ferrousland.com - green living news
'green' as in environmentally friendly. i don't just mean the outside environment, either, the one outside our front doors, i mean our internal one as well, so this category could also include things such as eating organic. that may be pushing the definition of green a bit, but i don't really feel ike creating another category for health, you know?
only the fifteen most recent entries in this category are shown below. to see other entries in this category use the navigation to the right.
May 08, 2008
the problem with water-saving shower heads - 08:18 AM
mum & bill have recently renovated two of their bathrooms. when i came around one time after they were finished, i had a shower in the guest bathroom upstairs, & had a difficult time trying to get the water temperature right.
we're on strict water restrictions here in queensland. we're supposed to limit our showers to only four minutes. that's a problem when it takes you about five minutes just to get the water temperature right.
it seems that with the water-saving shower heads, with the low-flow & fine spray, that when you turn the tap to adjust the temperature, it takes the water a long time to get from the pipes where the adjustment was made, to up into the shower head & out onto your body.
when you turn the tap, it takes about twenty to thirty seconds to feel the difference in the water. maybe it's not actually that long, but when you're standing naked in a cold bathroom with the water either so cold you have goosebumps on your goosebumps, or so hot that your skin is starting to turn red, it feels like forever.
here's how it goes:
you've turned on both taps on & the water is flowing but it's too cold, so you turn the hot tap on more. you wait a few seconds, standing there shivering with your hand under the stream of water. nothing happens, so you turn the hot tap on a bit more. you wait a few seconds longer & still nothing happens so you give it another really good turn. it finally starts to get warmer, so you move your body under the water with a happy sigh, but within a few seconds it's scalding hot & you jump out again with a squeal, reaching through the hot water to turn it down, but only a bit so you can try to get that optimum temperature. you go through the same process again, but this time in reverse. you then do this about two more times with varying degrees of temperature extremes until finally the temperature is just right & you can actually begin to wash yourself.
i've been through this with the shower at suzanne's house (where we're house minding), too. i know that each shower is different in how far you need to turn each tap to get that 'just right' temperature & it does take a while to learn how to get it right the first time. when it takes so long for the water temperature to change, though, it makes it really difficult to have a four minute shower. especially when you add in the normal waiting time for the hot water to come through in the first place.
it's kind of frustrating. i guess i'll learn exactly how many turns each tap needs by the time suzanne & family come back. lol! 
April 01, 2008
amazing eggs - 06:52 PM
audrey's been getting me some fresh eggs from the chooks that live in the garden of one the houses they own & rent out. her tenants don't eat eggs, but have four chooks & get four eggs a day.
they're the most amazing eggs i've ever eaten. probably more so than the eggs we used to get from our own chooks way back when we used to live in jimboomba.
they roam the lush garden & eat as many bugs, snails & vegetable scraps as they like. no chook pellets for this lot!
when i've cooked with store-bought eggs—even organic ones—the eggs have usually had nice yellow yolks (most likely made to look yellow artificially, somehow), but i've never seen any like these. the yolks are almost a flourescent orange.
with store-bought eggs, once i'd mixed the egg into whatever i was making, i couldn't tell it was in there. it was almost like the yellow was a clear yellow. with these ones, if i make a batter with them, the batter is yellow. these yolks have real substance.
some store-bought eggs i'd used for plain fried or scrambled eggs on toast, i could hardly tell there was egg on there except for that fact that i could see it on top. they had no taste whatsoever. i'm not exaggerating, either. these ones you can taste the eggs & taste the richness of them.
they're awesome. 
March 07, 2008
darrell lea for easter bilbies - 10:38 AM
yesterday, at smiley's thursday home education group, we had a man there called frank, who works to save the endangered bilby.
one interesting thing that he told us was that if you buy chocolate easter bilbies this easter, to make sure you buy them darrell lea, not from any of the other big chain supermarkets.
the reason being is that if you get one from darrell lea, they donate 30c or 50c (depending on the size you buy) from the sale of each bilby to the save the bilby fund. if you buy it from anyone else, they don't get a cent.
he told us that he's been working for years to try to get coles & woollies to get in on the act to help out, but they're (so far) not interested. same with cadbury. yes, cadbury make the nicest chocolate, but it seems they're a bit mean when it comes to helping to save one of our native australian animals which is near extinction.
so support the save the bilby fund by buying an easter bilby (not a rabbit!) from darrell lea.
January 10, 2008
ban the bag - 07:04 AM
ooh! i like this move: banning plastic bags at the checkout counter.
in my opinion, banning is better, but a levy on the bags would be good, too. i think either one is a step in the right direction.
from memory, so don't quote me on it, they did it in tasmania (or perhaps just one town in tasmania) & also in ireland & it's been very successful.
there are so many great options for reusable bags these days, there's hardly ever any need to use plastic bags.
December 11, 2007
recycled paper pencil? - 05:51 PM
i believe that i've just sharpened a pencil made not with wood, but with recycled paper. i'm going to have to google this to see if they exist or if it's just very odd wood in that pencil.
i swear it's recycled paper bound really tightly.
November 28, 2007
housing shortage - 07:40 AM
okay, i know maybe it's a very simplistic view, but far out, if we're getting to that bad of a situation with housing, perhaps we need to think about keeping the population down.
if the solution is to keep building houses, then soon enough there's not going to be a single piece of wilderness left & no animals & wildlife & insects to keep the environment balanced & it'll be all downhill from there.
far out. humans have got to be the worst plague yet to hit the earth. i wonder when we'll be moving to other planets to screw them up, too? 
October 05, 2007
organic garden - 05:21 PM
i've started to grow my own little organic garden out in my postage stamp sized yard. i was originally intending to get rid of all the grass & use all of the small grassed area, but after some advice i decided it might be better to just stick with some big tubs & various pots. it makes more sense that way since i can then move them around as i need to.
i took a few pics already. here are two of them.
keep in mind that they look a little wilted & droopy because the pics were taken minutes after i planted them. i'm looking forward to them picking up a bit in the next few days as their roots start to spread out & get comfortable.
i planted some veggies (carrots & various types of lettuce) & some herbs (rosemary, parsely, lemon thyme, basil, & mint). i sort of figured i'd be starting from seed, but it makes sense to use seedlings. i started a bit late in the season, so at least with seedlings i'm off to a better start. once i get into the swing of it, then perhaps i'll think about starting some plants from seed.
you can see the whole set here, if you're that interested.
June 01, 2007
treading more lightly than ever - 09:17 PM
i had a conversation with melanie the other day which made me realise how much more lightly i'm treading on the earth lately.
it started when i was pregnant with smiley & i began to think more about what i was putting into my body intentionally & what was going in unintentionally through what i was using around the home. i started using enjo's microfibre products to clean using only water. these days, the only chemicals i use with any regularity is sunlight soap for my hands & to rinse my enjo cloths & laundry detergent for my clothes.
i used to use tissues & paper towel quite regularly, but since i've been in my own place back in brisbane (it's been about six months), i think we've used only two boxes of tissues & i've stopped buying paper towel completely. instead, we use large handkerchiefs & a set of terry towelling cloths which i bought from ikea.
i use almost no plastic products at all.
in the fridge & pantry, instead of cling wrap, i have a number of pyrex glass storage containers with air tight lids.
i don't use plastic liners in my bin. i use four sheets of paper from the free local newspaper to line the bottom of the bin & anything sticky, wet or biodegradable i wrap in half a sheet or two of the newspaper.
for shopping, i have a set of really strong (& very funky) envirosax shopping bags which fold down small enough to carry around in my bag so i never forget to bring them & never need to use plastic bags at the shopping centre. since i don't use plastic liners in my bin, i don't even need to collect them to reuse there.
on our bodies i use no soap, only my enjo body cloth. when i have my period i use a menstrual cup, washable cloth pads or specially lined undies. on our teeth i use a natural toothpaste with no soapy stuff or fluoride.
about the only disposable product we use regularly is toilet paper. that's one that can't really be avoided unless i was to adopt the arabic way of toiletting & that's not really possible without a toilet sprayer fitted beside the toilet, anyway.
November 15, 2006
recycled sewage water - 08:06 AM
there's a big issue going on around queensland at the moment about whether or not recycled sewage water will be brought in as our only optoin for drinking water. there's a major drought on, & most of queensland's dams are only a third full. for those reasons, we're on major water restrictions in a bid to save as much water as possible.
in regard to the recycled sewage water issue, i think the people that are against it simply don't understand. firstly, many seem to not realise that we're wasting so much water doing everyday things like flushing the toilet with drinking water. it's a pity most houses aren't fitted with the ability to use grey water for things which don't need fresh, drinkable water. so we need to be reusing water wherever we can!
secondly, i don't think that they understand that the water we're drinking now from our taps is already full of all sorts of other crap (excuse the pun) which we probably shouldn't be consuming. as far as i understand (& correct me if i'm wrong) water that's recycled from sewage water would be far more purified than what we're currently drinking.
it seems to me that those that are against this are kind of like those that were against queensland having daylight savings when we had a referendum about it several years ago. some came up with reasons against it like "my curtains will fade" .. you know, because of the 'increased' daylight hours. *rolls eyes* they weren't joking. they really believed that by changing the clocks we would be creating more sunlight hours. that's just embarrassing.
when people who are against the use of recycled sewage water make comments such as "it's like having a gun with a few bullets in the chamber & hoping you don't get the bullet," & "i don't believe they can adequately clean the water, particularly harmful chemicals that are in common use", it makes me believe that they're uneducated on the fact that we're putting all of that stuff into our water everyday now, the same water which we drink!! what do they think happens to all the cleaning chemicals most people flush down the drain everyday? do they just disappear into the ether?
education. people need education. either that or we simply need to wait for the people who are too old & set in their ways to die off so that we can start doing things to the environment that make more sense. let's hope that happens before we kill ourselves with the terrible environmental habits we currently use every single day.
February 21, 2006
sunscreen is bad for you - 06:24 PM
ha!! i knew it! sunscreen is bad for you!
generally speaking, i try to live as 'green' & as naturally as i can. i don't wear makeup very often at all (& if i do, it's just a bit of eyeliner, lipstick & a touch of face powder), i don't use soap or body lotions in the shower (i use an enjo body cloth which doesn't require any soap, although it can be used with soap etc).
so in the same vein, i've always had a theory that slathering sunscreen on you, a man-made product with goodness knows what sort of garbage in it, soaking into your skin & into your bloodstream, can't be good for you.
getting sunburned isn't good either, but to avoid getting sunburned, i simply limit my exposure to the sun or dress so that i'm covered up. i've done the same with smiley. in fact, i don't think i've ever used sunscreen on him. i don't even own a bottle of the stuff. i've been become sunburned very rarely & smiley has never been sunburned.
i've never read any articles (until that one i linked to above) or heard anything about it being bad for you, but i just didn't like the thought of all that stuff soaking into my body.
i've also avoided artificial sweetners right from when they became big in drinks & lollies & gum all those years ago. that stuff has got to be bad for you.
April 04, 2005
saving the pulp from the juicer - 06:01 PM
if you have a juice extractor, i thought i'd pass along an idea i had for saving the pulp when you do any fruits or veggies in it. i'm sure others have thought of this before, but i'll put it in here anyway for those that haven't.
take a little more care to prepare the fruits or vegetables before you juice them to cut off or out any bits which you wouldn't eat if you were eating it whole, such as peeling the carrots, coring the apples, etc.
March 31, 2005
the tip - 06:48 PM
i went to the tip this afternon. well, it's not called the tip anymore. it's not been called that for ages. now it's the 'refuse transfer station'. anyway, i went to the tip.
we don't have a recycling service at the college. there's not even a council rubbish service, in fact. an employee of the college comes to collect our rubbish from good old fashioned tin rubbish bins once a week, but it's all in the one bin, no recycling.
March 14, 2005
linerless kitchen bin - 09:31 AM
i haven't used a liner in my kitchen bin for a week now. i got the idea from the the newsletter of the moonpads lady.
basically, you save your old newspapers & anything that goes into the kitchen bin which is wet or dirty, you wrap it in paper & then throw it in there. easy as. it's been working quite well. shroom's doing okay, although he has forgotten with a banana skin & a tea bag.
if you're wondering why i'm doing this, it's for two reasons. firstly, it helps cut down on the use of plastics which take ages to biodegrade. the secondary reason is that it's good for saving money. i guess one other environmentally friendly thing which comes from doing it this way is that the contents of the bin, once they're at the rubish tip, rather than being protected in a plastic bag, will be exposed to sun & rain & biodegrade much more quickly.
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