Change the World Wednesday – 19th Mar

Clorinha’s first baby photo

Still crazy, this week I’m here at 1am. It’s too hot to sleep despite the fan. We had 43ºC (that’s hot, even in ºF – 110 something).

Let me introduce you to Clorinha. She’s still at home with Mommy, and will be for another two weeks. I have called her Clorinha because Daddy was Cloro (bleach), and she’s a little girl Cloro, she has the same markings as her Dad.

CTWW isn’t actually up yet on Reduce Footprints, but I was here, so you get the introduction.

Yes, in a can

One thing I have changed in my life since I have become more environmentally aware, cans. I avoid cans like the plague.

I restrict my cans to sardines, I love canned sardines in olive oil on toast, and I have an emergency ration of feijoada (black baked beans with meat) which is easily heated without having to cook a whole meal in the evening which also heats up an already hot house.

I use about one can of each a month, sometimes less.

At my advancing age, a little more BPA can’t do too much damage. My endocrines are already disrupted.

But I generally stay away from canned goods, including drinks and beer.

However, last week at the supermarket, I weakened. I saw these wonderful cans of Guinness. Now I live in Brazil, Brazil does not make a good beer.

Four cans just leapt off the shelf into my shopping cart

A few weeks ago I bought two bottles of Stout made in Brazil. It was so unpalatable that half the first bottle went down the sink, the other relegated to the shelf in the beer box. To call this product stout was criminal, it was no more stout than caramelised pigs’ swill.

Now to find a quality brew like Guinness is a rarity here, I weakened. I would have preferred bottles, but they weren’t available.

Oh, and the stout was like heaven.

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CTWW is up now, but I’m going back to bed. I have had a quick read and will visit some of your blogs later when  the head is a little clearer and I have coffee.

This week’s challenge is a little easier.

This week, do not use or buy any paper towels or napkins. Instead, use cloth napkins and cleaning rags.

 

OR … If you never use paper towels or napkins, please review your paper use and determine if there are other ways for you to conserve. Can you use less toilet paper? Could you say “no” to printed receipts? What about printer paper, gift wrap, magazines and catalogs … can you give them up? Choose at least one area where improvements could be made.

 

OR … If you’ve basically eliminated paper from your life, please share your tips and ideas for doing so.

Part One

I do have a roll of paper towels in the kitchen, I bought a double pack about two years ago, and have just started the second roll. The last time I used one was to hold a juicy homemade hamburger more than a month ago. In my defence, I will say that I bought them before the previous CTWW challenge not to use them.

Part Two

If I used less toilet paper than I do, I’d be using my finger. I generally use one double piece for a wipe, then have a bum shower with soap and water.

Other paper reduction, I have stopped paper bank statements, I use the net.

I don’t buy magazines or newspapers, so there’s no problem there. Junk mail is a problem, not a big problem as most of it is little A5 sized flyers, the plain paper ones go on the compost heap, but the bigger glossies come at the rate of about two a week. Brazilian delivery does not understand “No Junk Mail”, although I have had strong words with some when I catch them. Which is why I am the neighbourhood velho caduco (grouchy old man).

Part Three

I can’t make any claims there. I use scrap paper for notes alongside my PC. Old papers used on one side get folded in four. I have a printer, but only print essentials for work on recycled paper. It hasn’t been used for more than two months, it’s probably rusted up.

Well, there you have it; my CTWW.

Change the World Wednesday – 5th Feb

Running late today.

Yesterday Brazil had a power cut affecting the south and west of the country, including here. Power was out for over an hour.

I hate disk drives

That’s not the tricky bit. When I got home and turned the PC on it didn’t want to connect with my backup drive and after repeated attempts, I gave up. Today I had another fiddle and after a couple of hours and lots of coffee managed to recover it. So all is well… until the next time. But I am creating another backup disk just in case.

Yesterday was also a stupendous 45ºC (112ºF), humidity was very low, so I was drinking lots of water, today is a cooler 41ºC. We are due for this heat wave until the 15th, so another ten days.

No more guava, plenty growing, but no ripe ones.

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Let’s get on with this week’s CTWW.

This week, monitor food portion sizes and cook accordingly. Even if you are cooking once for more than one meal, pay attention to portions and resist cooking more than necessary, which often leads to waste. Need help determining portion size? There’s more… Click on the banner for the full challenge.

Living alone this can be a tough one. I buy my meat in meal-sized portions, but when it comes to veges you can’t buy half a lettuce. I wish I had the ground available to grow more of my own. I buy a lettuce, and by the time I have used half, the rest is ready for the compost.

I rarely buy pre-prepared meals, so portions a not a great problem there. And the odd time I get a delivered pizza, I eat half one day, and the rest the next day.

As a chef, I have a pretty good idea, how much I need of something to make one meal. Sometimes I make several lots, for example when I make feijoada (Brazilian black bean dish) I make it the day, then pack six portions in old marg containers for the freezer; thaw and reheat later.

So I pretty much do this challenge as a matter of course.

I hate throwing food out. When I do, it makes me cringe.

 

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