My childhood coincided with the discovery of North Sea oil and the plastics revolution that it spawned. I can still recall a primary school project where we looked at the 'fantastic' products this newly found oil could be used to manufacture in the bright new world of the 1970s.
Fortunately such things didn't surround us then, and we grew up with wooden furniture, linoleum and parquet floors and carpets made from wool and other natural fibres. Not to mention draughty houses and plenty of playing outside in the fresh air! As a result my childhood didn't see me being exposed to lots of plastics and the phthalates they contain, with their 'gender bending' potential - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8361863.stm
It's very different today with an amazing array of plastics in products you wouldn't think were synthetic. Only last week we bought a couple of coir door mats, a natural product made from coconut shells. The carpet shop offered to sell us another mat that was easier to clean. When we asked if it was natural or manmade the answer was a resounding 'natural'. So we looked at the label only to find that they were made from polypropylene, a chemical derived from oil. So not only it is an unsustainable material (unless recycled from waste polypropylene), but it has also been found to leak biocides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene) causing health concerns. Slightly worrying if you consider how many rugs and carpets, and even clothes, are made from this material.
Hence our constant drive to limit the amount of plastic items we buy and use, with the bulk of the materials we've selected for the house being natural, e.g. limestone and oak flooring with any rugs made from wool. This has proven to be a real hassle at times, not only as this can result in us having to pay a premium for such things, but they are often more difficult to find. However, it's worth the extra effort to live in a home environment free from the toxins and chemical residues from many synthetic products.
Think it's about time I went to chop some logs....
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2 comments:
Hi, I'm enjoying your blog. Particularly interested in the use of ecoflex pellet boiler. I'm thinking of going down this route. How did you have it installed Hetas plumber etc? and who commissioned it for you and did you get full warranty with it.
Glad you're finding the blog interesting. Our boiler was installed by our plumber, who isn't Hetas registered. As it's been part of a larger refurb that involves building control we are getting them to sign off the installation - basically to approve the flue complies along with adequate ventilation for combustion air.
The boiler has come with a full manufacturers warranty. As for commissioning we did that ourselves - Nuway will charge you £500 but you shouldn't need it if you read the manual and have some understanding of boilers. As long as your plumber and electrician have piped and wired it up correctly (And the Nuway tech help is good if they need advice) commissioning should just be a matter of checking the auger works, and then setting the various temperature settings.
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