Posts tagged ‘water’
Fibres: Natural vs Synthetic
Wool vs acrylic? Cotton vs polyester? Hemp vs nylon? I know the natural fibres are typically more comfortable to wear, but what’s better for the environment?
Cotton, wool, hemp, acrylic, polyester...?
You might think it’s a simple question – surely the natural stuff is better, right? But when you consider the impact of sheep on the environment or the amount of water required to sustain cotton crops, it does get you starting to wonder… especially when you factor in recycled (and sometimes recyclable) synthetic fabrics, like polyester made from old PET bottles.
But then again… maybe all the hoo-haa about recycled fabrics is just a bunch of greenwash. Check out this article on O Ecotextiles for more information.
Ultimately, I don’t know. I think I need to explore O Ecotextiles a little more and hope to be enlightened. At the moment, though, I’m leaning towards natural, especially when you look at the energy required to produce fabrics, the actual content of the fabric (oil in the synthetic fabrics is kinda off-putting) and the life of the fabrics after we’re finished using them (natural fibres will biodegrade, whereas synthetic ones won’t). Based almost purely on personal opinion, I think probably the best choice would be yarns produced from the by-products of some other industry (like soy yarns, which are made from soy fibres left over from making tofu), or yarn that is removed in a mutually beneficial way (alpaca removed by brushing, shearing pet sheep in summer etc).
Anyone know more and care to share?
Spotlight: Apocalypse Soon
I read this article called ‘Why Wait Till 2012? 8 Quasi-Serious Ways to Ward Off the Apocalypse Now‘ on Planet Green the other day, and it really got me thinking. It’s about, essentially, the end of the world, due to peak oil, peak coal, peak dirt, war and climate change.
Are we facing the apocalypse? More to the point, is the apocalypse inevitable? This might sound pessimistic, but is all this fighting for climate change going to make much difference? Even though we might stop massive tracts of land from being swamped by the ocean, and huge numbers of people from being displaced or killed, people will still starve or freeze/overheat and subsequently die due to the aftermath of peak oil/peak coal. Read more about the impact of peak oil – it’s very sobering.
I don’t think it really clicked to me, before I read these articles, just how dependent on oil we are. I figured that as long as I mostly ate local, used green electricty and didn’t drive much, it wouldn’t affect me dramatically. It seems though, that even local food production will falter and electricity generally will become scarce. From a purely personal perspective, my current location probably does put me in a good position. I don’t heat or cool my house, so temperature fluctuations aren’t going to kill me. Even if the sea rises, it won’t cover Brisbane (according to the Sea Level Rise Explorer, we are about 4m above seal level, so safe in the near future). I do live in a location with a reasonable number of local food producers and in a climate where I can grow a significant proportion of my own food. I have plans within the next five to ten years to move to a more sustainable way of life (hard to do in a rental house), that will ensure my family is more self-sufficient. Heck, just the fact that I have an awareness of the issue puts me a step ahead. I’m less likely to panic when the time comes.
Will we have to harvest at home like this in the future?
Even so, I’ve been asking myself so many questions.
- Is looking five to ten years ahead too long to wait to go really sustainable? (Will the economy and life as we know it collapse before then?) If so, how am I supposed to do it earlier than that if my finances won’t allow it?
- What are we going to do for water? How will the dams run without coal-based electricity?
- How will the food stretch to all the people we have to feed? Even though we are in a good location, we’re going to struggle to feed the millions of people living in South East Queensland in a local and sustainable way, without access to oil or coal.
- Will I have to start eating meat again? I know how to fish, even if I don’t like to do it. Keeping backyard chickens for eggs is easy enough.
- How will we manage from an electrical perspective? Even if I have green power now, most people don’t and there’s not enough for everyone (we don’t have the facilities). Will energy providers and governments work fast to get green energy up and running for all? How will they do that without oil and coal? The solar panels and wind turbines have to be produced and transported somehow.
- What will happen to the internet? Everyone’s computers will become obsolete and there will be no replacements. Giant server farms won’t be sustainable due to the lack of energy to power them. People will have less time to contribute to the internet anyway cos we’ll all be out trying to grow food. How will we learn how to survive without the internet? Does the local community already have that knowledge, if we can band together to share it? How will we organise this knowledge sharing? How will we know who knows what?
- What about money? Will I be employed? Will Yankee Elv be employed? My job is dependent on energy and telecommunications. If I am employed, how will I have time to do the things I need to to survive (like grow food and travel places on food/bike)?
- Will hospitals still run? Will medicines be available? Some people in my family are dependent on medication. Will sperm banks still exist? I don’t know how they could with no energy to keep things frozen. How will Yankee Elv and I have more children if we want them? (The old-fashioned way really doesn’t appeal to me!)
- If we’re struggling to find enough food to feed ourselves, how will we feed our pets? Will they have to hunt for themselves? How will this affect the local indigenous animal populations?
- Will schools continue to exist as we know them? Will kids still get to go to university, or will the be expected to drop out and work to help keep their families alive?
- Will we ever see our families again without oil to fuel the transport? Mine live close enough that I could travel there under my own steam (although it would take a while), but Yankee Elv’s family are on a whole ‘nother continent.
- Will there be overcrowding as we take in refugees, or will there be no refugees after all because they will die from starvation? Maybe the refugees won’t be able to get to Australia because there will be no international transport anymore.
- Will the world powers be upended? Current first world countries could become third world countries who can’t sustain themselves. Third world countries (already full of subsistence farmers who already live without oil/coal) would become first world countries, experts in how to survive. How will that work for Australia though? How will we be able to communicate with other countries if electricity and telecommunications go bust? We’re a giant island in the middle of nowhere. Will world travel still exist?
- Will there be wars? How significantly will crime increase? Are we going to end up in a Mad Max/Waterworld style society?
- How will we all cope?
Part of me thinks I’m completely insane for considering these things – they seem so far-fetched, like they’re some weird kind of alternate reality. Having read more about peak oil though, I’m starting to get the impression that these things are more and more likely. I wonder if I’m spending too much effort thinking about climate change and not enough on survival, on learning skills now so I know how to live later. At the same time, I think the things we can do to combat climate change and the after-effects of peak oil are very similar. I do think I’m going to start focusing more on:
- Learning how to make my own clothes and other non-disposable cloth items (hankies, blankets, napkins etc)
- Growing my own food
- Preserving food
- Cooking with unusual items that can be grown locally – things like quinoa and tropical fruits
- Foraging for wild and/or native food
- Capturing water to use to water plants
- Creating compost to fertilise plants
- Investigating homemade pet food.
As much as I’d love to live in a strawbale house with a rainwater tank, solar panels and an orchard, complete with vege patch, chickens for eggs and some pet sheep for wool (they’d be ever so grateful for a shear in summer – we already shave the dog in summer to keep him cool), it’s simply not achievable right now. I think Yankee Elv and I need to look into making it achievable sooner than I originally planned though. If peak oil and climate change get worse very rapidly, what I consider financially stable now may not apply in the future. Land grabs may occur, banks mightn’t lend money anymore, and there may be no more rainwater tanks or solar panels to be had. I also think I need to try to find some kind of community, something outside of the internet, where I can connect with skilled people to learn things that may be necessary to survival. For example, maybe I can help out if someone is constructing a strawbale house so I know how to do it, even if I can’t afford to do it myself yet. There are some Transition Towns located not too far from me – I’d be interested in seeing how I can get involved.
Finally, when I start getting into that disbelieving place where I feel like I’m on a sensationalist trip, reading this article kinda put it all into perspective. Maybe it’s not apocolypse now, but it very likely will be soon*.
*OMG I can’t believe I just said that, but OMG I think it’s true. Shit.
Review: 20 Natural Health Tips
I’m sick today, so when I saw in my twitter feed that Natural Papa had posted 20 natural health tips, it seemed like a timely miracle! Just what I was after. So off I went to look. (I’d just like to note also, that while it might be cold and flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s really not here in Australia. Clearly I didn’t get that memo.)
Natural Immunity Booster Drink - everything is in the cup except the honey and the water.
While I sip my funky drink, here’s a high-level list of Natural Papa’s tips (in bold) with my responses (not bold).
- Wash your hands frequently. I’m a bit of a serial hand washer with a regular bar of soap. I avoid pump bottles of soap as part of my ‘avoid unnecessary plastic’ gig, and I really dislike antibacterials soaps (dudes, there’s supposed to be some bacteria around the place). I’m being particularly conscious of hand-washing at the moment since I’m touching snotty tissues all the time. Gross.
- Change your hand towels often. I washed the darned things on the weekend and I was sick by Tuesday. Humph.
- Clean the places that harbor the most germs in your house (door handles etc). Ok, aside from hand-washing, I could probably do this. But isn’t it a bit OCD to walk around wiping things all the time?
- Get plenty of sleep. If this was a month ago, I’d totally agree that I need to do this. However, the last couple of weeks I have actually been doing pretty well with sleep. I could probably still use more though… I’ve gone from 4 to 6 hrs to 6 to 7 hrs. Aiming for 8 hrs is probably not unrealistic.
- Stay hydrated (especially with central heating). Well, I live in Queensland. We don’t do central heating. Aside from which, it’s a week away from summer over here – it’s plenty hot enough, and not dry heat either (humidity is nice). Also, I drink more water than any other person I know (no, I’m not kidding).
- Take your vitamins. I try to eat foods that have vitamins in them naturally or through fortification (go Milo!), rather than having to remember to pop pills. Good for people who don’t eat like that though.
- Get sunshine on your body. This is so true. Unless I have a migraine or a fever, sitting in the sun makes me feel better when I’m sick. Some of my paler friends think this is weird, but it really helps! That being said, living in the Sunshine State, I get plenty of sun, so I don’t think this is the problem.
- Be active – move your body. I have been doing pretty well with walking from work to the busway over the last week or two, and I’m hoping that as of next week I’ll be able to start back at yoga. I could do more though.
- Be positive. I am usually positive, although sometimes work gets me down. I’ve been ok lately though.
- Laugh. Yeah, I could do more of this. But all the ‘funny’ movies are full of toilet humour, and that’s not really funny at all. I laugh more in general conversation with family and friends. Maybe I should go visit my folks after I’m well, or organise a social outing with work people. Now I’m in a slightly different position at work, I’m missing the chats and laughs I used to have a lot of with J-Mo. I do laugh with other people too, but I think they’re at a lesser level of crazy that J-Mo and I am. Hmm.
- Vitamin C. I’ve been drinking orange juice this week, like it’s going out of style.
- Eat more fruits and veggies. Yeah, I could do this. We’ve started a thing where on Sunday we chop up enough fruit to last the week and pack it into a bunch of containers, so it’s easy to just grab fruit and go. That’s been helping. I could do more with veges though… I really only eat them cooked, so if it’s a lazy night and I just want pizza, then I miss out. I think I eat more than most people… not that it’s a competition. Ultimately, yeah, I could use more.
- Drink your juice. See point 11 – it’s not fresh though.
- Use herbs for healing. Tomorrow, you will see this recipe I’ve tried out for a natural remedy drink. Interesting stuff.
- Use a neti pot. I just can’t make myself do this. All that water going up my nose… nope. Can’t do it. I’d rather go to the beach and let a wave do it for me. (Which is what I was planning for this weekend, if I’m better.)
- Get a massage. I’d love to do this! Who knows a non-expensive masseuse? Anyone? Really, do I need to ask Beuller again?
- Take it easy on the coffee and alcohol. I don’t drink coffee, and I think my body has been telling me to lay off the alcohol (not that I drank much in the first place). Every time I drink wine these days, I get heartburn within 15 mins. I don’t think I’ve had more than half a glass a week for the last two months. It gets too painful and Yankee Elv keeps having to finish it for me.
- Just say no (to going to work when you’re sick). I’m home, for the second day in a row!
- Avoid taking over-the-counter medications. I have been dosing up on the Sudafed, but only cos it was helping make the headache and fever go away a bit.
- Hug your family. I spent a fair chunk of last night lolling on Yankee Elv on the couch, and the previous night snuggling with Mr Teeny-bop whilst watching Xena, so I think I have this covered. Plus I hug the kitties and pat the dog all the time!
While Natural Papa’s list is really quite good, I’m unfortunately already doing most of this stuff. Poop. Maybe there was no escaping this illness. One of my colleagues yesterday (when I called in sick) suggested that maybe I’m just run down. There’s probably some truth to that.
I guess it’s just time to rest up and drink weird drinks.
Spotlight on Zoos: Good or Bad?
Last week, I was looking at some photos my mother-in-law took when she was in Australia several months ago. One of the things she really wanted to do was hold a koala, so we went to Lone Pine Sanctuary (it’s local!) and she and Mr Teeny-bop held koalas and had their photos taken. Lots of other photos were also taken, such as the following one.
Mr Teeny-bop feeding a kangaroo at Lone Pine Sanctuary
There were heaps of other animals there too – birds of prey, kangaroos, wombats, cassowaries, dingoes, tasmanian devils, parrots, cockatoos, galahs, lorikeets, bats, wallabies and farm animals (not sure what the farm animals were about, but anyway…), and Yankee Elv’s mom even took photos of the ugly wild scrub turkeys scratching around outside.
Yankee Elv feeding a kangaroo at Lone Pine Sanctuary
It was nice to go to a place where it’s not overly tourist-y (like Australia Zoo is these days), but still get to interact with all the animals. It did get me wondering though – are zoos, sanctuaries and other places like that good for the environment? I’m not going to argue about whether or not they’re good for the animals – some will say keeping animals in captivity are never good, others will say places like this provide a service to all the animals hurt on roads or displaced by deforestation. Regardless, I’m not going to debate that. What I’m interested in today is: are these places good for the environment?
With a motto like, ‘The Earth is not only for humans’, you’d think Lone Pine would be into all that eco-stuff. The Lone Pine Sanctuary website does encourage people to do environmentally friendly things like drive safely and be aware of wildlife crossing the roads, plant eucalypts as food trees for koalas and avoiding disturbing vegetation generally (but especially in National Parks). Although all of these are aimed at wildlife conservation, they are also good for the environment generally. There is no statement on the Lone Pine Sanctuary website, however, that indicates they are working towards reducing their environmental impact.
People and animals can live together!
Ultimately, it seems like zoos are under the same environmental pressures as any other big business, such as:
- Water use
- Energy consumption
- Waste disposal and recycling.
Taronga Zoo has a comprehensive page on their site that explains it all quite clearly.
As well as Taronga Zoo, some other places, like Australia Zoo and the Philadelphia Zoo, are making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and potentially become carbon neutral. Chester Zoo was the first UK zoo to be awarded ISO14001s status. Other zoos are following in their footsteps. Some new campaigns that service both the environment and animals are cropping up too. Answer the Call, for example, is a mobile phone recycling program that helps save gorilla habitat.
Granted, my research has been pretty minimal, but what I’ve read seems to indicate that zoos are no worse than many big businesses, and the larger zoos are taking measures to counteract their environmental impact. Considering most zoos get visitors thinking about conservation, I think the good these zoos do likely outweighs any negative impact.
Your thoughts?
Update Again
I haven’t posted since the big dust storm, which seems ages ago now. We’ve had a couple more since then, but nothing like that first big one.
I’m sorry I’ve neglected the blog, but it’s just been a bit crazy crazy. Here’s an update on the latest goings-on.
Diva Princess broke two of her toes and has been stuck inside for a month with a bandage on her foot that she insists on trying to rip off. She looks so pathetic with the cone around her head that I try not to make her wear it unless she’s getting really crazy with the bandage pulling. She’s also had an ECG to check on a mild heart murmur we just found out she has.
Diva Princess is highly disgruntled that she is stuck inside with a bandage on her foot.
There are new white Tim Tams. Yankee Elv is obsessed. There have been a lot of Tim Tams in our house. Yankee Elv’s mom is obsessed too, except she lives in America, so it’s hard for her to have lots of Tim Tams in her house. Fortunately for her, they’re staring to sell them in the US soon. There’s lots of excitement about that, on both sides of the Pacific. I feel bad that the Tim Tams come in a plastic tray, in a plastic packet. They need to make eco Tim Tams that come in cardboard and paper. Plastic or not, I still eat them. Bad hippy. Bad.
Dog/cat/turtle-sitting is over. A great time was had by all. We introduced the dogs to a new dog park, which is full of very friendly people and is split into a section for big dogs and another section for little dogs. Loodle was not very sociable with the dogs but wanted everyone to pat him. Everyone loved him. Pseudo-Marley was simultaneously scared of the big dogs and desperate to play tag with them. Everyone loved him too. I like how they supply all the dogs with biodegradable poo pick-up bags.
I got a long-awaited promotion, Mr Teeny-bop has become a Drama-king (lots of school plays) and Yankee Elv has gone back to school.
I walked to the supermarket last weekend (for exercise and to reduce car trips – I took my green shopping bags too). Loodle can’t walk that far with us anymore, but Mr Teeny-bop came on his scooter. It was nice to walk along with him. We’re keeping our eye on a mango tree in a park along the way. In a couple of months we may be able to score some free mangoes. Yum!
Mangoes!
Loodle is getting into shaving season. He’s a North American dog all the way and doesn’t handle the heat, so we have to shear him like a sheep (although he ends up looking like a pink piggy when we’re finished). Shaving will occur this weekend. The first shave of the season is always very laborious, but not as bad as the weekly bath. The arthritis in Loodle’s hips is getting so bad he needs to sit down for his bath now. 
Yankee Elv and I celebrated (quietly to ourselves) a year of using menstrual cups and cloth pantyliners instead of disposable ‘sanitary products’. Going for reusuable menstrual items is one of the best decisions I ever made and I don’t just not regret it, I celebrate it – every month, every time I walk past tampons in the shop, every time I see an ad about pads and every time some poor girl tiptoes up to me at work and whispers “I don’t suppose you have an extra tampon in your bag, do you?” (I actually do keep a few tampons in case of emergencies so they are always lucky.)
Diva has figured out how to open the screen door and Loodle has figured out how to open the gates. I love having smart pets but this kind of extreme Houdini-style behaviour is a bit much. We’ve had to institute some counter-measures. Now our gates rival Fort Knox and the screen doors are always locked. That doesn’t stop Diva climbing them, and with summer coming we can’t close the wooden door all the time. Any suggestions?
Yankee Elv went blonde (partially). Anyone know what the ecological impact of bleach is?
I keep forgetting to water the herbs and veges regularly, so while they are not dead, they are not flourishing as they should be. The Spanish onions down the side of the house are growing best – they are out in the sunshine (but not too much sunshine) and the rain. I have had a tarp down beside the driveway for a couple of months to kill off the grass and hope to create a proper vege garden over the next couple of weekends. I think between exposure to the rain and my haphazard watering, they should fare better.
I got my empty witch hazel bottle refilled at the local organic shop. The cost was nearly three times what I pay for a whole brand new bottle in the supermarket. I don’t think I can justify spending that money to save buying a recyclable plastic bottle, which makes me really sad.
Yankee Elv has been helping me avoid buying lunch at work by cooking up big batches of food and freezing it. It’s like I have a restaurant inside my freezer that I get to go to every morning. I love that I’m saving money, eating super tasty food and not getting a bunch of disposable containers and cutlery each day.
Many, many grapefruit.
We got rid of about 80% of our grapefruits from the fallen branch via Freecycle, which I love! There is no way those hundreds of grapefruits were going anywhere otherwise. There are still hundreds more on the tree – the possums and bats are stocked for the summer. The passionfruits and pawpaws will be out before we know it too (if the morning glory doesn’t choke them), and then they’ll have dietary choice. I hope this choice encourages them not to eat anything out of my vege garden-to-be though. My colleague tells some lovely stories about possums eating her herbs and capsicums and her mad spraying with garlic and chili water (first the plants in an attempt to stave off the eating, and then the possums in retribution).
Cheeky possums eat everything, including bread, grapefruits, passionfruit, pawpaws and people's herb and vegetable gardens. They especially like the flavour of chili and garlic.
We’re planning another local holiday – south this time, just after Christmas. It should be good! No tents for a change. I need a break from holey air mattresses and tarps. I really hate putting up tarps.
So that’s what’s been going. Life has been interfering with my eco-life, which kinda sucks. Why are there so many things I wanna do, that I can’t do, cos I don’t have time, energy or money? (Mostly the first two.) Has anyone managed to find a balance? I could really use some advice.
Reuse: Denim Insulation
Ever thought of using denim jeans for building insulation? These folks have.
Typically, insulation is made from fibreglass. Fibreglass is exactly what is sounds like – tiny glass fibres. In an earlier post I discussed (at a high level) manfacture of glass. It’s not fabulous for the environment (although better than plastic in my opinion). I would definitely say blue jeans are better. They’re better for people and the environment. I like that the jeans are either old ones that would otherwise be discarded, or denim off-cuts from denim manufacturers. Considering cotton (which denim is made of) is such a water-intensive crop, however, is the best choice for the environment though?
If it was up to me, I’d go strawbale. The straw is just leftovers from grain crops, cheap, easy to construct and very effective.
An exterior truth window on a strawbale house, showing the straw inside. Photo from Paso Straw Bale Construction Blog.
Besides, strawbale* is pretty. I like it.
I wonder if the federal government would provide a rebate on building a strawbale house, under their insualtion scheme? Somehow, I doubt it. Hmm.
*Photo from Paso Straw Bale Construction Blog.
Spotlight: Window Farming
Check out these pics! They’re photos of window farms in NYC.
Britta and Rebecca with the first window farm, May 2009. Photo by Julia Makarova.
Window farming came about because some folks (Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray) didn’t want to wait around for a new style of urban planning that would bring farms to the city. They decided to join forces with whoever else wanted to be involved and come up with their own DIY version. Thus, Window Farms.
Gabriel Willow's Window Farm, July 2009. Photo by Gabriel Willow.
I really like how cool it looks, that you can grow heaps in a small space, and that so many of the things you use are simple, cheap and/or ‘rubbish’.
The first window farm, Brooklyn, May 2009.
They’ve even had a feature window farm at an art gallery, Eyebeam.
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
We have perfect windows at work for this, but I don’t know if work is quite ready for it. The company does rent potted plants, but edible plants is probably a foreign notion. I might start small – a pot of spinach maybe. I have plenty of seedlings! I can put it on the window sill – I scored a window seat when we moved offices. That bit of sunshine makes it so much easier to get through the day. If I worked in NYC, I think I could arrange for the Window Farm girls to commission a window farm for work, but coming to Australia might be a bit much.
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
It looks so cool though…
Detail of big window farm at Eyebeam, July 2009. Photo by Sydney Shen.
Check out this video to learn more:
Newsflash: Bottled Water Sales Fall
Good news on the bottled water front – bottled water sales are on their way down! Check out these articles, from Consumerist and Twilight Earth for more info. I think it’s probably partially due to the recession, but if folks get used to not buying it, then it will be much easier to convince them not to start up again when the money starts flowing once more. Kinda like how even though the drought is over in Brisbane now, everyone still uses water saving devices and I haven’t seen anyone hosing their garden or washing their cars. We all just got used to it.
In case you don’t know why bottled water is bad for the environment, here are the key points:
- More plastic bottles are created (which means more fossil fuels burned), most of which are not recycled.
- Increased fossil fuels are used to transport and refrigerate the water (especially those fancy kinds that come from natural springs in Fiji).
- The water is not as regulated as town water, so it can actually be of poorer quality than what you get out of the tap.
- Five times as much water is used to create a plastic bottle as actually goes inside the bottle once it’s made – talk about waste.
- Increased reliance on bottled water means decreased reliance on free town water; this means less importance will be placed on the upkeep of town water and so it’s quality will decrease.
- We shouldn’t have to pay for water! (Especially when it costs more than petrol).
- You can use a filter on your tap if you really like that ‘pure taste’ (most of which comes from additives in the bottled water) or if you live in an area with water that is of dubious quality (not many places in Australia). I must say, I would use a filter if I was living in an area with bore water, just cos I think it tastes funky.
You can find out more at the Bottled Water Alliance. They have some interesting facts there. I didn’t know, for example, that restaurants are required by law to provide you with tap water if requested (you can’t be forced to buy a bottle if you want some water).
Other folks have already jumped on the bandwagon too – No Impact Man, for example, who has pledged to Break the Bottled Water Habit and uses a glass jar as his water bottle. I’m not really into using a jar (although kudos to him) – the mouth is too wide and I’d spill it down my face, and if I got a narrower one, it would bump my nose. Yes, I’m a bit un-co. My buddy, Dyke Mike, is looking at buying a stainless steel water bottle to use and refill.
In the effort to create less waste and buy less stuff if I already have something I could reuse, I am using glass juice or iced tea bottles (that I had already saved) to contain my water.
Two glass bottles, sitting on a sill...
I am running into a problem with the insides of the metal lids rusting, so if anyone has ideas on how to combat that, let me know. I really need to use some kind of bottle with a lid when I’m out, but also by my bed or out on the verandah, cos I am super clumsy and knock things over. When I’m at work, I just refill my big glass (heavy-bottomed so it doesn’t tip if I bump it!) a lot. More water bubblers around the city and on the bikeway are good too – I have scoped out a few, if I need an emergency water fix whilst out shopping or walking home from work.
I’m definitely all about avoiding the plastic right now, but as a decidedly not-wealthy person, I never liked the idea of paying for what I can get for free! So I know that my purchases aren’t really making an impact on this drop in sales… but I’m glad sales are dropping nonetheless.
Reduce: Breast or Bottle?
I read this interesting article about how breastfeeding is the greenest choice. Of course, I agree – and when (some years down the line), Yankee Elv and I have more kids, we’ll try to share breastfeeding of the babies. There are herbs and medications you can take to induce lactation even if you’re not the birth mother, and just a small amount of breastmilk each day can significantly increase the child’s immunity. It’s the best choice, although naturally not the only choice.
What if you can’t breastfeed though – what then? Yankee Elv couldn’t with Mr Teeny-bop, so he was bottle-fed and grew up just fine. It’s not as eco-friendly as the breast though. So is there a way to make bottle-feeding greener?
- EcoMom has written a very comprehensive article about all the things you should consider; bottle, nipple, liners (don’t use them!), formula and water. She includes some product suggestions too.
- Great Green Baby does lots of product reviews – search the blog for ‘bottle’ and you’ll find several. The Babylife Bottles are my favourite, from a purely aesthetic point of view.
- Safe Mama reviews organic baby formula, Earth’s Best. I’m not sure if it’s available in Australia.
- Of course you’ll want to use town water, rather than bottled.
I know this doesn’t really impact me at this point in time, but I find it interesting nonetheless!
Spotlight: Urban Farming
- Photos like these inspire me.
- Blogs like this intrigue me.
- Sites like this help me.
- Stories like this help me realise urban farming is a bona fide movement now! (Yankee Elv, clearly less obsessed than me, saw this post and commented that she liked the woman’s sleeve [tattoo], although she claims it looks better from a distance.)
In my own forays into urban farming (or urban homesteading):
My spinach has all sprouted except for one seed, and most of my experimental onions sprouts are just poking their tips out of the soil. Mr Teeny-bop helped me plant them, and I was hoping he’d take an interest in their development, but he seems to have gone back to the land of emo-teen again. Maybe next time? I can keep the soil nice and damp now, because Yankee Elv got me a watering can and duct-taped the hose so it won’t spurt on me or the clothesline anymore. These veges are the first things I’ve grown from seed since I was seven, and I’m very proud of myself. Modest too, as you can tell. Now I have to see if I can keep them going! (Sorry no pics, it’s dark outside – I’ll take some later).
I can't wait until I'm eating spinach I grew my very own self! (As opposed to this spinach, which I bought from the grocery shop.)
Next on the list: carrots and snow peas. I have to get the garden bed sorted and work out a trellis. I’ve done nothing with the compost bin since last week’s big clean. Also, I need; herbs for the front verandah, something (what? ideas anyone? maybe nasturtium?) for the hanging baskets, a succulent for Yankee Elv’s bedroom dresser and some water and steam-loving green something for the bathroom.
Not all at once, clearly. I still have a day job.
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