Green Living

In Australia, BASIX rules make it compulsory for every new house to have at least one water tank, depending on the size of the house as well as the balance of BASIX points that need to be made up.

So what do you do when you’re struggling to stay within a budget? - look for the cheapest tank of course.  However, the cheapest tank on the market, Zincalume, is not the prettiest and doesn’t have much of a warranty.

ZINCALUME, STEEL or GALVANISED TANKS

Tasmania is heavily marketed as a pristine island with untouched wilderness areas, pure waterways and tasty, fresh, natural produce. Gourmet cheese and yoghurt, Tasmanian salmon, Oysters, berries - we've all bought these before believing that produce from Tasmania was fresher, healthier, tastier and cleaner than what we could buy elsewhere. However, Tasmania's clean and green reputation is misleading and falsely earned.

Who would have guessed that Tasma nians experience the highest rates of cancer, Parkinson's disease, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dental decay and toothlessness in Australia. It's not just the people who are suffering, Tasmania's wildlife are also extremely unwell. The Tasmanian devils have an aggressive, contagious form of cancer which has decimated their population. Their platypus and frogs get fungal infections and the marsupials toxoplasmosis. Tasmania's seals have tuberculosis and the echidnas staphylococcal infections.

This unnaturally high level of disease is most likely a result of long-term environmental pollution produced by the mining, agricultural and forestry industries as well as water fluoridation plants. With 41 fluoridation plants in operation, Tasmania is the most fluoridated state. It was also the first state to receive water fluoridation.

In addition to the toxic pesticides, fertilisers and other unidentified chemicals that are commonly found in the water catchments and rivers that provide drinking water to Tasmania's towns, you'll find sodium fluoride (a byproduct of aluminium smelting) and fluorosilicic acid (from superphosphate manufacturing) as well as their associated heavy metals, lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic.

Heavy metals produced by the mining industry also contaminate old mine sites, waterways, landfill sites and even residential and recreational areas. Like feed-lot cattle, intensively farmed salmon are fed antibiotics which find their way into the marine ecosystem and wild fish.

It's such a shame that Tasmania's human and wildlife population are being so blatantly exploited and polluted by big industry but the rest of Australia is also being subjected to the same sorts of toxins by the same industries - we're just more spread out. What's happening in Tasmania should be a big red flag to the rest of us. We cannot afford to sit back and accept chronic disease as inevitable and environmental pollution as a sign of progress.

Do some research, find out if your own backyard is being contaminated by toxic waste, pesticides and byproducts of industry. Speak out about it, educate others and hold your local politicians accountable until they acknowledge the problem and join in the fight. Do nothing and we all pay the price.

If you're drinking water from a plastic or concrete rainwater tank then you're getting more than just H20. You could also be drinking heavy metals, pesticides, bisphenol A, harmful bacteria and tank water sludge.

Keeping your manicured and painted nails looking good can be tiresome and expensive. Why not just use house paint? Yes, I’m being facetious, but it is true that house paint and nail polish have many ingredients in common. Ingredients such as toluene, formaldehyde, phthalates and acetates produce toxic VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) as house paints dry and for an undetermined period afterwards. In fact, less than 50% of VOCs are released in the first year after painting.

Aluminium salts make up around 25% of most antiperspirant deodorants. They help to stop you sweating by blocking the pores in your armpits. Our bodies use sweat to cool us down and to remove toxins, so sweat is a good thing and stopping your body from sweating is not a good idea. Putting aluminium, artificial perfumes and preservatives (usually parabens) in close proximity with breast tissue is also not a good idea as studies show a relationship between aluminium in breast tissue and breast cancer. Parabens too have been linked to breast cancer.

Aluminium is also known to damage nerve cells and has been found in the brain tissue and blood of people with Alzheimers disease. It’s not meant to be in the human body but is still used in most vaccinations as a preservative and an “immune adjuvant”, designed to stimulate the immune system to react intensely for as long as possible to the vaccine virus being injected along with it. Mercury, or thimerosal, has also been used in vaccines for the same purpose. Although thimerosal (linked to Autism) has been removed from most childhood vaccines (except for Hepatitis B), it has been replaced with Aluminium Hydroxide.
You should think seriously about avoiding anything which might introduce aluminium into your body, that also includes cooking in aluminium, drinking from aluminium, eating food from aluminium cans, living anywhere near an aluminium smelter.....

What about crystal deodorants?
If you don’t want aluminium in your deodorant, you probably shouldn’t be using a crystal deodorant stone. Crystal deodorants are made from alum, or potassium aluminium sulphate. Although thought to be a safer alternative to aluminium chloride or chlorohydrate, the aluminium compounds linked to Alzheimers disease and breast cancer, they are still aluminium salts. Alum is made up of larger molecules, believed to be too large to be absorbed into the body via the sweat ducts of the armpits.

However, with aluminium’s reputation as a neurotoxin and pseudo-oestrogen, we really should steer clear of it altogether. There are some excellent, effective, truly aluminium-free deodorants available (at www.gwarehouse.com.au). Alternatively, you can try going without although this requires frequent showering, especially at this time of year). You can also try applying a pinch of bicarb soda to your pits to help absorb BO, however, some brands of bicarb may also be contaminated with aluminium. Yet another dilemma!

You’ve heard of passive solar homes – they’re the ones positioned on the block to make the most of the sun in winter. They utilise thermal mass in the form of internal brickwork and concrete slabs to absorb the heat during the day and release it back into the home at night. Less energy is expended on artificially heating your home, saving you money at the same time.

So how are we supposed to clean up a broken CFL? 

• Open nearby windows and ventilate the room before attempting to clean up;
• Do not vacuum;
• Use protective clothing, including disposable gloves and a disposable brush to gently sweep up the pieces;
• Use moist paper towel to wipe up remaining small fragments;
• Wrap remains in newspaper and then in a bag or sealable container, along with the cleaning equipment used, including gloves, brush, damp paper;
• Place this in your outside rubbish bin.