Satireday on Eco-Crap

Change the World Wednesday – 8th Aug

Garden boxes are all treated timber, but is it safe?

My thanks goes to all those who participated in Reduce Footprint’s  challenge last week; it certainly raised some awareness.

One reader (sorry, I can’t give you credit, I lost the link) covered toxic wood stains and timber preserving, an aspect that I hadn’t considered.

My post simply covered some links for further reading on the identification of plastics and their importance when it comes to our health.

This weeks challenge has been done, but taking account of your water usage is always valuable.

This week conserve water by not wasting it. Consider every drop which typically gets poured down the drain and find creative uses for it. Examine your water use and see where, and how, you can make improvements.

Or …

Already a super-saving, water-conserving hero? Then your challenge is to tell us how you do it … and you’ll get “points” for coming up with truly creative approaches.

The only water that goes down my drain is that which is detergent contaminated, all other grey water goes on to the garden and pot plants. Showering daily at the moment is not necessary with our current cold snap, so every second day, I just splash water on my face to wake up, and give the armpits a similar splash. That’s not possible here in the summer with our 40ºC+ (104ºF) days, some days two showers are necessary, but my showers are limited to three minutes. Being bald has it’s advantages, no hair to wash.

Now here’s some of the little things that I do. Use any excess hot water or vege water to splash on the dirty plates in the sink; it loosens or removes any grease and means you use less detergent.

Do you wash your cutting boards with detergent? Mostly, it’s not necessary; if you use a good stiff brush to scrub and a quick rinse, that’s all that’s necessary. I have four cutting boards in the kitchen, and it would be months since they have seen detergent. I’m not dead yet. I also use the scrubbing brush on my dishes and pots and pans to get rid of any ‘crusted’ deposits; then it just takes a quick wipe with detergent, a quicker dunk, and presto, clean!

Did someone mention ‘beer o’clock’?

I don’t use water to wash my yard down (this is a traditional thing with Brazilians). I sweep it. Raises a good sweat, and makes that beer o’clock even tastier.

There you go, that’s my offering for the week.

Have a great week and a better weekend.