Empty barrels? Needed for Green Buildings.

The cost of utilities can be reduced if we can find ways to eliminate wasting energy and natural resources. Our government is looking into that direction and has started "Green Building Mission", a campaign to build environmentally friendly green buildings to work or live in.

Let us start with what we have wasted all year round; the sun and rain.



I have covered on the solar energy, so let us look into how we can save the rain water.

For that all you need are empty plastic barrels, that have been used to contain food or soap type products, and some kits and Dan Chapotelle's pictorial instruction on "How to Make Rainbarrels".

Why save rain water for buildings only? It would be nice if residents in my neighbourhood catch on this idea and look into installing them at the park. Other than collecting the rain water for watering the plants in the park, it can also be handy for washing foot wear of owners who have been busy admiring blooms and missed... or should it be... did not miss the dog poo.

Staying focus, as I may have got some of you interested in "Green Building Mission", here are the scopes our Prime Ministry, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would like Malaysians to work on:

1) Sustainable site planning
2) Safeguarding water and water efficiency
3) Energy efficiency and renewable engergy
4) Conservation of materials and resources
5) Indoor environmental quality
6) Innovation in design

Look into ways to incorporate solar panels, windmills, low impact hydroelectricity, bio-mass and bio-gas into our life. Reduce use of fuel. Plan and develop routes and public transport that will bring the public to their destinations of work, entertainment or home, especially, public institution or facilities, such as, schools, hospitals or libraries.

Yes, I can see these in my future:

1) Solar panels installed in all buildings to generate energy.
2) Rainwater collected into a beautiful man made lake for washing cars, watering the gardens of surrounding homes or cooling roof tops.
3) Shoes and bicycles that will generate battery packed energy.
4) Motion sensitive devices installed along frequently used walkways to help generate energy.
5) Green waste collected from homes and parks to be used as fuel or to create fertiliser.
6) Solar panel street lights.
7) Windmills in parks and highland to generate energy to replace solar powered energy during less sunny days.
8) Car pooling is a way of life.

Seashells? Grow plants with them.

Many people think that plants from cold countries will not grow well in our sunny climate. That is why one of my neighbours had been planting his daffodils from Netherlands in the shade. To encourage the plant to bloom, he fertilized it so much that there are baby bulbs growing all around the giant main bulb right in the centre of the pot. He gave up growing them when they failed to flower and I became the lucky new owner.

I did a search on daffodils and discovered that if the main bulb keeps developing new bulbs they will not have as much energy to develop leaves and flowers, so, over fertilizing the plant will not help the blooming process. Also the plant only blooms in its home country only in Spring. So, I separated the smaller bulbs from the main one and placed the plant where it will get the sun and not too long after that, my daffodils started blooming.

In Netherlands, Jaap Leenen grows his daffodils not in soil but in 2m square trays of 5cm thick layer of seashells that have been thoroughly washed. Why use seashells? Unlike soil, they are bacteria, worms and fungi free thus enabling his company to harvest the cleaner bulbs for pharmaceutical use. And the daffodils grown this way also produce longer lasting blooms. The bulbs are sold to companies who used them to prepare galantamine that can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease.

So, take time to talk to the older folks in the family to see if they have any hand me down herbal remedies that use bulbs from plants. Then pop by Wayne Schmidt's Flowering Bulbs web page to learn how to grow them properly.

Once you are able to grow them in large quantity using seashells, of course, then head down to Kedah BioResources Corporation Sdn Bhd to see if they can help you commercialise your herbal formula.

Heath supplement bottles? Weave with it.

Taking responsibility for my action, my article on collecting silica gels from heath supplement to dry flowers may have landed you with heaps of plastic containers.

So, what else can you do with them other than sending them to the recycling centre? I have used them to create heads for my Watering Pals and, recently, I have discovered that I can also weave with one. Just cut the top from bottle.



Then pop by Creative Recyclers for more instruction and weaving techniques.

Since you will only need the bottom half of the bottle to weave, what are we going to do with the cut off top? Here's the solution. Create candle holders for the autumn festival lanterns. And here's how.

First cut out a piece of cardboard from a box that is big enough to form the base of the lantern you have created.

Remove the screw on cap from the top and use it to draw a circle right in the centre of the cardboard base. Use a blade to cut strips towards the centre as show in this picture so that you can bend the cut strips towards the circumference of the circle.



Cut off the cut strips all around the circumference.



This is what you will get.



Push the top half of the bottle into the hole till it sits snugly in. You can see that I have cut champers around the edges of the cardboard and bottle.



Bent this cardboard and push it to sit flat into the folds of the egg carton.



You can either place the cap on top as shown in this picture or...


... screw the cap back on from the bottom of the base as shown here.



To hold your candle in place, melt some wax into the cap or steal some plasticine from your kids and push enough in place.

Egg carton? Enlighten it.

The mid-autumn festival which falls on the 15th day of the eighth Chinese Lunar Calendar is around the corner and residents in our neighbourhood has decided to celebrate it ahead at Sungai Long SL4 park on 16 September.

It is time for Mummy to think up some cost saving tricks before my children start asking me to get them new lanterns. Since what I have a lot on hand are egg cartons, that will be my source of inspiration for creation of lanterns.


How is this for a start for Mummy to hold a candle to light their laterns?



Will Calvin like this "Transformer" like piece?



I think Callie should like this if I paint the petal like opening pink.



I still like this design that I have created for them before. Maybe if I add some plastic bag arty-fied flowers, Callie will like it better so I can forgo taking out the paint and burshes.



Here is a new design I am still working on.



I ran out of egg carton to create the fourth side.



So, how do I put the candle in the lantern? Take a peek.




Why not try something different with this packaging I picked up from the fruit stall?



How's that?



I will be teaching the children at the Sg Long Buddhist Society how to create lanterns. Watch out for my next posting on Creative Recyclers to see what other designs I have come up with and how they make out.

Flowers? Not for vase only.

Do you know why flowers and fruits are placed on alters? In Buddhist teachings, I discovered that it is to remind oneself that nothing is permanent in life. Flowers will wilt and fruits will rot if not eaten in due time. I have touched on what can be done with fruits, so, what can do you do with the flowers that will soon wilt?

Try preserving them by microwaving them. For this drying process, you will also need enough silica gels and a microwave safe glass container big enough to hold your collection of flowers. If this interest you, don't go out and buy the silica gels because you may be able to get them free. Look into the health supplement bottles you have. These bottles usually come with a bag of silica gels. Start collecting them by getting your friends, neighbours and relatives into it.

The silica gels should be white but if they are discoloured, this means that there are some moisture present.


Once you have collected enough, just remove the silica gels from the package and put them in a microwave safe glass and heat them for several minutes to dry them out. Keep them in air tight containers when they are not in use.

Here again is the list of things you need:

1) Flowers with stems cut off
2) Silica gels
3) Microwave oven
4) Microwave safe glass container

Preparation for Drying:

1) Cut the stem to just below the flower head.
2) Pour about one to two inches layer of silica gels into the glass container.
3) Place cut flowers, about an inch apart from one another, onto the layer of silica gels.
4) Cover completely the layer of flowers with the rest of the silica gels.
5) Microwave on high for 2 to 5 minutes.
6) Remove from oven and let the glass container cool down for about 30 minutes.
7) Gently remove the silica gels and check out your dried flowers.

Remember not to discard your silica gels as you can reuse them after you have microwaved them to remove moisture. Take down notes of the type of flowers you have tried drying this way and note the timing for each type because some flowers will take a longer time to dry out because of its thickness. You can skip this hassle by getting, "Flower Drying with a Microwave Book" by Titia Joosten. I discovered it at the National Library.

If you do not have a microwave oven, replace microwave oven safe glass with an tight container.

1) Follow through steps 1-4
2) Put air tight lid on.
3) If you are not sure if container is air tight enough, place a duct tape around the cover to seal it further.
4) Check your dried flowers after 1 week.

If you do not have silica gels, you can replace them with sand or borax by putting them into a box or container.

1) Use sand or borax and follow through steps 1-4
2) If you have more flowers to dry, you can create another layer following through steps 2-4.
2) You do not have to seal the box or container
3) Check your dried flowers after 3-4 weeks.
4) To remove sand or borax from your flowers, you can use a paintbrush.

If you are not willing to use your microwave oven and you do not have silica gels, following are other ways to dry flower for you to experiment with:

For blooming flowers,
1) leave stems on and air-dried the flowers upside down.
2) that are delicate and often curl when dried, press them in between 2 heavy books for three or four days.

For buds:
2) Air dry for three or four days

What can you do with the preserved flowers? Let's make this drying process short and sweet and read about that in my next posting.

PET Bottles? Build homes with them!

The plastic carbonated beverage bottles are recyclable but you tend to see them littering your neighbourhood, parks, beaches and public places. The fact is, it is not even economically viable to recycle them if the recycling centre is located at the other side of the town.

PET bottles recycling centres pay by weight and as they are extremely light, thousands of these have to be collected before a commercial return can be achieved. Think about the raising cost of petrol and how many of these bottles can be loaded in a truck if you do not have the means to bale them and you will understand why they are not one of the popular picks for recyclers as a business.

But this is going to change if physics professor Newton Lima's ecological brick invention catch on. No baling machine will be required as he used the bottle whole. First he sealed the bottle with air before inserting it into the centre of a much larger rectangular wooden mold. The mold is then filled with quartz sand and cement and once hardened, the "PET brick" is removed and ready for use.

The benefit of building homes with his "PET bricks" in our climate is that they will keep our homes cooler as the air pumped into the bottles is effective as insulator. Other than a cooler and cleaner environment, ecological bricks can also be our solution to providing low-cost housing for low-income families in the country.

Now that I have your interest, you may want to explore other abandoned materials you can use to create your own ecological bricks, such as, used food (primarily candy) wrappers, peanut shells and wood shavings.