I just saw the ice cream van go past my house and look what happened!
All I wanted was a box of ice creams for the kids! It has been 43C for two day in a row, and it is forecast for a similar temperature tomorrow. I wish this heat was over, but we will just have to do our best. I have been watering the veggie patch every morning at 0530 with mains water when I am allowed and tank water every other day. The tank is now 25% full, and as it hasn’t rained since 10th December 2008, I reckon it will hit rock bottom before it gets any better. Kim has been spraying the chooks to make sure they stay cool every couple of hours, and they are doing well. Well done love!
This morning I had to pick 3 cucumbers as they were starting to get sunburned. This evening, I picked about 4 kg of blood plums and put them in the fridge. The plums that are exposed to the direct sun are burnt, and only good for chook food now. Luckily there are so many more sheltered from the sun under the canopy. I also picked about 3 kg of tomatoes tonight, and put them in the fridge. There are quite a few that have been burnt as well, but not enough to cry about. When it cools down a little I will make some pasta sauce to preserve for later on in the year. I even have my eye on a tomato jam recipe.
Tomorrow, I go back to class again and attend day 2 of my carbon accounting course at Swinburne Uni. I finished the project plan on time and submitted it on Australia Day, so I am hoping that it was OK. We learn about how to put a carbon inventory together in Excel and how to calculate the CO2-e emissions for different things like municipal waste, burning petrol in cars, natural gas etc. Should be fun, and I will write up a quick post about it tomorrow night.
To finish of, a bit of education in the form of the latest ZapRoot video. It features a nudie Kate Winslet and how she was tricked into posing with fur. Makes the mind boggle, but PETA were very upset about it! Don’t mind the picture below, there is no real nudity in the story. There is also a very good little feature about Ocean Acidification and how rising CO2 is killing our reefs and ocean creatures.
Enjoy!
Just a note to let you know I enjoy your blog and read it everyday since I found it. Good luck getting through the heat. We still have snow on the ground here in eastern Washington. Can’t wait until spring. Donna J.
I didn’t realise you were doing a carbon accounting course, Gav. Very interesting, no doubt.
I wonder if you can answer this question for me?
How do you compare saving water with saving electricity? For electricity, you know you’re saving X kg of CO2 emissions per kWh or whatever. But how can you compare that savings with water savings?
For example, if I can spend $X to either cut my water usage by 100 L/day or my electricity consumption by 1 kWh/day, which is better? How do I prioritise?
Thanks!
@ Donna. I just wish it was in the 20’s or 30’s again. I am well over this heat.
@ Darren. The question is a tricky one because you are comaring apples to pears. The carbon accounting course is just about carbon. Water doesn’t enter into the equation.
Having said that, it depends on your circumstance. It you are in a drought area, go with water first. If water security is not an issue, then the biggest bang for your buck is to do some sort of energy efficiency program around your home first. It is easier to save a kilowatt than to make one! Hope that answered your question.
Gav
Thanks Gav. That was pretty much my conclusion. I was hoping there was some objective measure to put a figure on the two options, to help us make such decisions. In the end it comes down to a judgement call.
I guess the comfort is that either option is going to help, so you can’t really get it ‘wrong’.