Archive for April, 2010
Spotlight: Toilet Lid Sink
I saw this interesting little item on Greenopolis the other day – the toilet lid sink (technically called the Sink Positive). Basically, it’s easily installed in place of the cistern lid on your toilet, and when you flush, the clean water comes from the water supply, to the tap (under which you wash your hands) and then it goes down the plughole into the cistern, replacing the water that has just been used to flush the toilet. The next time you flush, this water is then used, and replaced… and so on. In this way, the water is used twice, rather than just using fresh water to flush. This would save heaps of water in hand-washing – and would restrict people to a certain amount of water for washing too.
Have a look at the video explanation (no captions, sorry), then read what I consider to be the downsides.
Downsides:
- I’m a pretty quick hand-washer and I think this would give me more water than I actually need most of the time.
- Where do you stand to wash your hands? Do you straddle the toilet? Try stand to the side of the toilet? It would be difficult to position yourself in any situation, but especially in separate toilets, like we have in lots of Australian households (as in, the toilet is in its own separate little room).
- I just know someone will knock the soap into the bowl. I know it.
- Cats love sinks. Imagine going to the toilet with a cat sleeping right behind you on top of the cistern. Interesting…
- There’s no way to modify the water pressure.
- How do little kids reach the sink? Stand on the toilet lid?
Do you think this grey water solution is beneficial enough to the environment to overlook the downsides?
Greenpeace PSA: Give Earth a Hand
Ecorazzi alerted me to the latest Greenpeace Public Service Announcement (PSA).
The forest of hands is simultaneously creepy and awesome. The ‘give Earth a hand’ slogan makes me think of the lyrics by John Lennon, ‘give peace a chance’, which is pretty similar, I guess. Overall, I like it! Have a look. (No need for captions as there is no talking or singing.)
What do you think?
Friday Feast: Quinoa Biscuits (Cookies)
I would like to declare that I am absolutely dreadful at baking biscuits (cookies). I’m not sure why; I can bake pretty much everything else, but biscuits just stump me. Even when I follow the recipe exactly, they still come out stuck to the pan or something. However, this recipe (which I got from the back of a packet of Nature’s First Organic Quinoa Flakes) worked fine the first time! If you’re having trouble with the biscuits sticking to the pan, increase the size of your cookies or decrease the cooking time. This worked for me.
I liked that these biscuits were somewhat lower GI than regular biscuits (the quinoa increasing the protein), and I made them even more so by changing the flour to rice and spelt. The original recipe called for wheat flour. The liquid sweetener you use will also impact the GI of the biscuits, as will the type of sugar you use, and how much optional stuff you include (for example, including the cashews will increase the protein/fat quotient per biscuit, which in turn will make them lower GI). It’s a whole complicated thing. I don’t mean to sound obsessive, but for health reasons, it seems it’s better for me to eat lower GI, so I’m doing my best to consider that at all times!
Anyway, I now present to you…
Quinoa Biscuits (Cookies)
Quinoa biscuits.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup liquid sweetener (the original recipe called for honey, which I used because I wanted to use the last of our honey up)
- 1/3 cup sugar (I used low GI sugar)
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine (I always use Nuttelex)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used smooth, but I bet crunchy adds a little something something)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I used imitation, and it was fine)
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 1/2 cup wholemeal spelt flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
- 3/4 cup quinoa flakes
- 1/8 tsp salt (optional)
- 1/2 cup crumbled cashews (or other nuts – optional)
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
- Beat honey, sugar, margarine, peanut butter and vanilla essence until creamy.
- In a separate bowl, combine flours, quinoa flakes, bicarbonate soda and salt (if using). Add to wet ingredients, beating well until blended.
- Place heaped teaspoonfuls approximately 5cm (2″) apart on an ungreased baking tray.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tray; continue to cool on a cake rack before storing.
Mmm... tasty quinoa biscuits!
Sustainable Menstrual Pads
I read an article on BlogHer today called iPads and Maxi Pads: Changing Women’s Lives in Uganda. Alison McQuade (the author of the post) uses the hype around the new iPad to draw attention to a more important issue – that Ugandan girls are dropping out of school at puberty because they have no access to sanitary items (pads, panty liners, tampons, menstrual cups etc). It struck a chord with me today particularly because I’ve just been trying out a new cloth pad. I’ve had it for ages but have been so enamoured with my menstrual cup, supplemented with cloth panty liners, that I hadn’t worn it before today – and I just felt like trying it out. The sock monkey called to me.
Arty farty shot of my (then new) sock money pad, from Moon Pads. (The sock monkey part is one of the wings.)
Anyway, I digress.
I’ve heard before that many girls in third-world countries don’t have access to any menstrual items, but I was surprised that the solution suggested in the post was to donate to a non-profit group (the Kasiisi Project) who provide disposable pads to the girls. The other group I know of who used to try to combat the same issue was Goods 4 Girls, who provided cloth menstrual pads to African girls (Crunchy Chicken, who ran the group, has since had to let it go – I’m not sure if anyone else has taken up the mantle). The advantage of cloth pads, of course, is that they can be reused over and over again with just a simple washing between wears. Quite aside from the environmental impact, I envisaged the aftermath of introducing disposable pads as something like a less serious version of the Nestle baby powder tragedy of the 1970s/1980s. What would happen if the Kasiisi Project ran out of funds? The girls would run out of pads and be right back where they started.
However, I did a little more research and while I still think cloth pads are a better option, I like the holistic set-up the Kasiisi Project has set up better than the ‘make a pad and donate it’ style of Goods 4 Girls. (Of course, this likely came about because the Kasiisi Project is a well-established non-profit organisation and Goods 4 Girls was a one woman who took donations – so you know, fair enough, you do what you can.) The Kasiisi Project donates Maka Pads, which are produced in Uganda as part of a cottage industry – often employing the families of the girls who will benefit from them. They are made from locally-sourced papyrus and waste paper, using little electricity in production. They can be worn for 8 to 10 hours, much longer than a regular pad (depending on your flow of course), so you use less of them. They’re cheap (US 0.5 cents per pad) for the city women who buy them, but most of the rural girls access them through donation.
Clearly the people behind this part of the Kasiisi Project have thought beyond the immediate need of the girls who would otherwise miss out on an education – they have also considered how to help the community and the environment. If you’re interested, I found this video much more informative than the websites (unfortunately there is no captioning).
Now, don’t think I’m dissing Goods 4 Girls because I’m not. It was still a worthwhile effort, as is the Kasiisi Project – every little bit helps (in most cases). But you know what would be best of all? A combination of their methods, which would, in my opinion, be the best option. Keep up the local cottage industry, but produce cloth pads, which can be reused for a long time. Of course, that then brings up the question – where does the cloth for the pads come from? Is it possible the Kasiisi Project already considered this and found locally-sourced papyrus and waste paper to be the more sustainable option after all? I guess if you had to ship in the cloth over a long distance, that would be a significant impact in and of itself. Also, has the Kasiisi Project factored in the disposal of the used pads?
I may email them to find out. Will keep you posted!
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