Rodents

It would seem that mice like nice warm houses as much as we do. Go figure.

It would seem we are a trifle over-run. (Apologies to all those who have already heard me go on at length about our mouse issue - there's nothing new here, but I still have a need to get it off my chest!)

I knew we had a small mouse problem - the odd dropping here and there, the occasional full trap, that sort of thing. I figured this level of rodentry was acceptable, given that we have active compost heaps, chicken food, and a lots of hiding spaces in the garden. And no cats or dogs. Some mouse encroachment was inevitable, I figured, so long as it didn't get out of hand! About a month ago I made sure all the food was in mouse-proof containers, found one open box of cornmeal that was well-moused (which I got rid of), and figured that would keep their numbers down, or at least, easily managed by the one trap in the kitchen.

How wrong I was.

Our living area is semi-open plan. There are double french-type doors between the living room and the dining room, and an open doorway from the dining room to the kitchen. The french doors are usually kept open, except in really cold weather when we shut them to keep the heat (from the heatpump) in the living room - usually in the evenings and overnight. Yesterday these doors were closed pretty much all day as I and the girls kept the living room toasty warm. They stayed shut overnight too.

I have once seen a mouse run from the kitchen, through the dining room, into the living room and along the living room wall behind the sofa. I have no idea where it went after that - I couldn't find it. I didn't think much of it (except to go re-load the trap) - just "gosh the mice are getting brazen, time to step up the trapping". It never occurred to me that I had just seen a mouse using one of their super-highways.

This morning while sitting in the dining room with my morning coffee I noticed a large amount of carpet-fluff in the doorway to the living room. "That's odd," I thought, and went closer to inspect. Mixed in with the fluff was a considerable amount of mouse droppings. And on closer inspection I found that the little blighters have chewed the carpet bare along where the french doors close - apparently in an attempt to dig through and re-open their super-highway. I then noticed a similar, but much smaller, bare patch with associated carpet fluff at the other door out of the living room.

"How big is my mouse problem?!" I muttered to myself, and stalked through to the kitchen to investigate. One clean and empty trap. The mice have (once more) successfully removed the bait from the trap without springing it. Great. What about the bottom cupboard where the cornmeal box used to be? Oh. Oh dear.

There was a whole layer of mouse droppings in this cupboard (despite there being no available food in it), and in the adjacent cupboard (which has never had any food in it).

With brush and shovel in hand and droppings and carpet fluff cleaned away, I went on a further investigation of the super-highway.

The rubbish bin and paper-recycling area yielded further copious quantities of mouse droppings, and some nibbled cardboard.

sigh.

I turned to the internet for advice. It is not comforting. A house mouse can have a litter of up to 6 pups, each month. One mouse usually means a nest. They don't usually range far from their nests, so if you see a mouse the problem is likely to be yours - not your neighbours (not that I thought for a second that my neighbours, all of whom have large dogs, and are more obsessive about their sections than us, were the source of our infestation!). The advice boils down to: seal up all holes larger then 1.8cm (a U.S. dime was the 'measurement' given - so then I had to look up how big a dime was - annoying), trap, trap, trap the highways, poison in the roof and floor cavities, get rid of clutter (which is a nesting place haven) and if that fails, call in the professionals.

So we went out. I needed to run away from the problem for a little while.

And then we came back and the day continued along its happy course. We had dinner, we said goodnight, we put the kids to bed. I availed myself of the bathroom...

A mouse ran into the bathroom.

I could do nothing except lift my feet off the floor and squeek "eeek mouse! go away!" (I didn't want the kids to leap out of bed to investigate). It ran behind me, and I couldn't see it! And I am now hugely pregnant and can't twist around at all, so I was just stuck there with my feet in the air hoping the mouse would get back where I could see it, because I knew there was no exit at ground level behind me and I sure as heck did not want it climbing...

Fortunately it ran out to behind the door.

I made my escape with all due haste, leaving it an escape route into the laundry (and thence out the back door, I hope!).

I have since set all the traps we have - 4 of them - mostly in the kitchen and one in the living room.

I do not know the exact route the super-highway takes - it concerns me that there were scratchings at both living room doors - trying to get out of the living room. I have no idea where an entrance point in that room might be - unless there is a largish gap in the floorboards somewhere behind the couch or piano, or possibly through our disused fireplace. At 30 weeks pregnant, however, I am not shifting the piano to find out! (Merl can do that this weekend).

There is no earthly way of effectively sealing the underside of this house. We know one entrance point for the mice is in the kitchen, where the sink and dishwasher pipes exit the house, but there are nooks and crannies everywhere for them to come in.

Properly ridding the cellar of clutter is on our 'list of things to do'. The underneath of our house is packed to the brim with hoarded building, gardening, painting, you name it supplies from the previous owner. Loads of stuff that is just junk - it might have 'come in handy one day' if it hadn't been stuck in a damp mouldy cellar for 40 years. Now it's all just a rusted, rotted pile of junk. Which we bought with the house. At some point we will get around to hiring a skip and clearing it out, but thus far that has fallen into the 'not this weekend' category. This provides nesting-sites aplenty for mice - right beneath our floorboards.

And that's pretty much where our mouse situation is at. I heard one of the traps go "sproing" while I was typing this, and I'm in two minds as to whether to go investigate it this evening - giving the trap the chance to trap another mouse overnight - or to wait until morning and check all the traps at once.

I'm also not that keen on actually handling dead rodents. I don't know what diseases they commonly have in this country, but I doubt that they can be good for unborn babies (given that we're not supposed to deal with cat faeces, I can't see that dead mice is any better).

I'll need to find my disposable vinyl gloves.

Read more...

Confessions of a pregnant homeschooling greenie

Looking back over my blog, I'm aware that it may be possible to come away with the impression that things like homemade bread and yoghurt are standard fare in our house, that disposable nappies are only reserved for dire emergencies, that we have an extensive and productive garden and that we spend oodles of time immersed in improving books.

Time for a reality check

If these things get blogged about, it is generally because they're so novel and exciting that I want to share them.

Sure, before we were expecting baby#3 I hardly used disposable nappies/diapers, and I cooked from scratch most nights, and I almost never used the clothes drier. But there come times in your life when you just need to *let it go* and do it the easy way.

I had a day about a month ago when I looked at the wet clothes in the washing machine, looked at the bright sunny day outside, and gave in to my exhaustion. The clothes went into the drier because on that day it was honestly a choice between using the drier and leaving the clothes wet in the machine. Since then I confess that the drier has been getting quite a work out.

I also confess that I can't recall precisely the last occasion I used cloth nappies. I know it was within the last few weeks, but I think it was actually Merl who put them on Miss2. It wasn't me!

Tonight for tea we had fried chicken-and-cheese-sausages with tomato sauce (ketchup), and as a token gesture, a corn-on-the-cob each. That was it. No wholesome fresh-dug potatoes, or wholemeal bread, or salad, or anything. Sausages and corn. Miss5 looked at her plate and said "this isn't a very healthy meal, Mum". I replied, "Nope, but it's not too bad - you've got corn, and you can have an apple for dessert."

My microwave is getting quite the workout too.

The 'garden' is currently one bare circle waiting to be planted out, and one circle full of wheat-grass that is overgrowing the valiant struggle for survival of the veggies. And some herbs. Mint mostly.

As for the books, well, we do spend oodles of time immersed in them. They just aren't all 'improving' ones! Miss5 reads tonnes and tonnes of Asterix. I read bulk quantities of historical whodunnits (okay, I do get annoyed if the history is wrong, but they still really are pulp fiction). Merl reads a lot of fantasy/science fiction - some of which is brilliant and 'improving' - some of which is pulp escapism.

We are happy, lazy and messy people. When I get less tired then I will be able to lift our sights up out of bare-minimum housework. But until then, *letting it go* is working quite well for us!


Read more...

building community

I cannot surpass the two posts I'll link to in a minute. The suggestions are excellent, the approach is hope-filled, and the goals are admirable.

In North and South this week I read a prediction for the economic downturn. The man is Bruce Sheppard. The words are as follows

"...We're all going to have to reflect on the kind of society we want to become. We're going to need to learn to be charitable and show decency and respect towards one another again..."
And if we don't? "We will descend into anarchy because there won't be enough cash flowing around to make everyone a winner. We'll be staring at a South African-style future." Rampant violent crime and home invasions."

North and South, December 2008

Perhaps not coincidentally our vicar at church has been talking about the transforming power of hope within communities - and for communities to adapt to doing things in new ways.

Over at Green Bean Dreams there is an excellent post on building community.

Please do go and read the post. But just in case the link breaks (as they do), here are a few choice snippets. Green Bean says;

There are a million ways to do it. Sign up with a local green group. Join a church or, if you already belong, attend an event or volunteer to be on a committee. Put together an email list for the neighborhood. Plant a garden in your front yard. Set up a cocktail table in a cul de sac. Ask other parents at your child's school about carpooling. Ask a neighbor to borrow an egg or a cup of sugar. The ways to build community are as simple and as limitless as can be.

But here's the catch.

Building community is hard. It will tug you out of your comfort zone. It will force you to interact with others - particularly, others whom you do not know well or at all. That is, after all, the point.

In many ways, it is easier to make your own yogurt, plant an edible garden, make jam in a silent kitchen. That is more comfortable for most of us and certainly for myself. I don't have to talk to anyone when I harvest lettuce or stir in the yogurt culture. I can sit in the quiet cocoon of my own home and reach out only through wires and cables. I don't have to look at anyone's face. Or struggle for something to say. Or wonder afterwards if what I said sounded stupid. If I talked too much or too little.

This is true. Christ did not tell us to go live holy lives in isolation - He was all about community and bringing hope to the world. And that means the community of people around us.

The other good post is the one which tipped me to Green Bean's blog. Melinda at One Green Generation uses Green Bean's post as a starting point and then expands on it from her own experiences. All a community group really needs is a few friends sitting around deciding to do stuff and inviting others to join in. Be brave and actually get out there and join in with them!

Hattip to the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op for having Melinda write for them too :) Read more...

tuatara nest on the mainland!

How cool is that?!

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5115331 Read more...

kereru, bruised ribs and puppets

All features of this last week, which has been moderately eventful, as these things go.

For a start, I spent the latter half of last week waiting to discover whether I had Shingles or Pneumonia. Turns out it was neither (thankfully). I had a bad cold and extremely sore ribs on one side - couldn't cough, laugh or even breathe deeply. Went to Dr who sent me off for a chest x-ray and started me on antibiotics in case of pneumonia, but said he suspected shingles, but wouldn't be able to tell until the rash came up. Spent next couple of days in pain and feeling unwell. People from church prayed. X-ray came back clear. I no longer feel the slightest bit unwell. But ribs are still very sore.

Yesterday I recalled being viciously (albeit accidentally) jabbed in the back by a small person's elbow about the day before my mysterious rib pain began. That sort of thing happens all the time so I'd forgotten all about it. Bingo. So I had a cold and injured my rib-cage. Still, at least I've had the x-ray now and know there's no rib cracked or anything. I'll just need to be careful and gentle for the next few days. Yay for a husband who loves to stay home with the kids! He was great - took most of last week off so I could sit/lie around doing nothing while he took care of the offspring. Good stuff.


On to the kereru (native woodpigeon). These were quite common to see in our neck of the woods when I was growing up, but then almost vanished about 10 or so years ago. Well, they're back, and this pair were spotted in the gum tree in our neighbours house. I love them. They make cool "whoo whoo whoo" sounds with their wings as they fly, they try to land on branches that are ridiculously inadequate and fall off, and they're altogether lovely.

I hope they stay and the gum tree doesn't get cut down this year (or ever). There's a couple of neighbours who hate it with a passion as it shades their sections quite thoroughly even in summer, drops gum leaves every where and threatens to 'self-lop' one of its great branches into their section. I can understand all that - gum trees aren't really great in suburbia (they also don't like other stuff growing near them and inhhibit healthy growth of other plants), but they provide great nesting sites for these beauties. And they suck up huge volumes of water each day. My section has kinda soggy bits all through winter so I'm happy for the gum tree to be taking what it needs.

On to our third, unrelated topic for today. Puppets.

I handed Miss4 a book of 100 things to make with paints and paper and suggested she have a look through for something to do today. She decided to make a 'dancing dollie'. She drew and coloured the picture of the dancer, and showed me where to cut the holes for her fingers. Then she cut out around the dancer and voila - a dancing puppet.

I unearthed a discarded wine cask box from our craft supplies stash and improvised a wee theater using the craft knife, and she was quite taken with it for about 20 minutes this morning.


It's fun introducing her to new ideas - she's seen puppets before, and played with our wee finger puppets that you can see in the photos - but we've never taken the leap to staging a puppet performance ourselves. I'll raise it as an idea tomorrow. The usual pattern is that she'll be uninterested in something when I first mention it, but after it rolls around her mind for a while (and this could be a long while) it may pop back up, seemingly out of nowhere, as a full-fledged interest.

I'd also like to get hold of a prism in the next week or so. We're reading the Magic School Bus Color Day Relay chapter book, and there's an explanation of white light being fractured by a prism, but reading about it, hearing about it and even seeing it on YouTube (I haven't looked, but I'm confident its there) doesn't compare to actually holding the thing yourself and seeing it happen in real life. Read more...

e-day - disposing of electronic waste

Are you in NZ? Do you have old computer or mobile phone bits lying around? (who doesn't...) This Saturday is the day to get them out of your house without them going to the landfill. eDay organisers claim that up to 95% of the collected waste gets recycled in some form or other (only 5% going to the landfill).

Computer waste is a big deal - those little chips and cell-phone bits contain lots of heavy metals and sometimes radioactive waste. Not only are these toxic to waterways, they are really expensive and wasteful to mine for in the first place - much better to keep them cycling through usefully.

From the eDay website...

eDay is a community initiative designed to raise awareness of the hazardous nature of electronic waste (e-waste), while offering an easy way for households to dispose of old computers and mobile phones in an environmentally sustainable manner.

eDay was created in response to a growing concern about the volume of e-waste being dumped in landfills around the country with a potentially toxic effect on the environment.

The event was launched in Wellington in 2006 with an extremely successful pilot sponsored by Dell. Fifty-four tonnes of unused computer hardware were collected in one day. In 2007, eDay was extended to 12 locations throughout New Zealand where a total of 6,900 cars dropped off 415 tonnes of e-waste. This included more than 26,000 computer items including monitors, CPUs and printers.

Click here to find out where your local drop-off point is

Read more...

David Holmgren - Future Scenarios

David Holmgren and Bill Mollison coined the phrase "permaculture" back in the '70s. Basically saying that if we can re-shape the way we farm, garden, settle, co-habit, exchange goods etc by mimicking as closely as possibly a natural ecosystem then it will be sustainable (aka 'self-sufficient').

Future Scenarios

David Holmgren has recently released this website/thought exercise looking at what the possible outcomes might be for human populations in the event that Peak Oil and Climate Change both occur in the same time frame. He has simplified this huge task by taking the two ends of each scenario and combining them, coming up with four distinct outcomes.

• Brown Tech: (slow oil decline, fast climate change)

• Green Tech: (slow oil decline, slow climate change)

• Earth Steward: (fast oil decline, slow climate change)

• Lifeboats: (fast oil decline , fast climate change)

It made for thought-provoking reading. As he says, it is a valuable thought-exercise, not a display of prophecy. But it is always good to think through different outcomes and options, and to be thinking about how we as individuals can plan and prepare on a regional, community and individual level.

The conclusion I personally came to was to keep on with what we have been doing - local food production is key to local survival, and the less reliant we are on others to feed, clothe and house us, the more resilient our communities will be in the event that the others fail us for whatever reason.

Was also a good reminder to be actively building community in our neighbourhoods. This is just the right way to live, regardless of climate change etc, but it is so easy to be isolated and insular. But from a purely selfish/paranoid perspective, the neighbour you know well enough to ask to clear your mail while you're away, and whose rabbit you feed while they're away, is a neighbour less likely to aggressively raid your veggie garden and eat your chickens if times get hard.

It's also just good sense to look at various options for the future, even the ones you think are unlikely. I personally don't want to be one of the people going "Oh no! I never saw this coming! What on earth do we do now???!!" Much prefer to be saying "Oh no! I never really thought it would happen! Oh well, let's get out the solar oven, and ask so and so about how they purify their tank water for drinking..."

Now, for the nay-sayers among us, I am not wanting to debate the truth or fiction of climate change or peak oil. Perhaps another day, but not today :) For your own enlightenment, there's a fantastic series of You Tube video seminars exploring what our response to climate change ought to be, regardless of our beliefs. And just google peak oil yourself. It just makes sense to me that a finite resource will, at some point, become too expensive to bother extracting for every day usage - FYI 'Peak Oil' doesn't mean that oil deposits run out, just that they have passed their peak performance - there are years in the old fellas yet, but from now on every hundred thousand barrels will be harder and more expensive to extract than the previous hundred thousand.

hat tip to Rhonda Jean Read more...

washing on the line

Woollies washing is so very satisfying. Especially with a fancy-pants washing machine with a "woolens" cycle!

Watching my Mum hand-wash our lovingly hand-knitted woolen jerseys in the kitchen sink, gently wringing them out in a towel and laying them flat to dry on an airing rack is one of the joyful peaceful memories of my childhood. She used to derive such a lot of satisfaction from it, that the happy-vibes were contagious.

However, I know from experience that if I plan to hand-wash my woollies then they just never get washed. They pile up in that "oh, I'll get around to it when I have time" corner of the wash-house. So I'm grateful for a machine that can be gentle with my lovingly-made handknits, and I'm grateful for the new blends of wool with a touch of synthetic that don't felt and shrink in the machine.

And also grateful for this tip about hanging them on the line with pantyhose! This is something that my Mum didn't teach me, and I learned out of a book. It's great. They get to blow around in the wind and fresh air, they dry much faster than when laid flat on a towel, and they don't stretch. The three jerseys of Miss1 you see there are threaded end-on-end through 1 pair of pantyhose, the pantyhose being the bit that is pegged to the line.

I never wear pantyhose, so I'm also grateful for these cast-offs of my mother's. I figured that no-one else was going to wear second-hand pantyhose, so I put them to good use.

And I thought they looked so pretty in the sunshine that I just had to take a picture. Read more...

Review - Living More With Less

by Doris Janzen Longacre.

I picked this book up at the Regent book sale last week, and am finding lots of good stuff in it. I had previously heard good things of the More With Less Cookbook, so didn't hesitate to pop this title in my bag.

The sub-title (if that's the correct term) is "a pattern for living with less and a wealth of practical suggestions from the worldwide experiences of Mennonites."

The book lists five principles for Living More with Less. Here is my brief re-writing of what I picked out of each of those 5 chapters:

1. Do Justice. Be aware of the link between our wealth and the poverty of others, and act to change that situation as you are able

2. Learn from the World Community. Those who are forced to live with less inevitably have lots of things to teach us about doing so. This wisdom will also extend into other areas. The West deludes itself when we think that we are always the benefactors and the 'third world' are the grateful recipients of our patronising aid. It is good to be humble and listen to what others might be able to tell us about life the universe and everything.

3. Nurture People. People are, by definition, not 'things.' The more effort we put into our 'things,' the less energy and time we have for people. And vice versa.

4. Cherish the Natural Order. God made the planet to work the way that nature works. If we correctly understand our role in this world, we will work with God's natural order. Nature is not the enemy to be subdued by our big machines, rather "God saw what He had made and it was good." (Genesis 1)

5. Nonconform Freely. Striking the balance between 'freedom' and 'obligation' is never easy. Tread lightly, be aware of how your choices affect those around you (especially your children, for whom your free choices might feel like a shackle to overthrow), try and make your decisions for good reasons, not just because that's the new accepted rule. Find kindred spirits for mutual support and encouragement.

What follows those brief 5 chapters is page after page of testimonial-type hints from hundreds of people making small and large choices to live more simply. Lots of very practical ideas ranging from "darn your socks," and "eat less meat," to "have a significantly smaller house," "limit your budget to what your family would receive on welfare and donate the rest," and all sorts of other things.

The book is also sprinkled through with relevant quotes from scripture, literature, poetry, proverbs from various countries etc. I'll leave you with one:

Lord, I know not why I eat
And millions die of hunger.
What doth it profit thee to give me food?
What give I in return?
Crumbs, just crumbs.

Lord, here is thy bread.

- M. T. Brackbill, from "Bread for Bread"

published in Gospel Herald

Read more...

Locally made clothes!

One of the Mums at kindy has just brought out her own line of children's clothing. All New Zealand Merino tops, leggings and an adorable baby blanket/wrap. They're still in the early production stages - her second run is to be made up this weekend - but she hopes that with the current desire for locally made goods that she will be properly 'established' quite quickly.

She has contacts with a local clothing manufacture company so the clothes are made right here in Dunedin, not out-contracted to China like so many other so-called "NZ Made" clothes. (You can claim to be "Kiwi made" if the company is owned in New Zealand, even if the good are manufactured overseas). The price is even competitive with those other brands, which is excellent.

We've put in our order :) Read more...

Suburban Renewal - backyard permaculture video

Here's a video from "Peak Moment TV". It's about 25 minutes long, but worth a peek if you've never come across the concept of permaculture, nor seen it in a backyard type setting.

Their climate sounds similar to ours - at least, the same types of fruit trees will grow. Apples, pears, stone fruit and berries, with olives and some citrus worth a crack if you have a very sunny and very sheltered area.

I'm dreaming of edible hedging and espaliered fruit trees now...

Hat-tip to Treehugger Read more...

sheep for lawnmowers

Weird news story bit.

Apparently in Turin the local council have decided to use the local sheep herds to keep grass verges etc short, rather than the usual ride-on petrol mowers. This is pretty cool. At first I thought it was an April fools hoax, but if it is, some big papers have been taken in.

Here's the Guardian's coverage

Here's where I first saw it - at Planet Green Read more...

Family Service vs Earth Hour...who will win??

Well, after talking about it, and sounding like we were gonna be really green and hippy about Earth Hour, we piked.

Merl had a sermon to write for this morning's family service at church. And, as he says, "I was such a good planner that I left it to the last minute...". So the options open to us were

1) sit in the dark for an hour and then spend 2 1/2 hours on the computer
2) forget Earth Hour and get to bed at a reasonable time

I figure we didn't use any more power than if we'd observed Earth Hour, and we got some sleep, so that's all good :)

Family Service was great. Attendance was down a bit, but that is common for family services. Some people just can't stand them and stay away. And I can kinda see their point. I have been to my fair share of abysmal, uninspiring, chaotic, no-fun-for-anyone family services.

But, this one was fun, and although I might be a teensy bit biased, I think it had good accessible content for all ages. I also think that God made His presence felt and that the full spectrum of ages were able to worship as well as learn. Not an easy feat! Merl introduced the song King of Love, by Duggie Dug Dug to the congregation, which has some beautiful sign-language actions that go with it. I think this is partly what enabled people to participate in worship together.

The service was based on the 'Harvest' service suggestions in Scripture Union's The All-Age Service Annual. Which I highly recommend. We got heaps of good feedback after the service, which is always good :)

Using the Grocery Store Wars (5min Star Wars spoof) as a bouncing board, Merl introduced the centrality of food to our daily lives. He talked about the parable of the Good Samaritan and how everyone is our neighbour. He talked about how our food was one of the ways we are connected to people on the other side of the world;

"When you buy that 99c chocolate bar, or eat your easter eggs, your neighbour is the child slave in Ivory Coast who harvested the cocoa...
Do our food choices make us complicit in the sufferings of others?...
Is there something else I can buy that instead eases people's suffering and is a blessing to someone else's life?
Can I give someone an honest day's wage for their honest day's work?"

All good stuff.

P.S. Earth Hour seems to have gone well in Christchurch, anyway... Read more...

Nappy Composting Service

Well, it turns out that any disposable nappy can be composted!

School Project Leads to Nappy Compost Business

A Christchurch girl's school science project is being developed into a business thanks to a Rangiora couple, a Canterbury firm and a multi-national company.

In 2003, Natalie Crimp, then 14, scooped an Environment Canterbury prize for her science project on composting dirty disposable nappies.

She shredded the nappies and threw them into a rotating drum with plenty of leaves, turning it regularly and ensuring it was kept warm.

Six weeks later she had compost which could be easily separated from the non-biodegradable plastic...

How cool is that?! Read more...

Earth Hour 2008, Are you ready?

Saturday March 29, 8pm local time.

Although our lovely City is not officially participating in this year's Earth Hour, Christchurch City, (5 hours drive from here) is.

More about Earth Hour here.

The idea is to turn off your lights and extraneous electrical appliances for an hour. Here's a recap of what happened in 2007, from the Earth Hour Wiki (linked above)

The 2007 Earth Hour was part of a wider awareness campaign that aimed to reduce Sydney's carbon emissions by 5%. 68,506 individuals and 2,270 businesses registered their intention to participate on the Earth Hour website. EnergyAustralia, a utility, attributed a 10.2% decrease in consumption during the hour to the campaign. A poll of about 1000 people conducted afterwards suggested that 57% of Sydneysiders participated – some 2.2 million people.

Find out if your city is participating here

I think we'll join in anyway, regardless of City participation. Sounds like a great excuse for a candle-lit evening and real conversation :) Read more...

Doco heads-up "Demographic Winter"

This movie trailer looks intriguing.

Having been indoctrinated my whole life into thinking that the world is groaning under the burden of over-population, I am curious to see that there are some dissenting voices - and that those voices seem to belong to reputable sociologists and demographers.

Granted, the doco seems to be highly promoted by the Conservative Right in the States, but that does not in itself invalidate the argument - merely points out that the Conservatives will promote anything that argues for 'traditional family values'. And boy, does this do that.

The indicators are that the wealthier the population, the more highly educated the women, the more liberal the sexual morality, then the lower the birth rate. (i.e. people would rather have a bigger house and a trip to Hawaii than a third child). Europe, Russia, South Africa (amongst others) are currently all sitting at less than replacement rates - and even those that still have birth rates of over 2.1 (replacement rate), have declining rates - for example countries that 20 years ago had a birth rate of 5, now have one of 3. Go here for data on birth rates etc. The theory is that these will continue to fall.

On the other hand, who are the people who are having all the babies?

As this article at Dallas News says, on the same topic

...that means traditionalist Catholics, "full-quiver" Protestants, ultra-Orthodox Jews, pious Muslims and other believers who reject modernity's premises.

Like it or not, the future belongs to the fecund faithful.

Does that scare you? It does Philip Longman. In his 2004 book, The Empty Cradle, he warns fellow secular liberals that demography is destiny and that those who want to preserve modernity must start having more children than "fundamentalists."

Good luck with that.

Read more...

kid's game from recycled milk bottles

Saw this on planet green I think, leading us to RePlayGround's instructions.

Worked really well. We haven't decorated ours so you'll see much prettier ones if you follow the link, but they were a hit at our church picnic a couple of weeks ago. Instead of the tin-foil ball that they recommend we used a lightweight plastic ball that we already have (we reuse our tinfoil until it is a mess - not so good for kids' toys!).

Much fun had by all, and I don't worry about the small one sucking them and 'breaking' them - the cardboard handles are in plentiful supply and can quickly be replaced :-) Read more...

Shell CEO admits Peak Oil Could be Here in 7 Years

Surprise! Some acknowledgment from the industry about what many of us have known about for some time. Treehugger's news clip on it here. Read more...

Oh, and the plumber...

We got the plumber's bill today.

$338.88

sigh

that's a d@mned expensive cylinder insulation. Read more...

talking rubbish

Well, we did it! This is two weeks of rubbish you see here - comfortably fitting into one 45L council rubbish bag. By far the biggest contributor was switching to cloth nappies for night-times. Incredible. I knew it would make a difference, but to go from slightly over 65L each fortnight to about 45L, with very little effort or change in routines surprises me.

Changes:
- The biggest change has been deciding not to use disposable nappies any more (except as emergency back-up). We now use a towelling nappy at night which just soaks up stuff like nothing else. We have had no major leakages as yet, and we've been doing this about 2 weeks now, so things are looking good.

- All our vegetable waste goes into the compost heap (or, now that we have one, the worm farm!). I'm now starting to compost some paper waste that is not readily recyclable too. We had a BBQ on Sunday evening and used paper plates for people who wanted plates (and it was quite a hunt to find paper plates and cups in the supermarket - they were mostly plastic). I soaked these plates in some water and stuck them into the compost heap, so hopefully they'll break down nicely in there.

- I repair crappy plastic toys if I can now, rather than just throwing them away. Often they really are just junk, but sometimes I've been able to fix them with a bit of thought and inventiveness.

- All recyclables get recycled. We are fortunate to have a pretty good kerb-side recycling scheme here - just wash 'em and put them in a blue bin out with the rubbish on collection day. very handy.

So pretty much the only thing left in our rubbish bag is non-recyclable plastic packaging, along with some meat scraps and the soiled non-flushable nappy liners (makes for a pretty stinky rubbish bag!).

My next target will need to be trying to reduce the amount of plastic packaging that comes into the house. Which will be tricky. Vegetables come from the market in plastic bags. Rice comes in plastic bags. As does pasta, soap, raisins, toilet paper, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Could take some thought. Read more...