Recycle, make a difference

Many people do not understand that going green is for the benefit of everyone. Zimbabweans are sceptical about recycling. We mostly want to know how it will translate into a personal benefit. And we think wasting shows we have accumulated the necessary bit of wealth to show that we are no longer needy. Following the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) will benefit everyone individually and communally.

Recycling has a lot of benefits inclusive of the fact that it will save you pockets of money.

1 saves energy
Imagine cutting you energy bill in half! Use energy savers for lighting (they are pricey; ranging from $2 for the cheapest and around $8 for the most expensive but the cost is offset by the longer lifespan as compared to the standard light bulbs which do not last at all!) and switch off unnecessary lighting, geysers and pool pumps when not in use.

2. Reduces the need for landfills and incineration
Our streets have become eyesores because the refuse collectors do not collect the waste, or when they do they do so in an unsatisfactory manner leaving debris from the waste in their wake. A visit by the refuse collector leaves the streets looking at times as if a whirlwind has just passed through. Now if we recycle, reuse and reduce, we will no longer need to pinch our noses when we pass by dumpsters or the sanitary lanes. Everything we use will be used over and over again. We do away with non recycle able plastics and take away the need of incineration which pollutes the air.

3 Increases the protection and expansion of manufacturing jobs and increases competitiveness.
More jobs and more competitive products in the market. Need I say more?

4. Decreases emissions of greenhouse gases.
Has anyone noticed how hot it has been of late? Cripplingly tiring hot? It is because of those greenhouse gases we have been talking about for years. Global warming has become an environmental problematic event that is both worrying and debilitating. And it is sad that global warming affects the poorest people hardest.

5. Prevents pollution from virgin materials and conserves natural resources
Virgin materials often lend to a certain extent of pollution of the environment and recycling means the pollution is reduced and we also conserve the environment for future generations. Planting 3 trees to replaces one cut down will ensure that we keep at bay desertification and ensure our forests are not depleted.

There are things you can do to help in your own small way to ensure that we conserve the environment.

a) The car
Replace your petrol-guzzling car with one that is more fuel efficient or one that uses less fuel. A Toyota March is a good example of a fuel efficient car. Whilst you might love showing off in that powerful monster engine, you are not doing anyone any good least of all yourself. When cleaning the said car, find a green option to hosing your car down.

b) The home
Use less energy, if you can afford it install a solar energy system in your home. Reuse water; plant a herb or vegetable garden to ensure that you do not waste used water. Do not do laundry, brush teeth or clean dishes under a running tap. Find a suitable receptacle to store the water. Find a reusable shopping bag (cloth bags are best or paper bags) and ditch the plastic bags which cost you money and harm the environment.

c) The workplace
Recycle paper, reuse. collect all paper that is no longer needed for recycling. Reduce the paper trail. Print only the much needed documentation, digitise everything else. You save space, and you reduce your stationary bill!

Visit the iWARM website for the individual waste reduction model and earth911 and the recycling guide on tips how to recycle.

Waste not, want not.

peace,

fadz

why men get caught most of the time

When women decide to cheat, they do so for various reasons. It could be out of revenge, to find love, sex, attention, money or appreciation. This might seem to the emotionally uneducated, nonsensical even stupid but it could be the reason why a woman strays. It takes a while for a woman to be found out and this is mainly because women when they do decide to keep a secret they can keep it. Men on the other hand cannot. Yes there are some who think they are very good at keeping a secret but really you are not. The moment that secret is kept by three people it is no longer a secret (you, the woman and your best friend).

Men have a pack mentality and constantly need to show off to other males and in doing so, also show their partners that something is amiss. This will manifest in an attitude that i-have-something-good-going-on-these-days. Afoot. They start behaving out of character: buying new shoes, new clothes, new cologne to impress, becoming violent and lying for no reason. Some even go to the extent of being paranoid about their phones: if they are in the bath they either take the phone with, or they switch it off and you can not switch it on because there is a security code you do not know.

I know of men who take their phones into the car or the garage or away from the house. One guy once ran naked out of the bathroom with rivulets of soap and water streaming down his body because his phone rang and his wife answered. If it had not been so sad, it would have been hilarious.

Men cannot help it. They longer they 'keep' the deception, the more reckless they become. and if they are not caught they think they are very clever. Women know when their men are cheating and they turn a blind eye because they do not want to rock the boat.

Like I said before, cheating is never good. Tell the other person that you have bigamist tendencies so they know what they are in for. No heartbreak, no pressure.


peace,

fadz

Why women will not leave.

Women are totally demented? Sometimes but there is a logic to the madness. 

A man cheats, fornicates, abuses the woman and children, lacks appreciation, take the woman for granted or gamble but a woman in most cases does not leave. If a woman cheats, the man will promptly give her her marching orders. There are some men who will leave or kick out a woman for being boring (after 20 years of marriage).

What makes it impossible for Zimbabwean woman to leave unhealthy unfulfilled relationships?

The answer lies in the way our culture has constantly sought to bring a woman down. Until recently most families chose to send only the boy children to school. It was believed that sending a girl to school would only enrich the family which she was going to be married into. Never mind that the same said family would take pains to take care of them should their daughter be a satisfactory wife.

When my father (a very progressive man) send me for A' Level the village was in an uproar. Everyone thought my father was acting in the most stupid manner possible. Some predicted I would get pregnant  by the end of my fifth year. Sadly everyone was disappointed.

It is that kind of mentality which has seen women become dependent and lack financial independence to stand on their own. With too little or no education it has become impossible for women to get well paying jobs. As a result women do not leave their unsatisfactory partners because they are afraid of failing to take care of themselves and their children. Some know that with what they earn they will not be able to maintain the lifestyle that they are used to.

There is also a stigma that is attached to women who do not have partners. All married women view them as a threat. Single mothers also become the target of lechers and all sorts because all men think they are easy and begging for it. The failure that is synonymous with dissolution of a marriage follows a woman everywhere and some women would rather deal with an abusive husband than face the loaded looks and condescending smiles that society gives them. Mostly from other women.

So it becomes easier to just grin and bear through the heartache.

It is sad that women are objectified because they were not equipped with the necessary skills to survive in the jungle that our lives have become.

So make a difference; send a girl (even one who is not related to you) to school and make a difference in her life.

peace,

fadz.