I would always have considered myself as being energy aware
and pro environment, but over the past year or so I’ve become much more aware of how
much needs to be done and how badly we fare as a nation in this regard. In recent months
I’ve been reading a special Times Life supplement which concentrates on the state of
the Earth and I’m really alarmed about how bad a state the world is in and more so by
the fact that all politicians appear to be doing is still going for each others throats
instead of sitting down, realising that we have an awful problem and working out how to
deal with it. I believe this issue is urgent, perhaps the fact that we are again being
squeezed financially by the OPEC nations will give us the incentive to actually do
something about it.
In the past year everyone in the country has been up in arms,
not wanting an incinerator in their back yard, nor do I, but I am a realist and cannot
understand why there hasn’t been a bigger push for recycling. I voted against the
incinerator at Kilcock and immediately looked at my own situation and have cut down a lot
on purchasing products with excessive packaging. I also tried bringing as much as possible
for recycling only to find that not much recycling is possible - Kerbside have closed down
- Why? Because it was loosing money. I believe people would back the government to fund
more recycling even if it is non profit making. Surely everything can’t be measured
by money alone, surely clean air and less landfill is valuable.
Recently I brought two bags of aluminium cans from one recycling
venue to another, 5 in all and revisited them a number of times before I finally in
frustration gave up and left them at the recycling bin at Kildare Co. Council car park in
Naas in the hope that it would motivate someone inside to get things moving. I thoroughly
disagree with this practice but in my attempt to save energy by recycling I’d wasted
petrol going to these venues. There is very little in place to make it easier for those
people who are prepared to work towards a cleaner environment and I know many people who
have given up and many more who would make the effort if recycling facilities were more
readily available.
Another area I’ve been looking at with a view to using
natural energy has been solar energy. However, from my vain efforts in locating anyone
using this form of energy I am left wondering if we have anyone working on this form of
energy in Ireland.
After last years Young Scientist Exhibition I remember reading
with pride that several of our local young scientists had devised gadgets which generated
electricity, albeit in small amounts, but I am sure there are plenty of good minds out
there who could develop alternative energy systems. Why can’t we harness such
people’s ingenuity by perhaps forming a think-tank of inventive people, an
organisation which encourages and assists new ways not just on a grand scale like the wind
generator farms in the west but on a local or even single unit scale. I think the
successful ideas should be offered to the public through a loan system which could be
repaid through the E.S.B.
Perhaps starting off with a pilot area project, where recycling,
energy saving, organic farming and gardening and pro-environment projects were scored and
awarded in a similar way to the tidy towns competition might be the way to go.
Let’s follow the example of Holland and Germany before our
beautiful country reaches the point of no return, instead of using the sticky plaster
treatment when it is really too late. I believe that time is nearly upon us.
Blueberries are Good for You
Blueberries are an attractive looking, easy to eat, fruit, no messy peeling or pips to
extract just pop them in your mouth and experience their subtle flavour.
Very refreshing! They always taste like more.
That's not all; extensive research in American Universities has confirmed that they
definitely are good for you. Enhancing vision, reducing eyestrain, lowering cholesterol,
helping to prevent cancer and slowing down the aging process. They are good too in a whole
host of recipes, not just the Blueberry pie and Blueberry muffins dearly loved by our
friends all over America.
Food experts like Mike Smith from the Kildare Kitchen shows just how versatile they are
by including Blueberries in his range of delicious food products at his irresistible shop
in Johnstown
The blueberry season is in full swing during the month of August and pickers for
Larkwood Products Ltd. are busy bringing in an excellent crop of very high quality berries
at their new plantation at Ballyteague. These berries are grown on a twenty-acre bogland
site that demonstrates the value of what was once considered waste ground. The plantation
has been established on bog that was previously cutover for turf extraction. The ground
has been prepared and planted over the last four years as a community venture managed by
Larkwood Products Ltd. and sponsored by the Allenwood Community Development Association
based at the Allenwood Enterprise Park. The project aims to find alternative use for
Kildare's peatlands and has been strongly encouraged, supported and funded by KELT the
Kildare Leader Company.
Contact
Blueberries are available now at the Allenwood Enterprise Centre phone Marie
at 045 870804, 870577. Allenwood, Co Kildare.
email info@acdal.ie.
BLUEBERRY PIE
450g blueberries
1dssp sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
225g self – raising flour
110g Margarine
Pinch salt
Milk to mix
Milk to glaze
Pre-heat oven to 200 C or gas mark 6
Grease a 25cm-pie dish
Method:
Rub margarine into the flour and salt until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add
milk and mix well until pastry becomes a crumbly paste. Draw together and turn out onto a
lightly floured board then knead quickly until smooth and crack-free. Roll out into two
rounds, the size of the plate. Cover the base of the plate with one round, place
blueberries on this and sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice, then top with second round of
pastry. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 30 mins. Until the crust is
golden brown.
BLUEBERRY PANCAKES
275g Flour
2 eggs
100ml Milk
225g Blueberries
Method:
Mix eggs and flour and gradually add milk, beating thoroughly until batter is smooth.
Fold the blueberries into the batter and drop into a greased frying pan in one-tablespoon
portions. Fry for a few moment's on each side until golden brown. Serve with butter and
syrup, or sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Makes 14.
Yield; 6 portions
Per portion: 197 calories, 3 grams protein, 7 grams fat, 33 grams carbohydrate.
More delicious recipes are available from the Tir Na Mona office,
contact Morna at PH 045 – 869977.
People who try to whistle you
down are only trying to reduce you to their size.
Japanese bonsai trees are tiny perfectly formed specimens. Their
stature remains small no matter how old a tree gets, most bonsai trees being only fifteen
to eighteen inches tall. To make a bonsai tree, a young sapling is first pulled from the
soil, then its taproot and some of the feeder shoots are tied off. Thus, the growth of the
bonsai is deliberately stunted.
In sharp contrast, the California sequoia trees grow large. The General
Sherman stands 272 feet and measures 79 feet in circumference. If felled this giant tree
would provide enough wood to build 35 – five, room homes! The sequoia begins life as
a small seed, no larger than the bonsai seed, but its sapling is allowed to be nourished
in the rich Californian soil and sunshine.
Neither the bonsai nor the giant sequoia has a choice in determining
how
large it will become, but human beings do! We cannot blame others,
including our parents, for what they have done or are doing to us. We have the potential
to transplant ourselves into rich, nurturing, positive environments.
If others are trying to whistle you down today, get away from their
knife. Rejoice in who you are and who you can be.
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