Only 1% of the Earth's water is drinkable and we use 30% of that water on a daily basis to flush the toilet. There are now toilets that have no need for water, plumbing, sewage outlet, septic tank or cesspit - and can be put anywhere, even where you couldn't fit a conventional WC.
Ecotoilets (www.eco-toilets.co.uk) toilets are suitable for homes, garden rooms, allotments, etc. and require minimal maintenance. Because liquid and solid waste is separated, there are no foul odours.
Aerobic micro-organisms break down the solid matter over a period of time, and the process also destroys harmful pathogens and the anaerobic micro-organisms that create smells. The end product is a compost that can safely be used on the garden.
Urine, which is sterile, can be poured on to the compost heap or soaked or drained away.
To complement the dry toilets, Ecotoilets also offers the WHALE (Water from Households Aboveground Living Ecosystem) system, where grey water is piped from a dwelling through a series of 5 gravel and reed planted troughs and then recycled back into the property.
Newspaper Advert September 2014
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Monday, 8 June 2015
100 Days to Change ....
The 100 Days movement focuses on making one change in your life for 100 days. Typical projects include: doing a 7-minute workout; painting miniatures, dancing every day, eat vegetables every day, practise 15 mins of Gernman vocabulary, giving up smoking - but it could be anything that you want to do.
The only rule is that you do it every day for 100 days. It has to be a challenge that means something to you, and ideally something that is going to prompt a big change in your life or something you've always wanted to be good at but never made the time for. Lots of people use it for a kick-start (20 push-ups a day then move into a whole exercise programme. Others move on to a new challenge.
The first 10 days are the hardest. It can also be difficult to keep it up later on, and there is always the temptation to skip a day. But often at the end of the 100 days it has simply become part of people's lives.
It may help to write down on a piece of paper what you will do each day of the commitment, and work out how you will continue the challenge if you are on holiday or you're ill and miss a day or two.
Check out the website: Give it 100
The only rule is that you do it every day for 100 days. It has to be a challenge that means something to you, and ideally something that is going to prompt a big change in your life or something you've always wanted to be good at but never made the time for. Lots of people use it for a kick-start (20 push-ups a day then move into a whole exercise programme. Others move on to a new challenge.
The first 10 days are the hardest. It can also be difficult to keep it up later on, and there is always the temptation to skip a day. But often at the end of the 100 days it has simply become part of people's lives.
It may help to write down on a piece of paper what you will do each day of the commitment, and work out how you will continue the challenge if you are on holiday or you're ill and miss a day or two.
Check out the website: Give it 100
Friday, 5 June 2015
Bookmark Checkers
Q. Is there a way of quickly checking to see if the bookmarks I have in my browser still work, without having to manually check each one?
A. Yes - here are the main options (2012).
Phil Bradley in CILIP Update, November 2012
A. Yes - here are the main options (2012).
- Firefox bookmark checker add-on (only for versions below 16)
- AM-Deadlink for Firefox IE, Opera and Chrome
- SafariBookmarkChecker
Phil Bradley in CILIP Update, November 2012
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Spell it Out
Spell it Out by David Crystal
Profile Books, 2012
Profile Books, 2012
Why is there an 'h' in ghost? William Caxton,
inventor of the printing press and his Flemish employees had no dictionary or style guide to hand in 15th century Bruges,
so the typesetters simply spelled it the way it sounded to their foreign
ears, and it stuck. Seventy-five per cent of English spelling is regular
but twenty-five per cent is complicated. In Spell It Out linguistics expert David Crystal explains how and why English is spelt the way it is. A fascinating read - especially if you feel you area poor speller or have children currently learning to read and write.
Telling the stories behind the rogue words that trip us up, he explains why they entered the mainstream. Some examples are that 6th century monks wrote using the Roman alphabet of 23 letters but added 3 more to cope with the 37 different sounds found in the Anglo-Saxon language; the arrival of the French in 1066 meant French spelling practice was grafted on; the Great Vowel Shift, which took place over 200 years beginning in the 15th century, cahnged pronunciation but we kept the spellings the same; later writers used the history of words (etymology) to regularise spelling; and loanwords from other languages have spellings that often do not follow regular English spelling patterns.
David Crystal also advocates a new approach to teaching spelling. He feels that words need to be learnt in context and often in related groups: sign, signs, signing, signal and signalling - and which also demonstrate specific spelling rules - in this case when and when not to use the silent 'g' principle. Where words are often confused [principal and principle], he suggests the word used more frequently is taught first on its own and in context - principal boy, principal girl, school principal. Some spelling mistakes come from mispronunciation - pome for poem, libry for library, reconised for recognised - and this needs to be addressed.
[Note: It may be reassuring to learn that in practice four-fifths of English spellings conform to patterns we can readily see and that only 3% of English words are spelt in genuinely anomalous ways.]
Telling the stories behind the rogue words that trip us up, he explains why they entered the mainstream. Some examples are that 6th century monks wrote using the Roman alphabet of 23 letters but added 3 more to cope with the 37 different sounds found in the Anglo-Saxon language; the arrival of the French in 1066 meant French spelling practice was grafted on; the Great Vowel Shift, which took place over 200 years beginning in the 15th century, cahnged pronunciation but we kept the spellings the same; later writers used the history of words (etymology) to regularise spelling; and loanwords from other languages have spellings that often do not follow regular English spelling patterns.
David Crystal also advocates a new approach to teaching spelling. He feels that words need to be learnt in context and often in related groups: sign, signs, signing, signal and signalling - and which also demonstrate specific spelling rules - in this case when and when not to use the silent 'g' principle. Where words are often confused [principal and principle], he suggests the word used more frequently is taught first on its own and in context - principal boy, principal girl, school principal. Some spelling mistakes come from mispronunciation - pome for poem, libry for library, reconised for recognised - and this needs to be addressed.
[Note: It may be reassuring to learn that in practice four-fifths of English spellings conform to patterns we can readily see and that only 3% of English words are spelt in genuinely anomalous ways.]
Monday, 1 June 2015
Diet Tribes
A quarter of the UK population is obese, and the message of eat less and exercise more is falling on deaf ears. A BBC Horizon documentary examines the idea of personalised dieting. Using ground-breaking research they looked at how genetics and neuroscience help us understand what drives us to eat too much and put on weight, and how hormones affect how we feel. A group of overweightvolunteers underwent a range of tests (genetic, hormone and psychological (attitudes and emotions around food) tests), and were found to fall into one of three groups. After more tests and diet related actvities and advice, the volunteers then followed at home a three-month eating plan specially devised for their group. The aim was for the group to lose 67 stone overall, five per cent of their body weight. The results were impressive; between them they lost 103 stone. Even better, the volunteers agreed almost unanimously that they had found the right diet.
Feasters
Once feasters start eating they find it hard to stop. They never really feel full, so carry on eating. They produce less of a gut hormone GLP-1 that sends signals to the brain to tell us we feel full, so they eat far more before their brains get the message 'Enough'.
They need to eat food that takes longer to digest and keeps them fuller for longer - a high protein, low Glycaemic Index (GI) diet, without any portion restrictions. That means more lean meat like chicken, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses like lentils and beans, but fewer sugary foods, potatoes, bread and pastry. Feasters swapped them for pasta and grains like bulgar wheat that take longer to digest. The GLP-1 hormone is produced low down in the gut and is released in higher amounts by food that is digested more slowly. Eating slowly can also keep GLP-1 levels up. Try eating your meal over half an hour. Eat something you'd normally bite into (a burger, sandwich, banana) on a plate with a knife and fork. Try to have all meals sitting at the table (you'll eat faster if you are standing up).
Emotional Eaters
This group has problems with eating because of psychological issues. They turn to food when anxious, depressed and stressed to try to manage their emotions, in the way other people might have a drink. Stress and anxiety boost levels of hormones like cortisol, which in turn makes us feel panicky. 'Self-medicating' with sugary, fatty, salty foods in particular can stimulate our 'feelgood' response. But that triggers 'catastrophic thinking' - I've blown the diet, so why bother?
They need support to overcome fears and to believe they can resist temptation. They will benefit from joining a weight loss group or using online tools and social media to track progress and keep motivated. They also need to accept occasionally failing with the diet is not the end, and simply start again.
Constant Cravers
They are hungry the whole time and like to snack on things high in sugar and salt. They enjoy food and think about it a lot, grazing throughout the day. Certain genes interfere with the brain's understanding of our fat reserves. If it thinks we have less fat than we actually do, it tells us to keep eating. All the volunteers in this group tested postive for these genes.
Losing weight is hardest for this group. The answer is intermittent fasting - better known as the 5:2 diet, when you eat normally (but healthily) for five days a week, and the reduce calorie intake substantially on the other two days (Horizon volunteers cut down to 800 calories on these days but 500 or 600 calories is usually advised.) This makes the body burn up its fat stores.
Plateau effect
Most of the volunteers (and pretty well everyone following any diet) finds that weight loss tails off around week 8; this is due to metabolic changes. Those who are overweight have a faster metabolic rate than those of ordinary weight just for everyday activities. When weight loss goes below a certain level, the body slows its metabolism to stay at that weight. That is the time you need to do a bit more exercise to 'kick-start' the weight loss process again.
BBC2 Horizon: What's the right Diet for You?: a 3-programme documentary broadcast on 12, 13 and 14 Jan. 2014
Feasters
Once feasters start eating they find it hard to stop. They never really feel full, so carry on eating. They produce less of a gut hormone GLP-1 that sends signals to the brain to tell us we feel full, so they eat far more before their brains get the message 'Enough'.
They need to eat food that takes longer to digest and keeps them fuller for longer - a high protein, low Glycaemic Index (GI) diet, without any portion restrictions. That means more lean meat like chicken, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses like lentils and beans, but fewer sugary foods, potatoes, bread and pastry. Feasters swapped them for pasta and grains like bulgar wheat that take longer to digest. The GLP-1 hormone is produced low down in the gut and is released in higher amounts by food that is digested more slowly. Eating slowly can also keep GLP-1 levels up. Try eating your meal over half an hour. Eat something you'd normally bite into (a burger, sandwich, banana) on a plate with a knife and fork. Try to have all meals sitting at the table (you'll eat faster if you are standing up).
Emotional Eaters
This group has problems with eating because of psychological issues. They turn to food when anxious, depressed and stressed to try to manage their emotions, in the way other people might have a drink. Stress and anxiety boost levels of hormones like cortisol, which in turn makes us feel panicky. 'Self-medicating' with sugary, fatty, salty foods in particular can stimulate our 'feelgood' response. But that triggers 'catastrophic thinking' - I've blown the diet, so why bother?
They need support to overcome fears and to believe they can resist temptation. They will benefit from joining a weight loss group or using online tools and social media to track progress and keep motivated. They also need to accept occasionally failing with the diet is not the end, and simply start again.
Constant Cravers
They are hungry the whole time and like to snack on things high in sugar and salt. They enjoy food and think about it a lot, grazing throughout the day. Certain genes interfere with the brain's understanding of our fat reserves. If it thinks we have less fat than we actually do, it tells us to keep eating. All the volunteers in this group tested postive for these genes.
Losing weight is hardest for this group. The answer is intermittent fasting - better known as the 5:2 diet, when you eat normally (but healthily) for five days a week, and the reduce calorie intake substantially on the other two days (Horizon volunteers cut down to 800 calories on these days but 500 or 600 calories is usually advised.) This makes the body burn up its fat stores.
Plateau effect
Most of the volunteers (and pretty well everyone following any diet) finds that weight loss tails off around week 8; this is due to metabolic changes. Those who are overweight have a faster metabolic rate than those of ordinary weight just for everyday activities. When weight loss goes below a certain level, the body slows its metabolism to stay at that weight. That is the time you need to do a bit more exercise to 'kick-start' the weight loss process again.
BBC2 Horizon: What's the right Diet for You?: a 3-programme documentary broadcast on 12, 13 and 14 Jan. 2014
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