Indoor Air Quality - IAQ - it's a big deal whether you think about it much or not. Mold and mildew are making people sick all over the world. People think - Mildew? That's the stuff in my shower - I just spray some bleach on it and kill that. What's the big deal? If that's all you are exposed to, you are very fortunate my friend. Mold is found in a lot more places than that, though - in the walls, in the attic, in your air ducts...and can you believe it? - on your ceiling tiles. You look up and see a little stain from a sweaty pipe in the plenum - no problem it will dry out. What you don't see is the porous portion on the other side of that tile that has been absorbing moisture for a long time and mold has already started to grow. It is prevalent near the HVAC vents and the air passes over the mold and transports the spores all over a building making people sick all over the place. It can cause headaches, sinus problems, aches and pains (and moans and groans), coughing, sneezing, and a general tired or "unwell" feeling.
I used to work in a huge building that sat empty for about a year with little or NO A/C, then they decided to open it back up and move my department over there. I felt lethargic and sick all day long, but on the drive home I seemed to feel a little bit better and I would feel fine in the morning, but as the day progressed I would get worse and worse. It wasn't just me because I made an off hand comment, "This "new" building makes me sick" and got raised eyebrows from several different sources. Turned out, where I was located was even not the worst part. There were rooms that smelled musty and nobody wanted to go in there. One woman complained that whenever the central air kicked on everyone who had a cubicle in that corner would have sneezing fit...not good for a call center. We all figured it was dust. Now, a few years later, when I think back, I am glad I left when I did! Now I am affiliated with New Ceiling Tiles, LLC - www.newceilingtiles.com - and have learned a lot about the ceiling business. Our tiles are made of pure PVC so don't have any porous surfaces to harbor mold, mildew, or any other nastiness. The scraps from installation are even recyclable! They cost more, but should never need to be replaced due to any type of humid condition or moisture event. One install - That's ALL!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Post Ike
It's hard to believe October is mostly gone and and it's been a month since I returned home after staying gone for 2 weeks after Ike knocked out our power and electricity. I took my Mom and my dog and hightailed it for my brother's home in central Texas where it was high and dry and NO WIND. There were other issues there with their plumbing and central air, but at least they had water and A/C most of the time.
Ike definitely gave us some rain - I could've filled up a couple DOZEN rain barrels if I'd'a had 'em. My two are full again now, and my plants still don't need watering due to the cooler temperatures, they are not evaporating so fast. I had planned to water everything with some worm tea for fertilizer, then it rained a few days ago and I am still waiting for them plants to NEED watering before I douse them with the worm tea at the same time.
Maybe this would be a good time to talk about my worm farm.
Those first thousand worms I got about 3 months ago mus be up to 2,000 by now! They eat most of my kitchen vegetable scraps that would otherwise be flushed through the garbage disposal or tossed in the trash since I have no room for a real compost pile outside. They have made gallons and gallons of "Worm Tea" for me to fertilize my plants with regularly. My plants sure love the extra nutrients, that's for sure. I put my used coffee grounds, tea bags, left-over coffee, tips off the carrots & celery, potato skins, whatever isn't meat, dairy, or greasy, whether it is raw or cooked - the worms like the vegetable matter. I have started putting it through the blender before dumping it in the worm habitat and the little wigglers love it. They process the bits faster, too. I will dump the sludge in there and go back a little while later and there will be hundreds of worms all wiggling and writhing and rolling around in it. I usually put the food on one side of the habitat, and leave the other side fro them migrate to after stuffing themselves. There they can sleep & digest their food to their little hearts desire. Since they should be kept moist so they can breathe, putting the food through the blender with some liquid ensures there is always a source of moisture to percolate through the bedding, taking the castings and secretions with it to be dispensed as "Tea".
I wanted to do something because we go through a lot of veggies and it bothered me to see so much go down the drain and take all the wasted water with it. I had a rabbit many years ago and she always got my scraps, but I don't want another rabbit, and the worms seem like a good alternative. My husband thinks I'm nuts.
My friends who are into planting and using organic fertilizers are cheering me on beause I give them worm tea, too...that stuff costs abut $8 a gallon if you go buy it or the tea bags to make it.
Ike definitely gave us some rain - I could've filled up a couple DOZEN rain barrels if I'd'a had 'em. My two are full again now, and my plants still don't need watering due to the cooler temperatures, they are not evaporating so fast. I had planned to water everything with some worm tea for fertilizer, then it rained a few days ago and I am still waiting for them plants to NEED watering before I douse them with the worm tea at the same time.
Maybe this would be a good time to talk about my worm farm.
Those first thousand worms I got about 3 months ago mus be up to 2,000 by now! They eat most of my kitchen vegetable scraps that would otherwise be flushed through the garbage disposal or tossed in the trash since I have no room for a real compost pile outside. They have made gallons and gallons of "Worm Tea" for me to fertilize my plants with regularly. My plants sure love the extra nutrients, that's for sure. I put my used coffee grounds, tea bags, left-over coffee, tips off the carrots & celery, potato skins, whatever isn't meat, dairy, or greasy, whether it is raw or cooked - the worms like the vegetable matter. I have started putting it through the blender before dumping it in the worm habitat and the little wigglers love it. They process the bits faster, too. I will dump the sludge in there and go back a little while later and there will be hundreds of worms all wiggling and writhing and rolling around in it. I usually put the food on one side of the habitat, and leave the other side fro them migrate to after stuffing themselves. There they can sleep & digest their food to their little hearts desire. Since they should be kept moist so they can breathe, putting the food through the blender with some liquid ensures there is always a source of moisture to percolate through the bedding, taking the castings and secretions with it to be dispensed as "Tea".
I wanted to do something because we go through a lot of veggies and it bothered me to see so much go down the drain and take all the wasted water with it. I had a rabbit many years ago and she always got my scraps, but I don't want another rabbit, and the worms seem like a good alternative. My husband thinks I'm nuts.
My friends who are into planting and using organic fertilizers are cheering me on beause I give them worm tea, too...that stuff costs abut $8 a gallon if you go buy it or the tea bags to make it.
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