Keeping your Home Dry without Breaking the Bank

A dry home is a warm and healthy home.  Keep your home dry in the winter months by:
 

1. Drying your laundry outside as much as possible.  If you have a dryer, use it only when you have to and make sure it is ventilated to the outside of your house.  Make sure you clean out the lint filters after each use so your dryer stays as efficient as possible. 
2. When using the bathroom, turn on the fan (if you have one). Open the windows a little while you are using the bathroom and open them wide once you have finished.  Keep the bathroom door closed as soon as you turn the water on.  This ensures that the steam does not get into the rest of the house and that it is directed outside.  Keep your showers short to minimise steam and save on hot water.   
3. In the kitchen, keep the lids on saucepans and the kettle and turn down the heat when cooking.
4.  Wipe any condensation that you have on your windows off each morning.
5.  Ventilate your house on fine, winter days by opening up all the doors and windows at the warmest time of day for about 20 minutes.  If you are not home in the middle of the day then try to do it for a few minutes before you leave in the morning.
6.  If you have mold anywhere, use white vinegar and apply it generously to the area that has the mold with a spray bottle or a cloth.  Leave it for one hour to do its work, then gently scrub the mold off with warm water and wipe off excess water
7. Avoid unflued gas heaters - which release toxic fumes and make your house damp. Cheap portable electric heaters are safer and cost less to run.

If you can spend some money and or time and you live in an older home, here are some other things that you can do to improve the health of your home:

1. Put down a black plastic sheet under the house as a barrier to water vapour coming out of the soil.
2. Ensure all the vents under you house are clear.
3. Fix any leaky pipes or leaky guttering.
4. If your windows are single glazed then you could consider double glazing them, or if the expense is too great then try this DIY method using window insulation film (see more about doing this here).
5. If your floor or ceiling are not insulated then consider insulating them.

 

Gift Giving

Gift Giving

 

We all want to be generous but in a way that is good for all of us - our kids, our families, our communities and as well as our planet,  It is nice to give things that won't end up in landfill or that won't create more problems than we already have.  

The diagram below lists some ideas for gifts that can help us think about doing this.   

 Ideas for gifts could be tickets for events, meal vouchers at a local restaurant, or simply a promise (perhaps a home-made “voucher”) to take someone out for a fun activity or help them out in some way. someone once gave me a voucher that I could use to call on her for help in my garden.  It was great to get the help and wonderful to get it as a gift. 

 

If you still want to give people something more material, then there are numerous options from making and upcycling, to buying them something that is produced locally.  There are even local businesses out there that will upcycle for you if you don’t have the time or skills.

If you must buy something new, then get it from a small local business and buy something that won’t end up in the rubbish soon after Christmas. This helps keep money local, so it can be respent locally and is therefore better for others in our community.

More gifts are not necessarily better.  Maybe think about giving one good, long lasting item rather than many items that will just end up in the bottom of the toy box.    Some families with many cousins band together and organise themselves so that each child gets one good present from their cousins. 

If doing a secret squirrel, consider making something consumable – some fudge, or fruit balls or similar small treats that can be shared and enjoyed by the recipient of your gift, if they don’t want it themselves.  This avoids silly presents being put in the landfill as soon as they get home

Wrapping:  The way we wrap gifts can also result in a lot of rubbish.   The question is, are there other ways that you might wrap presents that result in less rubbish?   An option is to have reusable paper bags or even boxes that fold down flat but which you bring out for Christmas and birthdays each year.  If they are kept from year to year then these can be decorated by kids as their contribution to giving.   

 A second option might be to avoid wrapping a present at all and perhaps just decorate it in some way.  

 Reusing wrapping paper is something many people do.   On some occasions, even wrapping presents in newspaper can be all that is needed to provide the excitement of unwrapping a present without producing a lot of extra rubbish. 

Standing up to Racism

The events of last month have really highlighted the amount of racism that goes on in our communities around New Zealand. It's up to all of us to stand up to racism or any kind of “ism.” This is where people use ignorant stereotypes to make slurs against another human being – sexism is another example and comments made on the basis of religion are another example). These slurs more often happen when we can see differences between ourselves and others – perhaps in the way they dress, look or the colour of their skin. If we do not make a stand against this kind of abuse then that makes people think it's alright. This is why we need everyone to challenge it when it happens.

This article is adapted from https://www.thatsus.co.nz where you can find a range of resources to help you deal with racism (or other “isms” for that matter) when you come across it.

Before anything else, we are human beings and as human beings, our differences are much smaller than the things that we have in common. We all, we all experience joy love and sadness, and we all suffer sickness and old age and actually mostly we value very similar things (albeit that we might show that in slightly different ways). As human beings, we are also often driven by fear – something that often goes unacknowledged and which can shape our everyday encounters with others. Racist behaviour is often driven by fear particularly when we fail to recognise these similarities.

Racist or discriminatory comments or actions can occur at any time — it's good to be prepared before the situation happens so you know to deal with it. Of course, it's not always easy standing up for what you think is right. It's takes courage, but here are some tips that might help you.

What you decide to say or do will depend on the situation. You should never put yourself at risk but there are lots of actions you can take that don’t involve confrontation. Even a simple gesture can be powerful and shows the person on the receiving end of the behaviour that they’re not alone.

If you see someone abusing another person, there are three actions that can help;

1. Support the victim,

Try to support the person being attacked. It might just be as simple as going up to them and asking them if they are OK. Ignore the attacker. Make sure the victim knows she or he is not alone. Talk to them, sit with them or walk with them to provide support. They’ll be feeling a range of emotions – fear, anger, embarrassment – make them feel better by knowing they’re not alone. Don’t be a bystander.

2.  Record what is happening

If you can, record the attack on a phone.

3. Report the incident

Finally, report the attack to authorities. Call the Police. Alert the Bus Driver or talk to someone in charge. Don’t just let it slide.

By doing these three actions we can make sure anyone who attacks someone else is held to account and the victim doesn't feel alone.