Change the World Wednesday – 23rd Jan

Last week’s CTWW was about picking an area of the house and organise it.

I chose my junk drawer…

Before

After

Medications, etc to the right; soaps and extras to the left, tooly bits and things in the middle.

I’m afraid I didn’t throw away much, in fact my discards amounted to a perished rubberband. But I did find the remains of a packet of parsley seeds that I will have another shot at propagating as a house plant/s.

On with this week’s challenge without further ado.

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This week start an “Action” journal. List the Eco-tasks you’d like to accomplish this year. This can be done in an actual journal, a blog … or even on a piece of paper. Get the whole family involved since we’re often more inclined to follow through on a task if it was our idea in the first place. Put the list of actions somewhere accessible so that it can be referenced often. As actions are completed, mark them off (ah the sense of accomplishment).

And then she asks, “Are you game for this activity?”

Lixo cooling off on the slate floor of the shower, it’s the coolest place in the house on a 40 degree day.

I’m game for most things, but I hate making lists.

I’ll have to think about that. If I do it it will be on this blog with updates. Getting the whole family involved, I checked with Lixo, he’s on, not happily but he’s on board. He’s all the family I’ve got and has been warned that he will eat all his cat food before he gets more.

Let’s face it, Lixo is a cat, he views the world differently from us hummins.

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He knows if the cat dish is full or empty.

#1 :: A new fridge to reduce the electricity gobbling monster I have currently. – √

#2 :: Change the element in the shower head. The current one only works on Low and Off, which is good for saving energy, but the with winter only a few months away, when the water is intolerably cold, I do like a Hot shower in the winter. I have the element, it’s in the little white plastic bag in the ‘tooly’ section of my junk drawer. It’s been there for a few months now… procrastination.

#3 :: I haven’t got a three yet.

I live from day to day and don’t make many big plans. But here is the story on the fridge (reprinted from Life is a Labyrinth, my personal blog).

“Last night one of my students told me of his plans, to finish his project at work, get involved in Carnaval, take his holidays and get married to his long term girlfriend. But to do three of these things he needs a lot of money, he then informed me that English teachers are on the expendable list. Two more lessons until Carnaval and that’s it.

But the sun shines.

Having polar bears in the kitchen is not recommended

He wanted to know if I could use a fridge. Now the fridge I have works, but has to be defrosted manually every couple of weeks. If I don’t preform this ritual, I have polar bears roaming the kitchen at night. But it has kept my beer cold for the last year. The fridge I have been offered is like a limousine compared to the truck that graces my kitchen at present. And the price is unbeatable, the last two lessons free and R$100. It is almost new, It still has the warranty adhesive.”

I collect the fridge tomorrow night. So, challenge accepted and unlocked. You’ll note the little green tick √ (check for our American cousins) beside it on the list.

Now I need more coffee, it helps me do stupid things faster.

Change the World Wednesday – 16th Jan

Yay!

CTWW is back. This is the official version. SF has returned from her well-deserved hiatus over Christmas and New Year.

A new challenge, and one that I need.

This week choose one area of your home (a closet, drawer, cupboard, etc.) and organize it. Sort through everything and decide which items you’ll use (and put them in their proper places), which items won’t be used and can be donated or given away, and last (as in last resort) … which items should be tossed in the trash bin. If you’re feeling especially ambitious … work your way through the entire home.

 

Or … If you’ve already done this and your home is in good shape, please let us know how it went. Offer us helpful tips, lessons learned, etc. Did you find any items you had forgotten about and will now use? Did you donate or give away many things? Do you feel that organizing your home has made it more Eco-friendly and if so, why?

My junk drawer

I have few drawers because I don’t have much furniture. But I have one big ‘junk’ drawer in the sitting room; every home has a junk drawer.

It’s good to have a digital camera again. There you have it, my junk drawer.

My junk drawer is basically a medicine cabinet combined with a sewing room, it’s where I keep my new batteries, new soap and tooth paste, tools, isolation tape, Christmas wrapping paper should I ever use it again. It’s the place that I know I’ll find something if I’m looking for it.

It does have a lot of junk that could be better organised.

I’ll look into it and get back to you.