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 – 18th Sept

Just two tomatoes left and unfortunately the new bush that is flowering is not producing fruit, maybe because of a small infestation of aphids.

He’s a little bigger now

When I mentioned Cloro’s dirt box being emptied on the compost heap LivingSimplyFree expressed concern about cat poop having a parasite. It’s true, cat poop does have a parasite, “Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common parasites to infect humans, with some studies suggesting that up to a third of the entire human population may be infected with it. The usual transmission vector is through exposure to cat feces, and while for the most part T. gondii is pretty much symptom-free, there seems to be growing evidence that it may be implicated in certain diseases and disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.” – Our complicated relationship with cats on Some Animals are Crackers.

My own observation to this is that I have been around cats since I shared a cot with one as a baby; they have been ever present throughout my life. I have no doubt that I have been exposed to the parasite and I am neither schizophrenic nor do I suffer from depression, despite having used their dirt in compost heaps all my life.

My chilli peppers are turning red. Hopefully I’ll have a photo next week. It’s raining at the moment and I’m not going to get wet.

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This week’s CTWW.

Today is National Ceiling Fan Day. I didn’t know that ceiling fans had their own day. I just found out that Rhinos have their own day too, that will be a Nature Ramble for next Sunday. I made an observation on my blog yesterday about Rhino Day, if you want a giggle pop on over for a read.

This week we are joining my friends at Fanimation in celebrating the the first ever National Ceiling Fan Day (NCFD). Did you know that the average central cooling unit draws anywhere from 3,500 to 5,000 watts of energy? Compare that to the 6-30 watts used by a ceiling fan and we quickly see why ceiling fans are energy efficient. So, for at least one full day this week, power off your air conditioners and rely on ceiling fans and/or portable fans to keep cool.

 

OR …

If you don’t use/have an air conditioning unit, please offer tips for staying cool in Eco-friendly ways.

 

OR …

If it’s cold in your area, please turn off your heating system and find alternate ways to keep warm (put on more clothing, use blankets, reverse the direction of your fan, adjust curtains, etc.).

Well, as I don’t have air-conditioning, I fall into the second part of the challenge.

My fan/s (I have two, but one is broken at the moment) are only on when necessary. As the year progresses that will be more often because we are in Spring (this weekend) and heading for a hot, hot summer with temps well over the 40°C (104°F for our cousins who have not been decimalised) begining in November. We have already had our first 38°C day last Saturday, that’s 100°F; signs of times to come.

One of the ways I use to combat the heat on oppressive nights is to have a cold shower before bed and lie on the bed sopping wet under the fan allowing the principles of refrigeration to do their bit. For fifteen minutes it’s better than any air conditioner before you are totally dry. If I am still awake, I repeat the process.

During the day I take a backyard shower under the hose. The water comes directly from underground and is quite chilled. I stand in a large basin for this, the water collected is then used on the plants.

So, my penny’s worth, for what it’s worth.