last week’s 11.9%.

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This week’s CTWW is about circling.

Circling is something I have never considered, and something I never do.

In my day when I drove, it wasn’t necessary. Apparently this is another sign that I am no spring chicken any more.

Do you circle? To find the answer you’ll have to visit the full post over at Reduce Footprints because I am not reposting that bit of the challenge today.

OR … If you don’t drive, or want more of a challenge, please focus on other ways to reduce petroleum use. Here are some suggestions:

• Buy local products (they don’t travel as far to get to your market).
• Go “Scent Free” or use essential oils (95% of the chemicals in most perfumes and scents are derived from petrochemicals).
• STOP using plastic bags!
• Air dry your clothing (saves energy which means reduced oil consumption).
• Choose natural, Eco-friendly cosmetics (most lipstick and glosses are made with petroleum products).
• Switch to soy-based printing inks (most inks on the shelf contain petroleum products).
• Say “NO” to nylon and polyester (both petroleum based).
• Avoid aspirin which contains … yep … petroleum.
• Avoid hair color and opt for a natural dye like henna … or just go natural!
• Grow and/or buy organic foods (fertilisers and pesticides contain petroleum).

Well, that’s quite a list. Let’s see how I measure up:

I live in an urban area, there are really no products that are local. Oh, and the bad news; the new sacolão that opened in our area has closed already, apparently the wife had to be hospitalised and the other family members found it a drag to continue. Even the owner of the building doesn’t know for certain if the closure is permanent or not.

Scent free, well, I’ve covered that with my orange and vinegar pots and spray, works just fine.

Stop plastic bags is a drag here. Generally I get paper bags from the supermarket, or shopping locally I use my carry bag.

Air drying… All my drying is on the clothes line, I don’t have a clothes drier and consider them totally unnecessary and a waste of resources in the manufacture.

I don’t use lipstick or glosses… I don’t like women who do. I am a member of the ‘ban cosmetics brigade’.

I didn’t know that soya inks existed. I have a friend who works in a place where they recharge printer cartridges, I’ll talk to him about it, maybe they don’t know either.

I don’t wear nylons, for the same reason I don’t use lipstick… I don’t like polyester clothes, I don’t like the feel of the material, and in the summer here it doesn’t absorb sweat.

I don’t have Aspirin, but I do use Paracetamol on the odd occasion I need it; I’ll have to look into whether it has the same petroleum type base.

Hair colour is not a problem for me… No hair! What I have left goes natural. Once again, I consider hair colour in the same light as I consider cosmetics; a total waste and the epitome of vainty.

My fertiliser comes from my compost heap, and I don’t use pesticides in the garden. I do have fly spray in the house for mosquitoes (remember the dengue fever issue from last week’s post.

You can get dengue once and you are very sick for about eight days, if you get it again you can die.

I have already used my ‘get out of jail free’ card.

Okay, so I don’t measure up too badly. But, I am always on the look out to improve what I already do.

 

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Change the World Wednesday – 30th Oct

My pineapple flower

Cloro’s dirt box is outside permanently now. She’s being a good girl.

The worst smell in the kitchen now is freshly brewed morning coffee.

My success story. I mentioned the other week that a pineapple top I had tried to grow looked dead, actually it was knocked over by Cloro. I yanked it out and threw it on the compost heap where it took root and has now the beginnings of a flower. I have grown many pineapples like this as decoration, but never had one flower before, so I am quite pleased. It may even fruit, what a bonus.

My chili peppers have had their third harvest and the jar is now full. I also picked the first of my cayenne peppers and got one full jar. All steeped in olive oil, they are ready for Christmas gifts.

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This weeks CTWW is a little different.

This week, perform a random act of green. Similar to a random act of kindness, the idea is to help the planet by looking for Eco-friendly opportunities which may present themselves as you go through your day. This could be picking up trash while you walk or helping an elderly neighbor bring their recycling bin to the curb for pickup. Maybe you turn off a light which was left on, offer to carpool to save gas, or share local produce with a friend. Perhaps buy a reusable bag or bottle for someone or invite a neighbor to share a vegan meal. The possibilities are endless!

Now that we have Coletiva Seletiva (recyclable rubbish collection) once a week, I am considering all the rubbish that I throw our and whether it is appropriate for the weekly collection. I started with my sparking mineral water bottles and glass, now I am adding cardboard and paper and other plastics. My trice-weekly ‘normal’ rubbish has been reduced a lot. I pick up the trash on the street in front of my house and the cans and other is added to mine rather than put it in the street bins around the park so that it also gets the benefit of recycled rubbish.

So while am limited by my lack of mobility, I do little bits and they all add up.

 

Change the World Wednesday – 23 Oct

Basic human right, we have the right to know what we are eating and putting on our bodies

Last week’s post was about human rights and the right to know what we are eating through labelling.

I am going to extend that thought with today’s post.

First my weekly update:

Cloro is learning that the kitty litter (sand) box is outside more than inside, she’s getting the meassage.

The second lot of chili peppers have been bottled and the third lot would have been picked today, if exhaustion hadn’t over taken me. Which is the reason I am running late with this post.

This is my beefless week. For those of you who have been following my posts will know that several months ago I decided that the first and third full weeks of any month are ‘beefless’. I have continued with this theme since then. This week so far: Monday, poached sole (halibut) fillets with potatoes in milk and a delicious parsley white sauce. Tuesday, leftovers. Today, chicken breast with the last of the parsley sauce. Tomorrow, curried pork sausages; this will continue until Sunday.

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On with this week’s CTWW challenge:

The subject is BPA.

This week ban BPA from your life. Need some ideas? Avoid canned foods, including prepared soups, vegetables, sauces, soda and beer. Don’t microwave polycarbonate plastic food containers. Say no to printed receipts; they contain BPA.

 

OR … If you live in a country which bans BPA (Canada and Europe both ban this toxin), then please consider other ways to ensure food safety in your home. For example, defrost food in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature (which encourages the growth of harmful bacteria). Take a look at your pots and pans and make plans to replace any, which may leach chemicals into your food, with safe cookware like cast iron or stainless steel (here’s a hint … any coated pans or “non stick” varieties are unsafe). Avoid packaged, pre-cut produce which may be washed in a solution containing chlorine.

Brazilian canned beer. I don’t even buy the first one in bottles, hate it.

Principally, I do this already. I don’t buy canned beer.

I don’t buy soda, period!

I don’t buy prepared veges in a can, and I don’t microwave anything. Remember my thoughts on microwaves is that they should all be consigned to the dump. Search ‘microwave’ on this blog and you will find my thoughts there.

I do, however get printed receipts. I was totally thrown by the fact that they have BPA. I’ll have to look into that. But receipts here in Brazil are required when returning/exchanging purchases.

Generally, I buy in glass, doesn’t matter if it is beer or asparagus (can’t get fresh asparagus here). This is acceptable, but they also have insipid white shit, that I have never tried, nor want to.

The only thing that I buy in a can are sardines in olive oil. I’ve never seen them any other way. But I don’t buy tuna nor salmon in a can.

I also shun products in plastic whenever possible. Cheese spread for example, if I can’t find it in glass, I go without. This attitude has been part of my life for years, even before I learned about BPA.

I’ll add a warning here. Many companies have done away with BPA, and say so on their products; they have replaced it with BPS, which is several degrees worse, but the furore hasn’t reached the public yet through companies being super-secretive about the change.

Aluminium saucepans

In the second part of the challenge, cooking ware is mentioned. One of the most contaminating materials in your kitchen is aluminium (aluminum for our American cousins). Aluminium pots and pans leach the metal into your food and this contamination has been linked to things like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

I have two aluminium pots in my kitchen, they bget used as little as possible, but then at my time of life I am silly enough anyway, a little bit sillier probably isn’t that important. But, for young families with kids, they should be consigned to the scrapyard.

In the main, I use steel or cast iron, although I do have a coated non-tick frying pan which produces the most heavenly fried eggs, which would be even more heavenly if I had a source of farm fresh eggs.

Products packaged with BPA or BPS should be labelled as such.

So, yes, I do participate in this week’s challenge, and in some aspects have done so for years.