ASBESTOS IN INISHOWEN

Photo: asbestos pipes dumped on the beach at Lisfannon

(Click on the title for a link to asbestos regulations in Ireland)

There was a report in the Environmental Health News a while ago about eleven staff at Leinster House in Dublin being paid more than 1m-euro compensation in settlement of claims of exposure to asbestos. There are another 67 similar cases pending in a flood of compensation claims against the state by people alleging to have come into contact with asbestos. There are also 500 other cases pending across the country and the number is rising. The bill is expected to be about 50m euro but will probably go even higher. There was a programme to remove the product from 6000 state buildings that started four years ago and it is still in progress. A Dublin based personal injury lawyer claims that asbestos may be Ireland’s single biggest industrial killer and has expressed concern that landfill sites in Ireland are still unknowingly disposing of the waste.

WHAT WAS ASBESTOS USED FOR?

Asbestos was a widely used product up until 1978 when reports came out to alert the public of the dangers to their lungs. Small amounts of the fine particles were claimed to do no harm but it was the people who had long term contact that were at risk of contracting lung damage. The asbestos was used as fire insulation, soundproofing, heat insulation, lagging pipes, door gaskets on cookers, patching mixtures for cracks in walls and ceilings, the backing on lino floors and artificial coal in gas fires amongst other things.

WHO IS AT RISK?

If you live in a house that was built before 1978 then there could be asbestos in your house. Don’t worry though because as long as it is bonded with other materials like glue it is generally very safe. The problem of safety arises more for the unsuspecting tradesperson. Disturbing old boards and producing dust by drilling in the attic is very dangerous. The people most at risk are builders, plumbers, joiners, roofing contractors, computer installers and anyone else who does work in the house. Mechanics can also come into contact with asbestos through brake linings. Precautionary measures such as facemasks and proper safety clothing will help to minimise the risk. If you do have asbestos in your house then the advice that is given is to leave it alone! Asbestos sheds and roofs can be a problem if the boards have gone dry and brittle. Demolishing these could cause the dust to be inhaled. These jobs are best left to the experts with the correct equipment.

HOW CAN I DISPOSE OF ASBESTOS SAFELY?

Landfill sites and any council in Ireland don’t deal with the problem of disposing of asbestos. I can guess that this is because the councils are being very careful about claims against them. Exposed asbestos that is undamaged can be sealed with a resin to eliminate the possibility of it flaking if it is exposed to the elements. Removing the material off site is really the last resort. Disposing of asbestos is expensive if the proper channels are taken. The waste is collected and taken to Dublin where it is shipped over to Germany. On arrival in Germany it is land filled at a great depth and kept at a constant moisture level to delay any decomposition

I was talking to Alpha Asbestos Removal in Derry last week to see what services were available in the North. All landfill for asbestos is coming to an end in Northern Ireland and they are following the same path as us, to Germany. Staff at Alpha A.A. are contacted by people in Inishowen who want to get rid of their waste asbestos and are horrified at the cost. From anything like a carrier bag full to a skip load the price is the same of around €500 to €700 euro. (I told you it was expensive!) The company stressed that if you were considering removing an old asbestos shed or refitting the house or offices etc. it would be less risk to your health (and cheaper) to leave the complete job in the hands of the professionals. If you want to find out more about the disposal of asbestos, ring Alpha Asbestos Removal on 04871 269167

Environmental

AIR FRESHENERS

Photo: Buncrana from Lisfannon beach.

Some large supermarkets use chemical sprays to entice us to fill our shopping trolleys. When you walk past the bakery section you could be greeted with a smell of fresh bread, or you could be relaxed by a fresh soothing smell in the vegetable department to calm the nerves, all this will add products to the basket. These smells may be (not always) coming out of a tin. The reason we’re making an issue of smelly stuff this week is while we were doing a spot of shopping in a smaller supermarket this week, one of the staff was happily walking around the shop with a can of air freshener merrily spraying everything in his path. Now I know this isn’t exactly chemical warfare, but the toxic fumes got right up my nose. The shop would have a fast turn over of stock and so there were no nasty smells anyway. We tried to find what chemicals are in these spray containers but as they aren’t for consumption the companies don’t have to list them. The warnings on the can say it all though. Seek medical advice if swallowed -can be fatal, do not inhale! Don’t spray on furniture, clothes, fish, animals… and the list goes on. At least C.F.C’s aren’t used in the cans any more so at least that chemical isn’t eating away at the ozone layer. Anyway, where was I… oh yes. The objection that we had to this indiscriminate spray attack was that it was used around the bakery department, the meat department and the area that has loose sweets for the kids. Giving the kids sugary sweets themselves isn’t the healthiest thing to do anyway, but put one of the chemical ingredients of the air freshener on top, such as 2.4 dimethylcyclohex-3-ene-1-carbaldehyde for example and you have a pretty unpalatable mixture.

Here are a few alternatives to chemical cocktails:

AIR FRESHENERS

We tried using a natural fabric softener (available from health shops) on cheap nylon carpets to keep them fresh and reduce the static. It did work for a while but the mixture builds up on the material if used regularly. It doesn’t smell that fresh after a day or two either so we don’t really recommend this idea. Try using bicarbonate of soda in a shaker and sprinkle on the carpet, leave for a few minutes then vacuum up. This is Shake and Vac more or less, without the chemical perfume.

Find the source of the smell and remove it. This sounds straightforward. Empty the rubbish bin regularly and dispose of the vegetable peelings to the compost bin. Wash out the cans as well -these could be stored ready to go to the recycling centre. Keep things clean and if you have kids check places like under the bed often, you never know what’s lurking in the darkness (usually apple cores, banana skins and carrot tops around here)!

Open the windows. Even on those cold, windy days, try to get some fresh air into the house; it works wonders getting rid of smells.

Make your own smelly stuff. Try mixing some natural essential oil into a fine spray bottle filled with water. Get some wooden balls and soak them with the oil too, these can be left in bowls around the house.

Natural potpourri. You can find natural potpourris in health shops, try making your own as well.

Candles and incense. These can be picked up at a reasonable cost and can set a romantic atmosphere in the house too! (Don’t leave them unattended when lit though).

Toxic and non-renewable substances. Most of the air freshener products that are sold in supermarkets contain toxic ingredients and only cover up the smell with another one. They don’t get rid of the problem. Shop wisely and look for products that are natural.

Household

DOWN TO BASICS

Photo: View from the house in Clonbeg, Buncrana

We’ve been getting down to basics here at Clean and Green this week. Any chemical that was in the house has been safely disposed of. We are now, we feel, well able to tackle any dirty corner, stained and smelly carpet, grimy cooker or greasy window without the use of chemicals. Some people have asked me why we take the time and trouble to spend time looking into alternatives to chemicals in the home. The main reason stems from a couple of years ago when I was pushing one of my lads around a supermarket in the trolley whilst doing the weekly shop. I was happily filling the trolley with food and decided to get a multipurpose cleaner for the worktops. The one I chose was a clear liquid, which to me made it look fresh, natural and harmless. This was put into the trolley. Unbeknown to me the plastic container had a large crack in it. My lad, who was only about two at the time, got hold of it and put the dripping container to his lips. Within a second he was covered in about a pint of this potentially fatal product. I grabbed him, left the trolley full of food dripping with this poisonous liquid and rushed him home to get changed. Luckily he hadn’t swallowed any, but it was a near thing. This made me realise that with children around I wasn’t prepared to have these products in the house and safer methods needed to be found. That’s one of the reasons I have been looking for alternatives.

There is a help line to make a note of if you think your child has swallowed anything poisonous. They are very friendly and helpful should you need them, it’s the National Poisons Centre on Dublin 01 8379964 or 01 837 9966 (available in the phone book emergency numbers).

ALL PURPOSE CLEANERS



All purpose cleaner’s come in powder, cream or liquid form. These products are all very similar and work in the same way as all cleaners. They loosen grease and grime and allow it to be rinsed off surfaces. In order for these products to work as they promise to do, they are said to be far more concentrated than they need to be and could be watered down when you use them. Most of the products contain synthetic detergents, solvents to cut away the grease, bleaches and disinfectants. These are all irritating to the eyes, ears, nose and throat and of course poisonous if swallowed. We have found with our experiments that a pair of rubber gloves, some very hot water, and simple soap can cut away the grease just as well as these harsh chemicals.

RING AROUND THE BATH



To get rid of a bath ring recently we cleaned the bath with dry bicarbonate of soda and a cloth. The ring soon disappeared and after a light rinse the bath was ready for use. With chemical cleaners it is important to rinse very thoroughly to avoid skin irritation. The only side effect with bicarb is that it softens the water in the bath if it isn’t rinsed away.

OTHER IDEAS



Try to avoid a big build up of grease in and around the cooker, these jobs can get very big if you neglect them for a long time.
For tough grease make a strong solution containing ½ tsp of washing soda (sodium carbonate) 2tblsp distilled white vinegar ¼ tsp liquid soap and 2 cups of hot water. Mix these up in a spray bottle. Wear rubber gloves and spray onto the surfaces, leave for a minute or two, and then clean off.



BICARBONATE OF SODA





Bicarbonate of soda makes a great scouring powder. If you wanted a fresh smell to go with it, just add a few drops of essential oil, lemon and lavender are refreshing for example. Keep this mixture in a jar for when it is needed.

If you have stains to remove off the worktops, then a mixture of bicarbonate of soda mixed with a small amount of borax and soap flakes is said to be effective. The borax is a bleaching agent and should be handled with care. I haven’t tried this idea because I don’t like borax in the house. It is a natural product but I think it is too dangerous to have in the house with children around.

Hot water and steam are both great cleaners but don’t forget the magic ingredient to go with all these methods of cleaning…. Elbow grease!

As with all of the ideas on the site, test on a small area first.


Please keep all types of cleaning products well away from children.



Household

MAGIC ROUNDABOUT

Photo: Don't throw out your microwave because it is smelly.

An entrepreneur in Johannesburg called Trevor Field came up with an idea to ease water shortages in African villages by turning the arduous task of pumping from a well into child’s play. He has pioneered a “magic roundabout” which harnesses the energy of children playfully pushing a carousel to power a pump, which raises clean drinking water from 300 feet below ground.

Like the immensely successful clockwork radio, which was co-designed by Trevor Baylis, the device is ideal for poor parts of the world with no electricity. The “magic roundabout” has impressed both Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, and the World Bank, and is poised to be installed in villages across Africa.

As the children play on the roundabout, pushing it round, water is pumped up into a tank. Villagers can then collect the water from a nearby tap. “It’s a win-win situation,” said Field. “Children enjoy riding on it, particularly as these are places with no toys. Villagers no longer have to walk hours to the nearest well.” Nearly half the world’s population has no access to clean water, something the United Nations has pledged to change, declaring the next 10 years the “Water for Life” decade. A child dies every 15 seconds from preventable water-related diseases, according to Water Aid, a charity based in London.

At a busy site the 2,500-litre tank will be filled twice a day with water from up to 300ft beneath. The borehole is also covered by the roundabout and so protected from pollution by animals. About 650 pumps have been installed in South Africa giving more than 1m people access to clean water. Last week the first six were installed in Swaziland, sponsored by Unicef (the United Nations Children’s Fund) and MTN, the mobile phone company. After that will come Mozambique, Zambia and Uganda.

MICROWAVE SMELLS

Ian.

I recently bought a new microwave. I put some garlic in there to cook in oil and timed it as normal. The new model is much more powerful and the garlic turned into black crisps. The worst thing about this is the smell; I can’t get rid of it. Every time I cook my weetabix in the morning, they taste like a burnt offering. Have you any advice about how I can remedy the problem, as I would hate to throw the microwave away. Thanks A.V. Muff.

Reply.

Do not despair. Put a few tablespoons full of vinegar in a cup and add water to half full. Put this in the microwave and heat up on full power for a minute or two. This should get rid of any smells in the microwave. Your Weetabix will taste great in the morning!

BALL POINT PEN ON A LEATHER SOFA

Ian.

My young child has just drawn on my green leather sofa with blue ball point pen. What can I do to get the marks off? Regards H.M. Claudy

Reply.

Leather is virtually maintenance-free as a furniture covering, but ink from a ballpoint pen can be particularly hard to remove. Ink marks are certainly easier to remove than a rip, however.

Work on removing the stain as soon as you discover it. Dried ink is especially difficult to get out, unless you act quickly.

Blot the stain with a soft dry cloth or cotton ball.

Moisten another cloth and clean lightly with circular movements. Dry the surface with a soft cloth.

Try a little saddle soap or another leather cleaner, but first read the label regarding its safety for use on your particular kind of leather. You may also try removing the stain with lukewarm water and a gentle shampoo

Contact the manufacturer for a remedy for the type of ink used - the company may sell its own solvent


Tips:

Milk or tomato. Traditional wisdom recommends treating ink stains with milk or tomato. Cover the stain with a little milk or rub it with the cut side of a half a tomato. Take more care with the tomato remedy, as tomatoes contain some acidity. Rinse either treatment well

Rubbing alcohol. I heard of someone that used rubbing alcohol with a cotton bud to remove a really big mark on their cream coloured sofa. You may want to test this Just dip the cotton bud in alcohol and rub gently and use a rag to wipe it off.

Warning! Avoid any kind of cleaner or detergent, unless it's specified for the particular sofa or particular leather, as it could harm the leather. All of the ideas mentioned should be applied with care. Test on a small area first!

Household

TURBINE TURBULANCE

Photo: This turbine crashed to the ground near Carndonagh, causing over 1 million euro of damage.

Photo: Derelict at Lough Eske Co. Donegal. Some houses might need a bit of work before they can withstand the pressure of a turbine being attatched to them.

(Click on the title for a link to Building for a Future website)

There has been a report released recently that claims the new mini wind turbines could damage houses. The report also claims that they do not even produce enough electricity in towns and cities to keep a light bulb lit. A study commissioned by Building for a Future, a journal specialising in sustainable construction techniques, has found that rooftop turbines are plagued by technical problems and seldom generate significant amounts of power, especially in towns and cities.
The report finds that a typical rooftop turbine produces no more than a quarter of the average home’s power needs, at best, and that in urban areas this is likely to be more like 10%-15%, because wind blows around towns in turbulent, unpredictable gusts. In addition, older houses can face serious structural damage from the powerful sideways forces generated as the wind pushes against the turbines. This can be a particular problem if the turbines are mounted on chimneys. The other comment the report made was that it would take at least 15-25 years to generate enough electricity to repay the outlay of the turbine. One answer is to get a survey done on your chimney before you install. The other idea would be to put your turbine on a separate pole or out building like the example at the Dunree visitors centre. The manufacturers of these devices have always said that the turbines could be a danger to you property and to check the quality of the mountings first. The cost of the devices will come down as the demand increases and I’m sure that in Inishowen we can expect the wind here to make sure that the turbines will work at maximum velocity to pay for the devices in no time at all!

ARTICLE 2

There’s a lot of talk in the news at the moment about the supply of energy. The ESB say they are having problems with staff asking for more money as well as keeping up with the demand for electricity to power the country. That is probably a bit of an understatement. For a starter the ESB had to buy in two diesel generators at a cost of €40 million to try and keep ahead of demand. To cope with the increase of power when we put the kettle on in the adverts of soap programmes, the ESB has to buy extra power either from Northern Ireland or even Scotland.
The amount of electricity that we use has increased by 40% in the last ten years and last year the ESB added 70 000 new households to their list of customers. Charges have also seen an increase of 20% in the last three years as well.

WIND POWER
On a personal level, from my kitchen window I can see six wind turbines. They are in the distance on the hills and I use them as a method of seeing which way the wind is blowing every morning when they aren’t covered in mist. Feelings run high when wind farms are proposed. The farms do have an effect on the hills or the coastline; opinions are divided as to whether it is an improvement or an eyesore.

At the moment wind turbines generate only a small percentage of power for the national grid. The power supply from any new turbines linking to the electricity grid has been stopped for the moment by the ESB. A couple of reasons have been used; one of them being that the power plants can’t cope with the fluctuating power depending on the strength of the wind.

Ireland faces a fine of €7,000,000,000 if they don’t comply with the CO2 reduction commitments of the Kyoto Protocol. One way to achieve the target set would be for us as a nation to reduce the amount of power we use. Turning off lights when they are not in use, not leaving the standby light glowing on the television and using low energy bulbs will all help to keep the demand from the fossil fuel power plants down to a minimum. The other way to help clean things up would be for us to produce some of our own electricity. We now have the opportunity to set up our own small wind turbine on our houses.

MINI WIND TURBINES
A company in Scotland have developed a mini turbine that can be attached to the house. We have just had a television aerial put up on our house and it’s a monster of a thing, (apparently we are in a bad area for a signal) reaching about ten feet into the air. So far no one has complained, as we are used to television aerials on houses. Most of us are now so familiar with satellite dishes that we don’t see them now either. The same could happen if we all fitted a wind turbine to our houses.
These new wind turbines only measure 3 feet by 2 feet and are silent when they are in operation. They cost in the region of 750 pounds sterling which is about €1250. The device is just a solid box with three blades that face into the prevailing wind. As far as I can see the only thing that will attract your attention to them are the blades when they spin around. These new turbines top up the existing mains supply and the company claims that it could save us about 15% of our annual electricity needs.

There is a system in place in England where the government give back money by subsidising the customer to produce electricity. The company that is making the turbines predict that the cost of the machine could be paid for in as little as 30 months.

The machine starts working when the wind reaches 3 miles per hour and is at it’s best at 20 mph, so we’ll have no bother around Inishowen keeping the turbines at full power!

As yet no planning permission is needed for the turbines and I can see them becoming very popular, especially if our government set a subsidy to pay customers for producing the natural electricity!

Environmental

BLOWN AWAY

Photo: There are still a few views like this in Inishowen where the power companies have not put a turbine

We in Inishowen are in the best place in Europe to harness the power on a large commercial scale. It seems as though we will be buying our energy from Scotland though if ambitious plans are put into place. The Scottish executive has funded a feasibility study of linking Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles to a sub sea power network.

The study, being carried out by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will explore the viability of harnessing renewable energy on the islands and transferring it to the Republic, Northern Ireland, Scandinavia, or around Britain. For the past quarter of a century the oil and gas produced around the UK’s most northern outpost has been a highly lucrative lifeline for the islands’ 22,000 inhabitants. Now the island authority is keen to take advantage of the renewables revolution. Council-controlled Viking Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy are developing plans to erect 200 wind turbines, with a total output of 600 megawatts, on Shetland’s Lang Kames. It seems like a great idea and will be a lifeline to the inhabitants. We can watch with interest and maybe follow in their footsteps to be an island that exports energy. Although it is a better idea to conserve energy to reduce the demand. I personally would prefer to see micro generating ideas flourish so we can all be independent of the big suppliers.

Environmental