Urban Health

If you have the habit of leaving your car idle while you run out to do some errands, short as it may be, don't do it in New York, although better yet, don't do it at all.

Why New York specifically? Because there is a vigilant by the name of George Pakenham going around the streets of New York to stop idling vehicles from polluting the air with greenhouse gas emissions which can cause health issues.

In fact, New York city has a no idling law and offenders can be fine if they failed to follow. Don't you think the sign above will send the message home? It will be nice if our sunny island has this law too. Since we are already a fine city, what's the problem with adding just one more new fine haha.

The world of search engines.

I use Google alot, I would say everyday but it is not exactly the most green search engine around. Hmmm green search engine you wonder? What you don't know is for every search the search engine processed, carbon is produced. Yes, pretty scientific isn't it?

So if not Google then what choices do we get? Here's some green or charitable search engines that you can use..moving forward.

1. Blackle - Google in black

2. Forestle - Donates ALL their ad revenue to save rainforests.

3. Znout - Uses their ad revenue to offset the carbon emissons it generated

4. Green Maven - Searches only green news and information.

5. Ecoseek - Focuses ono green goods and products. Sounds good.

6. Green Planet Search - Green everything...including their webpage hehe.

7. Ecosearch - Donates 100% of their profits to charities

8. Good Search - Donates 50% of their profits to charities chosen by users

9. Good Tree - Donates 12.5% of their profits to charities chosen by users

10. Treehoo - Plants treets to offset carbon emission it generated

I like Ecosearch, charitable and yet similar to Google search. But Ecoseek and Green Planet Search are both very interesting websites too.

Give them a try today.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

I think I have mentioned these many times, whether in my blog or in my conversations with friends.

However, not everyone has a deep understanding of what VOCs are and meant to them. So let's get familiar with it for the greater good of our health and life.

VOCs are chemicals that are emitted from solids and liquids. VOCs also have a tendency to build up in indoor spaces, so concentrations in indoor air is generally relatively high compared to outdoor spaces—as much as two to five times, according to the EPA.

VOCs exist in products such as :
- Paints
- Solvents
- Aerosol sprays
- Household cleaners and disinfectants
- Moth repellants
- Air freshener
- Fuels and auto products
- Glues and adhesives
- Drycleaning chemicals
- Pesticides
- Building materials
- Furniture and carpets
- Nail polish
- Vinyl shower curtains

These are common products we come into contact each and everyday and if you are to open your cabinets, I guaranteed you can find these in your home. People may think well, the paint on the walls had already dried and they have been living in the house with no side effects. What you don't know is that VOCs continue to release chemicals into our environment over the years even if they had dried up so don't take it for granted. Just because you can't see it nor smell it, does not mean it is not invading your body.

Some VOCs have short-term health effects but some are suspect carcinogens which mean they can cause cancer. Short term health issues include eye, nose and throat irritation, headache, nausea and temporary loss of coordination. VOCs can damage your liver, kidneys and central nervous system in the long run.

What you can do to avoid all the above from happening is making the right choice today. By choosing non-toxic and low- or non-VOC products whenever possible. If you must purchase or use a product that off-gasses VOCs, be sure to use them in well-ventilated spaces, or outdoors.

What is frustrating to me however is that it is incredibly difficult to find low or non-VOC products here in our sunny island, in fact, they probably doesn't exist, you have to import most of them from more developed countries (What an irony!). Trust me, I have visited many DIY shops here and none of them carry any low or non-VOC paints...arrghhh.

Be green, stay healthy!

Driver Farmers

I love eating potatoes, steam, fried, chips, etc..anyway they are cooked, I love eating them.

For those of you who drive, do you know that you can grow potatoes in a tire?

Here goes (courtesy of Planet Green) :

How to Grow Potatoes in a Tire

- To start, you'll need an old tire. Cut the sidewall off of the part of the tire that will be facing up. - That way, you don't have to worry about empty spots in the inner tire.
- Next, you'll want to dig a small hole about six inches below where the tire will sit. Fill that hole with rocks and/or gravel to make a little room for drainage.
- Fill the tire up with a mixture of soil and compost.
- Add two or three seed potatoes eye-side up to each tire.
- Water the potatoes appropriately. As the potato plants start to grow, you'll want to throw another tire on the first then add more soil. Make sure that the potato plant is always poking through the top of the soil.

- You can harvest over 20 pounds of potatoes per stack.

I don't drive, I take public transport but if anyone out there wants to donate their old tyres to me for growing potatoes, I welcome it! I think these benefits Chinese like me, we eat potatoes leaves as well so by doing this one act, you get to eat 2 different kind of food.

For those who still thinks this defy the way you are used to, just go do a search on the internet, you will see many who tried this and ended up with the healthiest and tastiest potatoes they have ever tasted.

Green Yogi

These days people are taking lots of yoga lessons and pilates lessons to keep fit, many even buy their own yoga mats as those in the gyms are extremely old, smelly and dirty already. Man, I can imagine that, especially those who take hot yoga lessons.

But what do you do when it is time to retire your own yoga mats? Throw right? Very very common practice.

What you don't know is, you can reuse your yoga mats in 50 different ways and I am sure there are many undiscovered ways. Check them out here.

I will totally use them for coasters since they have such good grip or pot handlers. Anyway, think twice next time before throwing your old yoga mats away!

Green Home..almost (Part II)

This is a follow-up to the entry I wrote yesterday. The contractor has since came back with the quote to make the house into the design I want, it will set me back $160,000. Damn high and this is subject to change if my plans change from the one I indicated to the contractor 2 days ago.

All I can say is that changes are highly likely since I had given it a further thought and want to do further changes.

I will be discussing with my parents before deciding whether it is worth making an offer because the total cost will be more than $1.3 m, I am not sure if I can afford that.....sigh.

Green Home...almost

I have been viewing some houses over the last 2 weekends as I am hoping to get my own house this year.

Basically there were nothing much that interest me, 1 that was well renovated is beyond my budget and not near to the public transport but over the last weekend, I saw one that is pretty much rundown. I am not even sure if the pillars can still hold up the house to be honest.

And in order to decide whether I want the house, the agent brought a contractor along yesterday to see how much the renovation will cost. And that's why this entry is in this blog, I told the contractor I wanted water tanks in the front yard and the backyard to harvest rainwater. On top of that as the existing parquet flooring needs to be changed, it gave me a chance to suggest a switch to bamboo flooring and best of all, the contractor told me that bamboo flooring is cheaper than putting on those new parquet. Cool. I also spoke about using low VOC paints for repainting the house although I know it is a dream because I have not come across any low VOC paints here and even when I spoke about it to the contractor, he was like "Err, what's that?". So to be green here at home? I think we still have a long way to go.

The other design I spoke about with the contractor was opening up the back so that the living room and dry kitchen will be open concept and cross ventilation will happened. Ceilings fans for al the rooms were also suggested and hopefuly LED lightings can replaced all the lightings with bulb. I think it will kill some people when I tell them I want to tear down the air-conditioning units as landed property tended to be very hot but this unit is pretty windy. Downside is not much sun get shone onto the yards so it seems impossible to install solar panels since they won't work for me.

However the initial quote from the contractor is high and I perceive it will continue to be high after the costing is finalized. So together with the cost of the house, it may simply be unaffordable to me.

Watch this space!

Jill-able

I love this plastic vase, inflate with water when you want to use as a vase and dispose the water and flatten it for storage when you want to keep it...really very space saving

This vase by Jill-able is however not cheap, it cost like USD 8 just for 1 but perhaps you will get a cheaper price for a higher quantity. But I must admit, it does look pretty on any table.

Coffee Grounds

I have been collecting the coffee grounds that comes out of our coffee machine in the office these days.

I was going to add them to my compost but I have yet to buy my new soil so in the end, I am thinking of just adding them directly into the pot itself but they take a while to dry though.

Anyway I come across this article in Planet Green on other uses of coffee grounds and I am really interested in the idea of using it to keep ants away as well as the tip on using it to add shine to the hair haha. Yet to try it though but will try it as soon as I can.

Here's some of the other uses for coffee grounds :

Kitty Be Gone

Keep the neighborhood felines out of your garden by sprinkling a mixture of coffee grounds and orange peels around the edges of plant beds. It's not only beneficial for you and your garden—there are lots of plants that are harmful to cats.

Ant Control

It's that time of year: Ant season. If you have an ant problem, sprinkle coffee grounds near doorways. How does it work? The nitrogen burns the ants' legs so they won't walk cross it. Some people cover ant holes with grounds, but I'm a little too softhearted for that.

Sow Seeds

If you want to grow lots of carrots or radishes, you can make your seeds go further by adding in coffee grounds. Let the grounds dry and then mix them with seeds. Plant the grounds with the seeds and your plants will actually grow in thicker.

Get Shiny Hair

Coffee grounds can add shine to your hair and condition it naturally. Work the grounds into clean, wet hair and massage for a few minutes, then rinse. You may want to do this outdoors in warm weather to keep your drains from becoming clogged. (And brunettes—you'll get the added benefit of lovely highlights.)

Eliminate Odors

Coffee absorbs scents from its environment, which makes it a fantastic natural deodorizer. Let the grounds dry, then pour them into a cup you can sit in your fridge or freezer. If you've been cooking with onion, garlic or other pungent foods, rub your hands in dry coffee grounds to remove smells.