Change the World Wednesday – 17th Sep

Emmylee at my birthday BBQ

It’s been a quiet week after my bursts of energy around my birthday. Speaking of which, today is Emmylee’s.

*ties knot in finger to remember to phone her*

Give Emms my camera and I get an 8gb SD chip full of selfies…

Anyway, today she’s reached the ripe old age of eight.

BIG news, American waistlines have grown an inch in the last decade.

More news, to fight cancer… roll in the kitty litter.

It appears that the bacteria, Toxoplasma gondii, we get from our feline buddies and is carried by 60% of the population is a cancer hunting/destroying bacteria. What can I say, get closer to your pussy! Cheaper than chemotherapy.

Sad news…

The reason we need Marina da Silva for presidenta! (See last wee’ks CTWW)

The dams are dry, sorry too late

In recent months Brazil has undergone a severe water shortage, particularly in the state of São Paulo. A report in the news this morning is rather disturbing. It appears that deforestation of the Amazon basin has reached a threshhold The vegetation of the Amazon basin let moisture rise and so produce the clouds that moved across the country and fell as rain. Apparently, there is not enough vegetation left to make suffcient moisture to form the necessary clouds. Brazil’s inaction, or insufficient action, has caused their own demise. Had the country been more prudent earlier, we wouldn’t have these drought problems. Another example of man’s inability to husband the planet effectively.

This week it was reported that deforestation in Brazil increased for the first time in the last few years, despite a major illegal logging band being dismantled.

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Now let’s move along.

This week’s CTWW is about CFCs

This week, let’s deal with any ozone-depleting chemicals in our lives. Here are some steps to take:

• Check labels and avoid any solvents, cleaning supplies, foams, etc. which contain CFCs (in addition to the common names mentioned above, they might be found on the label as methane, ethane, Trichlorotrifluoroethane).
• Check storage areas for old aerosol cans, fire extinguishers, or air conditioning units and dispose of them properly (call your hazardous waste disposal department for information on the best way to dispose of them).

There’s a lot more, check the banner above for the rest.

My life is CFC Free.

My refrigerator is only a couple of years old and CFC free.

I don’t have any old stuff like aerosols, fire extinguishers, etc in use that might contain CFCs; and I don’t use air conditioning.

However, I do still have my two old fridges that are bound to have CFCs. I haven’t thrown them out as I use them in the carport for storage cupboards.

“In Brazil, a pilot project was launched to remedy this problem. Working within the framework of the Swiss Climate Protection Initiative, the Swiss foundation SENS International launched a project to recycle old refrigerators and other cooling appliances in a manner compliant with Swiss standards.
It is not enough to merely replace old refrigerators with more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly ones. The old appliances also need to be recycled in a manner that ensures the complete extraction and destruction of CFCs. However, this requires a certain degree of know-how, specific equipment and facilities as well as new legislation. Until fairly recently, these factors were missing.” – Source No date given.

The problem is the recycling plant is in São Paulo, 460km away. I’ll have to look into this further and see if there are any facilities here in Rio.

Another source tells me there is a comprehensive recycling programm for old fridges but doesn’t sy where, have to look further.

Meanwhile, it’s back to bed… 3am writing CTWW, I am seriously in need of therapy.

Change the World Wednesday – 23rd Jul

No photos to bore you with today.

Nothing really to update either;

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So let’s roll right along with this week’s CTWW.

This week Small has done a bunk.

She’s M.I.A.

Actually, I knew this was coming, just didn’t know when. She’s moving.

Good luck! I hate moving house.

So, the CTWW is continuing what we did last week. Click on the CTWW banner or visit my last week’s CTWW post.

This week my old cellphone gave up the ghost. I can’t complain, it was given to me, the same as my first cellphone. I have had 10 years of cost free cellphones.

I eventually got a new one on Monday.

Steam Punk Cellphone

Of course, it’s made of plastic. Only Steam Punk cellphones are made of steel.

I had looked around some shops and all they had were smartphones, I didn’t want a smartphone, I am smart enough to figure most things out.

I eventually found a kiosk selling such items in another department store I visited.

Simple, camera, music, sms, qwerty keys and it even makes phone calls. $129 (about US$55); it fitted the budget.

I expected it to come coddled in plastic and was pleased to find that it didn’t.

Only the battery was sealed in a small plastic bag, that and the rest was packed in a simple cardboard box.

Now, I have the problem. How to dispose of an old cellphone. It’s not repairable, it was too old when I got it; so that is not an option. I am looking now for a responsible way to dump it.

Not so easy when you live so far out of town. The velho oeste (Wild West) where I live is devoid of such niceties.

In the meantime, it RIPs with other PC bits and pieces in a box waiting a solution.

Perhaps the monitor repair chappy, knows. When I see him next, I’ll ask.

My new cellphone, Fire Orange…

So that’s my continuation of last week’s CTWW on plastics.

Monday Moaning

Yes, I know it’s Tuesday. I’m a day late, read here to see why.

Here’s something for you to think about.

Electric cars aren’t green!

It’s all a big lie.

The truth is they simply don’t use petroleum.

The whole process from manufacture to user product is more pollutant than conventional cars.

The mining and extraction of lithium in countries with lax manufacturing and disposal laws. The use of electricity in areas that have fossil fuel powered generators, means that electric cars simply aren’t green.

Read this Norwegian report in The Guardian that asks the question: “By solving one problem, do electric cars create another? And, if so, does this environmental harm then outweigh any advantages?”

“The study highlights in particular the “toxicity” of the electric car’s manufacturing process compared to conventional petrol/diesel cars. It concludes that the “global warming potential” of the process used to make electric cars is twice that of conventional cars.”

Which brings us to the point; why are we being lied to? Again!