. This week I reviewed Kiva loans from Philippines and Kenya, about half and half, and one from Uganda. As is typical of all Kiva loans, about 90% of the borrowers were women. All of the Philippine borrowers were people who fished for a living and wanted money for a boat engine. All of the Kenyan borrowers were farmers wanting about $175 for fertilizer and good quality seeds.
The average annual income in Philippines is about $4,000 and in Kenya, it’s closer to $7,000, so even a small loan of $175 is a big deal.
I finally finished writing out 200 postcards to encourage environmentally oriented voters in Virginia to vote in their upcoming November general election. Then I’ll just need to certify I completed the project with the Environmental Voter Project and then mail them on the designated day this month.
Saturday I went to a new-to-me native plant nursery with 2 friends. I bought 6 plants.
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before this happened. As you may have noticed, I am very health- and nutrition-conscious. About 5 years ago, I bought a countertop glass water pitcher with a charcoal filter in it that’s supposed to filter out certain things, but who knows if it really is?
So after reading a lot about microplastics, nanoplastics and PFAs (forever chemicals), I decided to spring for a decidedly more expensive reverse osmosis system that’s supposed to be highly effective at filtering out a bunch of stuff, including what I’ve just mentioned.
I was hoping to have the whole thing assembled on Saturday, but hit a stumbling block when I tried to prime the 2 filters but could not fit the rubber gasket thingie they provide onto the end of my modern kitchen faucet, so the alternative way to prime the filters is to soak them in water for 8 hours, which I did.
The good thing is that I only will have to do this once a year, cus that’s how long the filters last. And next time, I will know to plan ahead so it’s not an inconvenience. But then when I did the red dye test, to make sure the filters are working as they should, well, only about a tablespoon of water percolated thru one filter, and none from the other. It's possible I overtightened the nut on the ends of filters, or maybe they're not really primed? At this point, I want to call customer service regarding next steps, and due to the holiday, that won't happen til Tuesday.
Anyway, I’ll be excited to get this system working and see how or if it changes the taste of my water, which is supposed to retain whatever beneficial minerals it already has.
September 3rd, 2025 at 05:39 pm 1756917595
Good for you for upgrading your water quality! I did ours (not a whole house system but a Berkey) after I looked at the water quality for our zip code at ewg.org. Scary stuff.
September 3rd, 2025 at 05:51 pm 1756918267
It's been more than a little frustrating dealing with Boroux. I tried to put it together on Saturday, and the whole unassembled unit is still sitting on my kitchen counter 5 days later. They are not open on weekends, so when I ran into a problem priming the filters, I had to wait. I tried 4 different ways they instructed to prime the 2 filters, including submerging them in water (for over 48 hours now), and only 1 is filtering water. At this point, they are sending me a replacement filter as well as replacement primer.
September 3rd, 2025 at 06:00 pm 1756918840