Water we going to do folks? Save our cash',
by Paul Cormacain
IF
YOU have already given some money to aid the relief work in South East
Asia and now feel like helping somewhat closer to home, here is an
idea.
The National Trust is on the look out for volunteers! It is suggesting that it is different, and can be very rewarding.
It is also healthy, getting you out and about in the fresh air, and you will get some exercise. Sounds like something you would normally have to pay for.
The National Trust has designated this year as Year of the Volunteer. Over the next few months it is going to host a series of volunteer recruitment days at five of its properties, and obviously wants as many folk as possible to turn up. So what about volunteering for the National Trust ?
And now for something completely different.
We had snow on Christmas Day, we have had plenty of wind and rain since, and the ponds and lakes and reservoirs should all be full. So now is a good time to talk about water conservation.
In Denver one year, we were one mile high in the Rockies and it was very hot. Even though it was summer, there was still much snow higher up in the Rockies, and of course it was continuously melting. Lakes were full, rivers were in spate, and folk needed water to keep their lawns green.
>So they switched on their sprinklers at the beginning of summer, and in many cases did not turn off the water till the Fall. I thought it was all very wasteful, but the locals pointed out that they had plenty of water coming down from the mountains.
We would not have the same need for water here, although I must say that snow capped mountains would make our spectacular country look even more beautiful. Our lawn sprinklers are not much in evidence, (too bad), but we do waste water. And now our masters up the hill at Stormont are going to make us pay for it! Let us try to thwart them!
When we are washing our cars, let us in future try to wet the vehicle all over, then turn off the water. Then we use good elbow grease to wash the car, all over with a wet sponge or cloth, then we turn on the water again. Hose the car all over, then turn off the water. So our foreign, as opposed to local, political masters up the hill, may have to tax us less.
When we brush our teeth, turn on the water any time you want water on the brush, then turn it off again. Letting the water run continuously when teeth brushing is wasteful. I know of some folk who now place a sealed plastic container, or even a ball, in their water cistern. When they flush the toilet, they use less water.
There is a good policy in relation to washing machines and dish washers. When you use one of them, make sure you have a full load in. The full load policy means that you are not using the machine more often than you have to, and economically it makes more sense. Folk used to joke about only dirty people taking a bath. So perhaps we should be taking a shower, and that way we use less water. And of course we are not dirty!
The more I write about this, and think about it, the more I like it. " Since this is a politically correct column, I suggest we get our own boys back to the mandarin palace on the hill; make our current masters redundant, and scrap this whole idea about taxing water. But let us think about showers, and about water buttes, about not wasting water and about not polluting water.
Since this is a outdoors column, have you seen any waxwings yet?
Ulster Star
22/01/2005
