Hello everybody,
Since we have a snow day today I thought I should find some time to write a blog.
Quite a few things have been happening here at the sign of the prancing pony, and I would like to share two of them.
The first instance was the eco bathroom clean! As most eco my flatters know, commercial cleaning products contain all sorts of chemicals which need to be trucked and shipped thousands of kilometres and aren’t very nice to the environment you live in when you do use them. So a few weeks ago when I was voluntold the task of cleaning the bathroom, the challenge was on to do the job using the eco tools of the trade.
A green scrubby,
Baking soda (negotiable eco – ness, but better than bleach),
Vinegar,
And Pine oil.
My mission included one toilet, one sink, one shower, and one bath (that hasn’t been used for bathing during our lease as baths use too much water. Nonetheless, it was quite dirty as we put the brewing carboy in the bathtub for when we have spillovers).
As everything was pretty grubby, my approach had two stages. First I scrubbed everything with a little bit of water, baking soda, and a green scrubby (he he, grubby and scrubby rhyme . . . anyway). As there was no way around the stains in the toilet bowl, I re-used some old plastic bags and a couple of rubber bands to make gloves. This was very effective, and my hands stayed dry while I scrubbed the toilet, but later on felt damp as I scrubbed the beer stains in the bath. I would like to think the dampness was due to my hands sweating, but I think the logical assumption that holes developed in my “gloves” is more likely.
Now step 2, decreasing the time between cleans. Now that I had scrubbed everything down, I used vinegar and pine oil (5 Litres of boiling hot water to about a cup of vinegar with a few drops of pine oil) to kill any remaining bugs and disinfect everything. This included the windowsill which was getting a bit mouldy due to the moisture buildup created by our steamy showers.
So how did it work out – well the bathroom looked really good. Everything that was supposed to be white was white, and there were no soapy scum lines on the walls of the shower. I thought it was so good in fact that I would not hesitate to let my mother use the bathroom. So to summarise the positives, overall quality was good and everything still looks good a month on.
Unfortunately there are a few negatives. The biggest was time. I think it took me at least 1 and a half hours from start to finish. Now, this is probably not bad for cleaning the entire bathroom (except floors), but I have better things to do that are not cleaning. The other downside was doing everything twice. Just when you think you have finished the job, you need to start over, and I really didn’t want to. A minor point is that I didn’t want to melt my second set of gloves in the boiling hot water, but I wanted to make sure as much fungus and bacteria were killed as possible. I can definitely see why people buy ridiculously strong 1 wipe cleaning products.
So, there are positives and negatives, so what impression has it left on me? Well, as a chemical engineer I am quite aware of the hazards of chemicals, so despite the negatives, I probably won’t succumb to bleach and toilet duck. But if I am completely honest, I am going to wait as long as possible before I clean the bathroom again.
Onto a more exciting topic! If you are still reading you probably like my writing style so you may enjoy the next paragraph, even if it is a bit of a rant.
Some people who know me might know what my two biggest NZ eco peeves are. They are a lack of 1) double glazing, and 2) catalytic converters (which decrease exhaust emissions > 99%) . Again, being a chemical engineer means I have had many lectures on heat transfer and downstream processing so I know what we are missing. The short explanation is this – significant decreases in heat loss are achieved by double glazing windows as air (or argon) insulates very well, and we can separate out almost all of the bad stuff that comes out of car exhaust pipes by using a bit of platinum. (I hope that some understanding was achieved without me boring you, if there wasn’t, and I did, my apologies)
There is a further reason why these are my 2 big peeves – and that is that they are passive techniques. You pay a little bit of extra money to install them, but once you have, HUUUUGE benefits are realised, and next to no maintenance is required (as long as you don’t move out of your house, break your windows, or sell your car). So the only reason that these two things aren’t mainstream in NZ is that people are afraid to invest in their own well being.
Which brings me in a roundabout way to the crux of this topic – somewhere in my list of peeves is that cycling, which is an elegant solution to the transport dilemma, eventually produces holey rubber inner tubes that are nearly impossible to re-use. Now, throwing away an inner tube every other month is a lot better than burning fossil fuels and throwing away 4 car tyres so I have been wondering for a long time how to re-use holey inner tubes. The best solutions I have heard so far are 1) a string substitute (but string does the best job as string compared to anything else in my mind), and 2) waterproofing plastic cases for when you go tramping (stretch tight and wrap around gaps, really good for matches cases, but I prefer used medical containers).
So the best solutions are still crap. Now I have a solution that isn’t crap –
Crack filling! (The metaphor was purely unintentional – I promise)
As I stood by our back door which we use maybe once a week, I noticed the draft due to the large crack between the door and the doorframe. I went to the tool cupboard to get some tape to cover it which would mean we could not use the door at all, but instead found an inner tube. I then cut away the valve, and with Laura’s assistance (as she held the tube next to the doorframe), closed the door jamming the rubber in place, and blocking any drafts! I think it is revolutionary! Not only does this use up an otherwise disposed material, but now we can warm ourselves up by cycling, and stay warm using the by products of our sustainable habit!
Now, this technique has a fatal flaw, or “harmatia” for you Shakespeare buffs because when you want to open the door, the rubber falls away and needs to be refitted. Now, the obvious solution is to glue the rubber to the frame, but I don’t think it would aesthetically please our landlord. If your landlord has similar prejudices I recommend you do the same as us – bring your washing into the house via the front door and not use the back.
Ok, I think 1200 words is enough,
Sustainable Dave out
