My town in Alberta, Canada. It actually used to be banned in a lot of Canada, like all of British Columbia, and Ontario. Old-fashioned people think it makes a neighborhoods look "trashy" and start going on about property value.
It's sort of like how a huge amount of apartment buildings don't allow anything on balconies because it's "unsightly."
Haha sadly, hanging your laundry outdoors is illegal here(also, it would freeze in winter), and indoors it takes forever to dry ╥﹏╥
I could be wrong, but I believe pilling is most commonly caused by friction (for example, where your legs rub when you walk), so one thing that would help is not washing clothes that tend to pill with clothes that have hard things like zippers or buttons. The balls might help by cutting down on the time the clothes rub together with the air-gaps they create, but I am not sure.
I have been told before that you can remove pilling with a razor, but please look it up before you try haha.
I like the idea of a wicker basket coffin with natural-fiber clothes....and an added sword just to confuse future archaeologists •ˋᴗˊ•
100% wool dryer balls are growing in popularity to the point where I have even seen them at my local dollar store, and for good reason. They can save you money in laundry costs.
If you are someone who uses dryer sheets, these wool balls are a great alternative that removes static from your clothes and can decrease drying time by around 30-50%. So, you save money by not having to buy dryer sheets, as well as on electricity. All you do is toss them into the dryer with your clothes!
"Per Toner, “Dryer balls excel in reducing drying time due to their ability to create space between clothes. This separation facilitates better air circulation, leading to faster drying and potential energy savings.” | bobvila
I have had mine for many many years now, and they are still in great shape. When or if they do ever break down to the point of being unable to use, the wool is biodegradable.
Just make sure that what you buy is 100% wool. If you are crafty (and have access to wool) you can also make your own fairly easily.
Keeping a lid on your carbon footprint doesn’t stop with your last breath. Your choice of funeral can have a significant environmental impact. In a recent report by the US-based National Funeral Directors Association, 60.5% of those surveyed expressed their interest in greener options including resomation (water cremation) human composting and natural burials.
https://www.positive.news/society/eco-concerns-prompt-green-funeral-options/
I debated for a while on if I should post this or not (rather morbid, I know) but I think it's an important thing to think about.
Did you know that simply digging a slight ditch can completely change the health of a landscape?
In modern landscaping, any sort of hole or ditch is considered a “dangerous tripping hazard,” “unsightly,” or “a waste of space,” so everything is smoothed out. If you go to most cities and farms, the only non-flat places are designed to carry water away from cities, rather than hold onto it.
This thought process can not only increase overland flooding and wash away topsoil, but it also gives water no place to sit and be absorbed into the soil. Without any water capture gradually trickling into the soil and creating an underground reservoir, the landscape becomes less drought resistant and more susceptible to wildfires.
The permaculture techniques to correct this have many names and methods, including:
They might be different shapes and use slightly different methods, but they all do all work the same on a basic level. The idea is to dig or build a shape that will slowdown and/or catch some of the movement of water. This can make the soil more absorbent (dry and hardened soil does not absorb water as easily) which promotes healthy microbiome of the soil.
Even if the water dries out visibly during the dry season, underground, they could be making a huge difference.
It is not new science, but instead something many cultures around the world have a long history with, but many modern farming practices(mostly to make it farming machine friendly) and development flatten everything out. If people changed this point of view, it could change our landscapes.
In cities, they look like a slight ditch in front of a house, or a creek in a greenspace.
(Image Sources: Image 1 | Image 2)
For other landscapes, it could be just slight indents in un-farmable areas, or ditches dug around farm perimeters.
They do not have to be very deep, and often do not need any fancy equipment to dig(most just take a shovel), but they can do amazing things.
In the process of reversing landscape desertification, it is proving drastically helpful. As the underground water reserves build, so does the vegetation.
(Image Source: Just Dig It. An example of demi-lunes / half-moons)
More Info:
Vergenoegd Winery(South Africa) is handling pests using a unique solution; ducks. These ducks enable the winery to be pesticide-free.
Video: https://youtu.be/H6Ehoxu9QY8
The reason for this is that ducks love to eat all sorts of garden pests: including slugs, snails, mosquitoes, ants, and more.
"You may also be wondering: Why ducks and not chickens? While it’s true that chickens can help to keep bugs at a low in your garden, they also have a habit of being a little less delicate around garden plants than ducks do. Chickens love fresh greenery and will be more than happy to eat your homegrown lettuce, whereas ducks will focus less on your hard work and more on the bugs in your yard." | The Spruce
Similarly to the winery, ducks are also often employed to help with rice paddies. The ducks not only help with pests and fertilization, but their paddling helps both aerate the water and kick up mud(the increased oxygen and decreased light can cut down on algae or weed growth).
As an added benefit, the eggs and/or meat can be eaten. I know that will upset many of you but the added financial benefit of that is further incentivizing farmers to switch from herbicides and pesticides, to ducks.
"Another study done by Practical Action2 concluded that the duck-rice farming technology led to several socio-economic and environmental benefits. The ducks were introduced into the rice fields 10-20 days after rice was planted until the flowering stages. The study also found out that this form of farming was better in rice production than others as it led to decreased production costs, high yields achievement, had benefits for the environment and led to increased income. Further, it’s stated that 20% higher yields can be achieved with the use of this system, 50% increase in income can be achieved as well as enhanced food security through the consumption of duck meat." | Permaculture Research Institute
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ISdo-b7Lk
They go off of who volunteers. For example, if a person who specializes in fixing stand mixers volunteers, that will be one of the tables people can visit. That repair person brings the parts (for example, there are a few parts in stand mixers that tend to break, so the repair person would know to bring fixes for those). I have also heard of repair cafe's elsewhere even bringing in 3D printers to help with part replacement.
Here is the text from a recent one in my town:
Items that are accepted at Repair Café events:
Items not allowed:
RIGHT TO REPAIR
A big fight is happening world-wide to push governments to ensure people can repair the products they own.
“The right to repair refers to proposed government legislation to forbid manufacturers from imposing barriers that deny consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products.” | Wikipedia
This is happening because of:
More Info:
REPAIR CAFES
Repair cafes are typically community-run events where volunteers gather to fix the broken items of strangers for free. My town started doing it a long time ago, and it was so popular that it now happens several times a year.
People bring in stand mixers, vacuums, computers, items that need sewing repairs, and more. Often, the person is very willing to explain the repairs as they do them.
In other places, repair cafes have become more permanent. For example, in Austria, the government started paying those who repair.
Repair cafes not only save people money, but they also can greatly reduce the amount of waste produced by saving those repaired items from the landfill.
More Info on Repair Cafes:
For food forests, you do what you can to use edible plant life to mimic the ecosystems of a wild forest.
“A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature.” | Project Food Forest
If done right, this system will…
And more.
Personally, I suggest using as many perennials to your area as you can so you don't have to replant everything every year.
Here are some perennial examples that are for my specific area:
(⚠ means you may want to container garden them to prevent spread)
More Info on Food Forests:
I am ashamed at myself for missing that opportunity (ノ ゜Д゜)ノ ︵ ┻━┻
You could use Mosquito Dunks (BTI) which uses a bacteria to kill mosquito larvae, but are safe for fish, pets, and adult insects.
You could use Mosquito Dunks (BTI) which uses a bacteria to kill mosquito larvae, but are safe for fish, pets, and adult insects.
Not sure! It does not say on their website. Here's the info they have:
Partners with Sun invented and patented the first Industrial Solar Oven. The Solar Oven has been successfully tested and launched in the year 2022. The Solar Oven cuts up to 80% of the bakery’s fuel bill and improves its production efficiency, increasing its profits and savings. The Solar Oven is embedded with IoT technology to optimize energy consumption and production processes
There is also a video here, if you just want to see more of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MEw6TFSu-E
The main difference is that it would be moving from non-renewable sources to renewables. As well as that, the methane is already there being released, it’s just right now we don’t use it and instead a large portion of the world just dumps it into the ocean or rivers untreated. So it would be turning human waste pollution into fuel and fertilizer instead of contaminating water sources and releasing the methane.
In cold climates, heat pumps don’t work when it’s gets to -40c, so people who own them have gas furnaces as a backup. The same happens with electric vehicles; their range drops with the temperature, and some stopped working a few days last winter.
SO that’s why human waste is considered a “transition fuel.” It’s an option to supplement other energy sources until we have what we need to transition away for good.
Yes! There are studies about fish for that. You might have to be more specific for the species of fish if you want more specific answers(since fish behavior can be so different between species), but here are some studies:
A lot of it typically comes down to the basics. For example, fish feel less stressed when they have somewhere to hide, and so if you put driftwood in a tank(simulating a log they might hide behind in a natural environment), they feel safer. Part of it making them live longer can also come from it being a breeding ground for healthy microbes, but driftwood can also release tannin's, which help with the water PH.
Here are some other studies you might like:
Sorry! I have dyscalculia, so I'll admit I didn't try to analyze the numbers at all. I can delete the post