Dishwashers, better than you?

I, for a long time have thought that using a dishwasher meant the use of more water and more gas/electricity but for most machines that is not the case.

Dishwashers use less water than washing by hand. Unlike washing in the sink which requires you to submerge your plates, cutlery and pots these machines use powered jets of water to BLAST the food and muck off and on top of that the dishwashing machines reuses an allocated amount of water over again through the jets when in washing mode.

After being told that I then thought, but it must use more power than me? (I use no power to operate by the way). Well I was then told that most dishwashers take in cold water and heated within rather than being filled with hot water and thereby no gas or (extra)power is used to heat the water which helps in two ways.

Firstly, as most people find it takes time and precious H₂O  to wait for the hot water to make it all the way out of the tap. Secondly most heat is also largely lost while traveling from water heater to your tap when your pipes are not insolated.

Being a modern appliance there are always setting to control just how economic it is you want it to run the machine from guzzler to eco-man and let’s not forget the energy rating star system that the government has in place to help us buy smarter.

Oh and last of all it’s less work for you!

As always comments welcome, don’t forget to subscribe and take a wonder to our Facebook page.

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax: 08 8356 2316
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds

WOODEN you like some FURNITURE?

WOODEN you like some FURNITURE?

Furniture is what takes up most of our living space within our home and also a part of our yards, patio or balcony.

Furniture can be made of many things but I’m going to be writing today about wooden furniture and how as the tree is growing it can help store carbon which has been removed from the atmosphere. Most timbers are about 45% Carbon which means forever 100kgs of timber that’s 45kg of carbon stored. 

 

Firstly I will discuss the way in which plants grow to help you (if needed) get a better understanding of how it all works. Plants need three things to grow, air, nutrients and water (soils is not needed, it just holds nutrients and water).

Plants take in carbon dioxide CO² through their leaves and absorb water H²O via their roots. The plant then uses the Sun’s light to break down these two elements to make Glucose C₆H₁₂O₆ and Oxygen O₂, this is called photosynthesis. The “waste” O₂ is expelled into the air along with some escaping H₂O while the C₆H₁₂O₆ is used for growth and energy storage.

Formula for photosynthesis: 6 X CO₂ + 6 x H₂O (+ Sunlight) = C₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂

So as you can see from the formula no carbon (C) leaves the plant by this method. The main ways in which the C would be released would be burning wood (fast) or fungus breaking down the timber and expelling CO₂ (slow) .

Wood sourced from local supplies is a whole lot better as the carbon stored in the timber doesn’t out weight the carbon used in transport, and if you’re buying it to be Eco-friendly what would be the point? For us in Adelaide > ForestrySA < is the local manager for the states timber plantations click on their link and give them a call or email and they might be able to tell you who they supply to. What is better then local timber is reclaimed timber, at South Henley Hardware (from where we sell) they sell wooden things such like toys, stools and chopping boards made by a local and he uses scrap timber.

Wood is very versatile, it can be stained or painted to a huge variety of colours and can be cut, carved and sanded into lots of shapes so in reality anything thing made from wood is good, cooking utensils, housing frames, floor boards, toys, I could be here all night.

So next time you buy something try to think if you can get it in wood and do your part, no matter how little to store some carbon. Leave a comment and let me know what wooden furniture you have that your especially proud of and don’t forget to go to our Facebook page.

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax: 08 8356 2316
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds

Homemade Cleaning Products - Part 2

I have been on holiday and am now back so to continue on from the last post about using everyday chemicals to clean. I believe I was up to the bathroom?

Mirrors: To get that mirror shiny scrunch a sheet of newspaper into a ball and add a little vinegar, wipe down the mirror clean, if that doesn't work use mentholated spirits. If you have a problem with fogging use a little eucalyptus oil after to repel the moisture.

Grout Mold: Use an old toothbrush your not doing to use in your mouth after and dip it in a strong solution of epsom salts or you can even use dry Bi-Carb-Soda and scrub away.

Toilet: If you are up to cleaning the toilet often than hot soapy water will be fine or add eucalyptus oil for a disinfectant effect. For a stronger toilet to clean the inside of the bowl pure 1 cup of white vinegar around the bowl of the toilet and let sit over night, then scrub the next day and if badly stained use a scour and Bi-Carb-Soda.

For a nice smell in the loo add a drop of essential oil so when the light is on it activates the perfume.

Laundry

Washing Mechine: To clean the soap build-up place 4 litres of vinegar for a top loader or 2 litres for a front loader and put it through a full cycle.

Pre-wash Spray:

1/3 Cloudy Ammonia, 1/3 Water & 1/3 Dish Washing Liquid. Mix and spray using a spray bottle
.

Bleach Alternatives

1 cup of lemon juice in half a bucket of water
or
1 tablespoon of metho in a full bucket of water
or
1 cup of salt in full bucket of water.

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax: 08 8356 2316
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds