Solvents

House owners are by far the biggest polluters in this department. This is not to say it is their fault, for the most part, they never had much of a choice. For years the Direct Sales industry has been producing soaps and detergents that are bio-degradable and non-toxic. From the results of tests done by BizzHub.net, they also proved to be as effective and maybe more so.

1000 homes will dump 1 ton of laundry compound into the sewer systems every month. In East London one can visit ‘First Creek’ and see the results, the rocks are covered with slime, nothing can live there, and then it all flows into the Buffalo River mouth. Seaweed along the coastline has been depleted, therefore fish cannot live inshore. The cycle has continued for years.

We have not even begun to address the damages caused by the aggressive oven cleaners for instance. Alternatives? Plenty, one Super 10 product we found can be used as an oven cleaner, insecticide, stain remover, stove cleaner and you can drink it! Which one would you want your child or Grandchild playing with?

Our sincere recommendation is to find some sincere Network Marketer or Direct Saleslady, tell them you want Bio Degradable Soaps, explain the service levels you require, and hold them to it. You win when you have to by-pass a whole aisle in the supermarket.

Chemicals

The Government has recently begun banning chemicals that we have known for years. Brand names like Dazzle, Chlorpyriphos are organo-phosphate insecticides. The problem is that they are deadly to humans as well. Many an old farmer can testify to the damage to their lungs from years of inhaling even the fumes at the weekly dipping of his cattle.

We do not need to use these products and we certainly do not want to keep them lying around where little hands can find them.

Going Green will eventually bring you to the point where you start your own permaculture. Your own garden fed with organic waste and recycled water from your house.

In this environment you do not need chemical solvents or chemical pesticides and inorganic fertilizers.

The writer once asked the question on TV, ‘When last did you see a rotten, red ripe tomato?’ Consider that they are grown in polystyrene or similar, fed on a drip with inorganic fertilizers, they never see the sun, and their seeds cannot germinate. Tupperware cannot rot.

Paint and Wood Preservatives

We breathe in many contaminants from materials used in our homes. New Carpets and other materials do have an impact on our health. The worst has been paint and especially enamel paints. Enamel paint was traditionally bulked up with lead which leached out into the environment and into us. Heavy metals are poisonous to us, they store in the body for years causing many diseases.

Paint companies are today doing more and more to curb these cheap practices. Our demand is driving this. You can now get a water based enamel paint, which works tremendously well. Even professional artists have begun to use this as a base on their oil paintings.

More toxic than the paints have always been the solvents. We can reduce our demand for these by simply not using them. We have noticed a recent trend of people rather buying a second or third brush instead of thinners and turpentine. When finished for the day, wrap the brush up in jiffy wrap so that it is fresh for tomorrow, or wrap it up and throw it away.

Plascon has recently launched a complete range of non-toxic paint strippers. They take longer to work but do an incredible job in that they get in under the old paint and literally remove all.

Drugs.

We touch only on this point to bring public awareness. In a vast majority of cases when we get sick it does not mean that we are deficient in a certain chemical (drug). Our feeling is that it is all too easy to prescribe a drug without any consideration to other routes to healing. No drug heals; every drug has a side effect. May common sense prevail.

Africa is a beautiful Continent, a huge mass of brown earth hiding the world’s richest reserves of literally every mineral. However what we so often take for granted is the soil covering and containing this wealth.

Soil erosion is the wearing away of the land surface by running water, wind or other disturbance. Good rainfall will cause water to ‘run off’ roofs, driveways, parking lots etc. The greater the downfall, slope, collection area, the faster and more aggressive the water will flow and be. Soil is bound by vegetation (grass for example). The sparser the vegetation, the easier particles of soil will be collected by the water and moved downstream.

Factors increasing Erosion:

What happens to these particles of soil?

They are deposited elsewhere as sediment. As soon as the velocity of the wind or water slows down, the particles of soil in suspension begin to settle. The heavier particles like gravel will settle sooner and the finer particles will move further away.

The challenges faced.

Sediment causes major problems in South Africa. The incredible dam system built after WW2 are very “silted up” after years of flooding. This means that our beautiful dams carry far less water.

Much of our flood waters flow into the sea. Along the East Coast of South Africa it is well known that when the East wind blows, within minutes the sea will reveal the millions of tons of soil sediment lying on the sand. The water turns green then brown and will only change back to blue when the strong currents are pushed in by the West winds.

In the cities sediment is also a major problem in the storm water drains and any pipe system open to water flow. Another typical example of this is our gutters, at least once a year they should be cleaned of the mud that has collected.

What else can I do?

Islands of Heat.

Cities of a million people or more raise temperatures by 3⁰C in the day and a whopping 12⁰C at night. This does have a dramatic effect on energy requirements, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat related illnesses and water quality. Worldwide, communities are coming to understand more of the demands faced living in city confines and strategies are being developed to overcome them.

Consider the heat generated by the shopping mall car park on a sunny day, or that contained in your roof, all this goes to heating the planet, and of course in a very direct way touches us and our environment.

Homeowners can improve the situation by:

Other Benefits of Trees:

Conclusions:

Cool surfaces (cool roofs and cool driveways) and urban trees can have a substantial effect on urban air temperature and hence can reduce cooling-energy use and smog.

“It has been estimated that about 20% of the national cooling demand in America can be avoided through a large-scale implementation of heat-island mitigation measures. This would amount to savings worth over $4 Billion per year by 2015 in cooling electricity savings alone – total savings could be as high as $10 Billion per year”.

Rainwater Harvesting

Water is, has and always will be an integral part of our lives. For thousands of years ‘harvesting’ water from roofs has been practised, especially in India. Most South Africans who grew up outside of the cities had homes with underground tanks, or the old ‘Everite’ tanks. These practises are now, more and more being pursued by urban citizens.

There are numerous reasons:

The most popular means of harvesting would be the use of tanks, strategically placed under the outlet sockets of the roof’s gutters. Tanks manufacturers like JoJo have produced an array of quality products to meet all needs. The new ‘Slimline’, 750l, has been designed for the townhouse owner.

Selecting the right tank size

First calculate the size of your roof in square meters. The formula to remember is: For every mm of rain you may harvest 1litre of water per square meter of roof.

Roof size (m2) X mm rain = litres of water

Second: Determine what you want to do with the water.

The above criteria will determine the size of tank (or tanks) required and whether a pressure pump system will need to be added as well. We have just designed a system of 6 X 5000l tanks, which we connected together to totally supply the residence with water.

Literally anything is possible. When there is enough water, a pump can be specified to cater for your requirements.

Donkey Mark I

Four used and seemingly useless poles kept the drum suspended. Another half-drum was tacked to the bottom with bits of old wire. This system worked, but unfortunately, the moment a breeze picked up, the flames would be blown this way and that way and most of the energy was being lost.

Donkey Mark II being fueled up by Donkey Engineer I, with Donkey Engineer II documenting this momentous occasion. We replaced the half-drum with another full drum, standing vertically under the water-drum. This way our flames were more protected and we now had the space to make a nice big fire.

Donkey Mark II

OK, not the most level-headed of donkeys, as donkeys go, but this baby delivered enough piping hot water for 4 luxurious bathing sessions in about 40 minutes. Not bad for such a humble animal.

Donkey Mark III

The final product! Here we leveled her out, got rid of those terrible looking poles and added some cladding to keep her warm on cold winter nights. Not only are we able to have regular hot baths without using electricity; we now also prepare our morning-coffee AND breakfast on the remaining coals, of which there are ample.

To eat 100% organic, homegrown vegetables.

The method

Make your bed

Plant them

I planted the seeds about two weeks before transplanting the strongest looking seedlings to my newly prepared bed.

Watch them grow

The above picture was taken about 2 weeks after transplanting. During this time I shaded my plants from harsh sunlight and wind. I was already picking leaves off the spinach plants and eating them. There is nothing to compare to eating good, wholesome food that you have grown yourself. Give it a try sometime!