Deepwater Horizon...nearly two years on!

(Source: Planet for Life)

It is nearly the two year anniversary of the biggest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by a drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon. I can't believe that it has been two years, but the effects of this event are still being felt in the surrounding marine and terrestrial environments.

The National Geographic has an interesting article on their website by Brian Handwerk, describing some of the activities that are still being carried out on the beaches and how much effort is still being put into the 'clean-up' activities. It is interesting to also note that it still seems there are significant questions about whether the contaminants that remain within the environment are reason for concern and what health impacts they may pose.

I'm sure there is much research and learnings being generated out of this horrific event, but I don't know if I would like to be living in the experiment. Pin It

Do you want to breathe easy?

Well the simple answer! To improve your indoor air quality all you need to do is open the windows! Fresh air circulated through the house flushes out the toxins that accumulate from building materials and furnishings that are consistently locked up in your house and "off-gassing" into the confined building envelope.

Circulating fresh air through your home will improve your mood and your health! Amazing and so simple! Pin It

Wisteria...a nightmare!

At our new home we have a wisteria vine that has been planted to block out the view of the rainwater tanks. I have never really come across this vine and at the time we bought and moved into the house it was in winter "hibernation". 

Since then, entering into the spring time, the wisteria has gone crazy. It has not only recovered its leaves on the "main bush", but sent out new trailing arms. These are attempting to latch on to nearby trees and vegetation. It has also got little "plants" coming up from the area surrounding the main plant and unlike normal new growth of many plants this new growth has established woody stems. This makes it almost impossible to pull them out by hand and a real likelihood of re-occurrence if you just chop off the top.

Having looked on the net to see what I can do to control this nuisance plant, it seems they are quite hardy and treatment (for removal) really means use of a chemical treatment (which I am trying to avoid). Trimming and significant pruning is apparently essential to maintain your plant within the confines of the location you plant it and complete removal can be tricky.

Looks like this plant will bring a significant burden to the garden, in terms of maintenance and the likelihood of me ever being free of this plant without chemical input seems unlikely. First step, hit the plant with a massive prune! Now, just have to wait for the rain to stop!

(Source: http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/advisor/plants/wisteria/)

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Fruit fly trap

I recently built a non-chemical fruit fly trap and I have had some success reducing the number of fruit flies buzzing around my place, so I thought I should share it with you all.

I made the trap because I was suffering from an overload of fruit flies around my worm farm.  I have been known to overfeed my worms and give them too many fruit scraps, creating a perfect environment for fruit flies to breed in. This didn't really bother me except for the cloud of fruit flies that would swirl around my head when I opened my worm farm.

After a quick internet search, I discovered vinegar is a solution that fruit flies are attracted to. Makes sense really, since vinegar is similar smelling to the rotting fruit in my worm farm. I then just had to find a suitable container to hold the vinegar, whilst also not attracting my toddler to tip the vinegar everywhere or minimise the amount spilt if she did decide to tip the container upside. My solution was an old plastic "jar". I filled the bottom of the container with white vinegar (about 1/10) and then drilled some holes in the lid. The holes were large enough for the fruit flies to fly in. I then just sat this container on top of my worm farm. Voila!

With this solution I have definitely managed to reduce the number of fruit flies in and around my worm farm. There are still some fruit flies floating around, which is just because I still have rotting fruit in my worm farm, but certainly numbers have decreased significantly and not worrying me at all.

This system does require some maintenance, but not very much though. I have to replace the vinegar every 2-3 weeks. I just chuck out all of the old vinegar and dead fruit flies and then add new white vinegar in the bottom of the container. This is cheap solution and has minimised my environmental footprint, as I have used products around my house (old container), will require very little input over time (just the new white vinegar) and uses no harsh chemicals. No off the shelf product required for me. Hope this solution works for you as well! Pin It

Why it is great to have frogs!

Having frogs in your backyard, parkland or ecosystem is a great sign. Frogs are very sensitive to toxins in the environment, as they have highly permeable skins and therefore are often labelled as bio-indicators. 

If you don't have frogs currently in your backyard, don't worry there are ways to encourage them to share your lovely patch.

Methods to encourage frogs

• habitat - some species require permanent sources of water, whilst others primarily spend most of their time within the cover provided by trees and/or shrubs
• limit your use of toxic chemicals around your house and garden - stop using chemical pesticides and herbicides in your garden and turn to organic practices, where possible
• food source - encourage attractive insects into your garden. Instead of spraying mosquitoes or spiders leave them around. Also if plan on having a pond include plants in the waterbody
• keep your pets away - they just don't mix, although the old lap dog probably won't affect the balance

Why have frogs?

• indicates that you have a healthy ecosystem in your patch
• means other processes in your area are likely to be functioning - if the frogs are there, then many of native species will be present too
• indicates that you will be less exposed to toxic chemicals, because where there are frogs there are unlikely to be a plethora of chemicals
• reduction in nasty insects, such as those biting mosquitoes
• lovely night time choruses

Just as a heads up....if you're planning on encouraging frogs with a pond in your backyard avoid having shallow water on the edges and where possible have more vertical walls as this will reduce the likelihood that cane toads will call your pond home.

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How to build your own soils

An important step to becoming self-sufficient in producing your own food is having fabulous and healthy soils. Modern agriculture has all sorts of inputs that they pour into the soil to boost their productivity, but overtime the soils become depleted and require additional inputs and larger amounts. Such strategies are a long way from producing soils, are not self-sufficient and are generally very resource hungry, with many petro-chemical based inputs.

I went to a seminar today on Green Manures and Crop Rotation at my local library. This was presented by Sonya Wallace, a well known permaculture teacher here on the Sunshine Coast. This session was very informative and relieved some of my concerns about have green manure crops within my personal food production system. The concerns that I had previously about green manure crops was that I was loosing a good patch of soil which I could have been producing another viable vegetable crop.

For those that are unfamiliar with green manure crops, these are crops that assist in replenishing the soil with vital nutrients such as nitrogen as well as providing organic matter into the soil encouraging a good soil structure and a great diversity of life-forms within the soil (microbes, bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, etc). These crops are grown to rest your soils and also ensure that you have great soils to produce the food you want on your table.

Sonya presented information on types of green manure crops and the importance of rotating crops throughout your garden to ensure the soils can produce the best crops possible, with your rotation program to include green manure crops.

I now understand it is important to use such crops and strategies to ensure I will have long-term productive soils without having to utilise artificial sources of nutrients, in turn allowing for ongoing gardening success. Pin It

BPA in plastics & what does it do

One of the current health issue that many mainstream people have grabbed a hold of lately is the presence of BPAs in many types of plastic and the potential to ingest these chemicals. From my initial analysis of the situation, people are concerned that such ingestion will lead to a variety of diseases, including cancer, overtime. Such media savvy issues and mainstream concerns are of interest to me, one to determine whether I should change my behaviour and two whether the claims from mainstream media and the 'chinese whisper' community sentiment has any validity.

Well firstly what is BPA?

• Bisphenol A and phthalates are chemicals present in plastic.
• Used to manufacture hard plastics (such as in plastic water bottles or 'tupperware'-type containers) and flexible plastic (such as in plastic kiddie toys).
• According to a wikipedia entry BPAs can be contained in plastic products marked with a '3' or a '7' (refer to Recycling Numbers...what do they mean post on 05/07/10....http://green-dreaming.blogspot.com/2010/07/recycling-numberswhat-do-they-mean.html).
• Choice magazine states BPAs are present in polycarbonate bottles & food packaging and some epoxy resins use to line cans.
• It is an endocrine disruptor and can mimic the body's natural hormones. 

When do they become an issue?

• It is thought that they 'mobilise' when the plastic is heated. For example, when you are re-heating your lunch in your plastic container or water bottles are left in direct sunlight or heat up in your car, etc.
• Some sources also indicate they may also just mobilise with the presence of liquid.

What are BPAs reportedly responsible for, in relation to human health issues?

• Interference with reproductive development (shown in animals) - ScienceDaily
• Cardiovascular disease -ScienceDaily
• Diabetes - ScienceDaily
• Liver disease
• Obesity - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Cancer - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Behavioural changes - National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, etc.

Is there truly reason to be concerned?

• Evidence is inconclusive and since this is the 'result', some people are saying lean on the side of caution and reduce or avoid use of this plastics or avoid heating your food or drink in such plastics that you plan on ingesting in the future.
• The USA Food and Drug Administration has called for additional research into the effects of BPAs on humans.
• A number of web pages, including Choice Magazine, seem to indicate there is a higher level of concern in relation to BPAs and children and babies.
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand maintain there is no increased risk from BPAs.
• Tsai, W (2006) in their paper in Journal of Environmental Science and Health states that BPAs are not a carcinogenic risk to humans and excreted in urine. 

So from all of this, I don't know whether to be concerned or not but certainly something to consider and perhaps avoid, where possible.

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Removal of pesticides from fruit & veggies

In an ongoing examination of pesticides/chemicals that occur on our commercially produced fruit and vegetables, I have found an interesting article that discusses the effectiveness of rinsing these products in water on the web.

The article is located at: http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2815&q=376676.

This research indicates that the mechanical washing of fruit and vegetables, that is the physical action of washing in water, can cause a reduction in the amount and types of chemicals that are typically found on commercially available produce (at least in the States). This was fascinating to me. The article does go on to say that such washing has to occur for 30 seconds, which to me seems like a significant amount of time and something that most people wouldn't undertake on a regular basis.

The research also examined the use of some of the commercially available (again in the USA) products that market themselves at reducing the chemical load on your produce. The findings were that these products didn't reduce the chemical load any more than simply washing with water.

Well it is off to scrubbing my fruit and veggies (from the shops) under the water for what will seem like an eternity for me.

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Hang your washing in the sun!

Another tip for a smaller environmental footprint that I really didn't consciously consider as a way that I make a difference, but after reading it in a book I thought this was definitely a way that I make a difference.

What am I talking about? Well, instead of putting your washing straight from the washing machine into a dryer in your laundry, why not hang it on the washing line in the back yard? There are so many benefits for doing this.

1. You get outside and this is always a positive
2. If you hang it out in the middle of the day you'll probably also get your required dose of vitamin D
3. You don't have to pay for the electricity that would have been used to power your dryer
4. You won't contribute to additional electricity usage to power your dryer
5. Whites will be whiter, without using any nasty chemicals. The sun actually whitens whites and can remove some of those stubborn stains from your clothes/sheets/towels, etc
6. Even if it rains during the 'drying process' it will wash some of those nasty chemicals that some of us wash with out of your clothes and then will dry your clothes once the sun comes back out.

I think another reason that this wasn't something that I consider as something good for the environment is because I have always done it and my mother has always done it. This I find interesting because we can accept behaviours/activities into our life and make them an everyday activity and not consciously recognise that we are making a positive difference.

So, whatever you choose to do to reduce your environmental footprint, it might be difficult or annoying to start with but over time it will become part of your normal routine and you'll be making a difference without considering it a burden on your lifestyle. Just start small and do things that are manageable for you and your family.

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Removal of pesticides from food

Following on from one of my previous posts, my basic research indicated that just rinsing your fruit and vegetables is not enough to remove some of the more harmful 'toxins' (pesticides/herbicides). One page that I have just come across suggests a combination of water, white vinegar, baking soda and grapefruit seed extract combined and then sprayed onto the fruit and vegetable and left for an hour or two prior to rinsing.

Sounds like a major effort, which I guess is expected, but I wouldn't have a clue where to get grapefruit seed extract. Let's see if I can find a more practical solution.

Aaaahhh....here is a more basic approach that I have since found combine 1 lemon, 2 tbsp of distilled white vinegar and 1 cup of water. Spray this onto your fruit & veggies and then rinse off, apparently this is a more basic recipe but is likely to remove pesticides from fruit/vegetables for household consumption. I wonder if it will change the taste of the products. Have to give it a go. Pin It

Washing your veggies

I have recently been thinking about more actively washing my veggies and fruit that I buy from the supermarket. My main aim with undertaking such an activity is to remove nasty chemicals from the surface of these foods and ensure that my family doesn't end up consuming more than our fair share.

Unfortunately the garden isn't at a level of self-sufficiency which means I have to buy commercially grown veggies. Up until now I haven't really taken the effort to wash the veggies that I buy. But now that I have a toddler and thinking more about what goes into our bodies, I wonder what the benefits of washing them under water is.

From my basic research most of the initial websites I have looked at on this topic indicate that washing them under the tap will wash off dirt and bacteria. Nothing that I am particularly worried about. I am more concerned about the pesticides, herbicides and other man-made agents that farmers spray around their farms to make their fruit and veggies more commercially attractive.

There are also adverts on the net for products which you can utilise to assist you with cleaning your fruit and veggies and once again can't seem to determine with any certainty that these products would in fact assist with my aim of removing the toxins.

So does washing in water, with no a lot of elbow grease, in fact remove these nasty chemicals? More research required! Pin It

Green cleaning

I am not much of a house cleaner, except for putting stuff away and the occasional dishwashing adventure, but I know that I do use some nasty chemicals around the house when it comes time to undertake some of the cleaning chores.

There are green products on the market, some of which I have bought but I don't know whether they are just greenwash or just a combined product of numerous things I might already have around the house or a combination of more expensive ingredients I could buy from the supermarket and produce my own 'green' cleaning products.

So what are some good, clean, cheap alternatives to the commonly used nasty cleaning products around the house? Isn't vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda or bicarb some of the ingredients you can use? I think this is something I need to look into. Pin It