Bird obsessiveness comes with some responsibilities! It’s true that nothing can be done about habitat until the thaw, but there are always the feeders and the treats. In reading about care for the feeders, I repeatedly encounter the instruction to use a solution of “nine parts water to one part bleach.”
Having lived most of my life with septic systems, I’ve long known chlorine bleach is a really bad idea. However, the advertising, in the US at any rate, really wants us to believe chlorine bleach is quite harmless given the amount an average person uses. This seems to point us to what the environment is struggling with currently. There are probably few things that in a small enough amount will be a problem. Bottom line, even if we’re not bird obsessive, from the research I’ve done even if one uses only a small amount of chlorine bleach (oh, and no, apparently toilets are not so bent on germ-ing us to death that we need to poison ourselves with chlorine bleach), it’s the industry that is causing the damage. Not much googling is required to inspire one to read the labels on all household cleaning supplies, find out how to safely dispose of most of them, and replace them with their nontoxic counterparts. Turns out in checking with Wild Birds Unlimited that they wash the feeders with the same dish soap they use on their own feeders, being careful to rinse well and let dry completely.
While we’re on the subject of toilets and environs, a gentle reminder that old growth forests (yes, those exactly like the ones we read about in Braiding Sweetgrass and are so excited to be near here in Washington} are being clear cut to be turned into pulp for toilet tissue. Not even making a stop first as lumber—straight to toilet paper. So, when that cute little bear family waxes ecstatic over “the go,” we can know “the go” is intimately connected with the destruction of the very beings on whom our survival depends. There are many alternative tissues available; our favorite at the Monastery is made from bamboo. The company Reel uses a portion of their profits to supply toilet facilities to communities like ours in Kantolomba.
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I couldn’t look at these amazing structures without the adage “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” coming to mind. True, no doubt, and worth remembering, but “Oh, my” what a find these could be for us here at the Zen Monastery Peace Center Farm. They aren’t just greenhouses and, in fact, near as I can tell, they’re actually meant to be an outdoor living space. Yes, plants, but also chairs and tables for outdoor entertaining out of any wind or rain. OR, a meditation hall? Workshop room? Hermitage? They come in all sizes, are affordable (in the big picture), could be made a beautiful part of the landscaping, and serve multiple purposes as all of them could have some greenhouse function. |
Happy holidays.
Hoping to “see” you at the New Year’s Retreat.
In gasshō,
ch