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Blackwater Recycling Systems

With water conservation becoming a concern, many people are turning to graywater recycling - the practice of reusing shower, dish, and other water for irrigation and other non-food uses.  However, did you know that you can recycle more than just graywater?  Blackwater - sewage and other contaminated water - can also be recycled.  It's becoming much more popular in areas suffering from serious drought, including Australia, and it's viable for many others.  Let's take a look at blackwater recycling and how it works. In a blackwater recycling system, all household water is routed into a tank using gravity.  Then, the blackwater is given enough time to settle and bacteria works on it for twenty-four hours.  This works in a similar way to the anaerobic environment in many septic tanks.  Once this process has finished, the blackwater is diverted into a secondary treatment tank.  This is divided up into three chambers, which are aeration, settling and irrigation. The aeration stage injects water and air into the chamber at carefully timed intervals.  This causes the tank contents to churn, encouraging the growth of bacteria.  These organisms proceed to pull nutrients from the sludge, breaking it down further.  In the settling chamber, that sludge sinks ...

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Bailing Up Green Business

There are a lot of large companies purporting to produce products and services that are greener than ever.  However, you may wonder which ones are trustworthy, and which ones are guilty of "greenwashing" their image.  There are a few things you can do to avoid falling prey to marketing exaggerations.  Here are some ways to find out whether a business is truly green. First, take a look at the company's past history.  If they were known for being destructive in the past, a sudden switch to genuine concern seems suspect.  Sometimes organizations really have seen the light, and are making enormous changes to improve things.  However, in other cases, they'll simply have changed a few cosmetic things or started focusing their PR efforts on one small area.  No real improvements have been made, but they want the public to believe they're green. Don't take the word of marketing departments - be willing to ask about the changes yourself.  Contact a company or organization in writing (an email or a plain old letter) and ask about their claims.  It's relatively easy to get consumer inquiry contact information on most companies, and some even have an address listed on their webpages.  Be polite and ...

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Organic & Earth-Friendly Tips with Vinegar

Many people use a variety of chemicals in your home, but there are alternatives.  You can use vinegar, which is cheap, common, and environmentally friendly instead of using chemicals that are toxic and bad for the environment.  Not sure where to begin using vinegar?  Here are some great tips that will help you to make the most of vinegar within your home. First of all, you may want to know a bit about vinegar.  For many years, actually tracing back to the ancient Egyptians, vinegar has been used.  When alcohol is oxidized in products that are fermented, vinegar is what is created.  There are several different types of vinegars, including malt, red wine, white, apple cider, and white wine vinegar.  Of course, the one that is most versatile happens to be white vinegar.  Now that you know a bit more about vinegar, here are some handy tips that you can use around your home. Dealing with calcium buildup on your electric jugs or kettles?  If so, vinegar can help.  Simple boil with some white vinegar and then allow it to soak.  Rinse away the vinegar with some water, then boil water again, and you should eliminate those calcium deposits. Tired of odors in ...

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Health-friendly Ways to Deal with Mold in Your Home

Attacking Mold Did you know there's a more ecologically and health-friendly way to deal with mold in your home?  Most of us run right to the chemicals to get rid of mold before it spreads.  However, these chemicals are bad for us, and they're bad for the world around us.  You may find that after you've used a heavy dose of mold killers, you feel sick or "off" for a few hours to a few days. Commercial mold killers contain sodium hydroxide - lye, and sodium hypochlorite - bleach.  These are chemicals that can be very useful and not terribly environmentally damaging in small amounts and when used correctly, and extremely damaging in large amount or when used wrongly. They're both highly corrosive, and can actually dissolve skin.  That's why it's a good idea to use cleaners of this strength only when you have to.  Mold killing in the bathroom really isn't a time when you need them.  Let's take a look at some of the other options you can use to kill mold. Borax and Dishwashing Detergent Use a gentle, environmentally friendly dishwashing liquid - one teaspoon mixed with one teaspoon of borax and a quart of warm water can be used to soak ...

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Formaldehyde Tips You Can’t Afford Not to Know

A substance that naturally occurs in our environment is formaldehyde, which you may have heard referred to as oxomethane or methyl aldehyde.  While this is a natural substance, man has pushed the presence of the chemical, which is toxic, to high levels today.  Unfortunately, it happens to be one of the pollutants indoors that is extremely common.  At room temperatures it turns into a gas, making it a VOC, or volatile organic compound.  Trying to avoid products that contain formaldehyde can be tough, since it is used in the creation of adhesives and plastics. More than likely you would be surprised to find out how many common products contain formaldehyde.  Just a few items that you have at home or at the office that can include formaldehyde include disinfectants, particle board, air fresheners, doors, glues, foam, old carpet, paints, ironing sprays, furniture, cleaning fluids, furniture, polishes, hair products, cosmetics, and more.  When you think about it, it is quite frightening to realize how much formaldehyde is all around you. Why is formaldehyde such a problem?  Well, products that have it will slowly give off vapors that are toxic.  If you inhale more than 0.1 concentrations of this toxin, it can lead to ...

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