ARGH Environmentalists!!

I would rather make my own lye than trust some bottle. I know everything is a chemical.....I am trying to eliminate the bad ones.

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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Sounds to me that the issue here is not really the environment, but one of control. Being bothered by the meds in someone else's pee being in your septic sounds a bit wacky to me.

Arguing with your mother is about as productive as it was for her and mine arguing with either of us right?. Also remember its her house so you are stuck with what she wants and its probably not the best way but what you gonna do? Everyone thinks they are going to save the world but guess what the world is probably going to save itself like it always has and will bla bla bla. Draino like anything else isn't going to hurt anything either. For the drains, the best thing I have ever seen is those water pressure cuffs that you hold on there and put water pressure on it from a garden hose. You can use a piece of washing machine line and a converter if the faucet has any form of aerator. I think they sell them at water bed stores if the hardware store doesn't have them. Those will blow out about anything but large grease dams very fast and easy. I rate that from renting to the Beverley hillbillies for many years so consider it a glowing endorsement. You can get them at true value or Lowes and they look like a Black rubber sausage. There is a small plastic converter usually sold next to the pressure cuff that allows use on poor fits. Get one they work.
Be thankful you aren't managing her money. I tried to get mine into investing and finally gave up for the simple reason they both grew up during the depression and had to "keep it close". After awhile you just try to mitigate what you can and shake your head about the rest..................... Oh yes BTW keep her from dumping chlorine down there with any drain cleaner. You get the right mix down there and you will get a fairly big chemical explosion which worst of all blows it right back in your face (all that caustic acid). I have heard of someone blowing the sink right off the wall so watch out. Roto rooter around here costs $160 for a 10 minute job so keep em clean.

i think comfortablynumb is right to some extent. a few teaspoons of sodium hydroxide is a drop in the bucket in a tank that contains a few thousand gallons.

i also think your comment about the "10 drug pee" is over-reacting to a minor concern. i will repeat my feelings about moderation.it is easy to get carried away with extremism and it is easy to get burned out. i would rather see someone take baby steps and continue positive progress to greener living than to be extremist and lose touch with reality or even get so burned out on environmentalism that they just give up.

i would guess that the potassium hydroxide in the woodashes would benefit the land if spread moderately over the 10 acres, and would be better than plugging up the landfills which are meant for real trash. i spread my woodashes in my garden anually at a rate of 5 gallons per 100 square feet. my garden remains well balanced.

i think the rant is coming from other issues and environmentalism is just the excuse that brings things to a head. you both would probably be better off away from each other.

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

well, then hire joe schmo down the road to fix it for 10 times the cost of a bottle of draino. knock yourself out.

perhaps you need some spiritual draino?

you need to move before you have a stroke....
if you are the only one, your efforts are pointless.

well if there isnt anytig wrong then there is no point to her dumping draino down the pot.... you are right! go kick her arse.

once the lye is diluted, the septic bacteria are pretty resistant to succh PH fluxuations.
question is what do you do when its full? where do you dump it? and shame on you for burning fossil fuels like wood and coal to keep warm.
lol
use the ash in your garden. Dump it in an ash pit outside and let nature work its magic. forest fires create ash, nature takes care of it.

nothing, the preacher man said I was put here to fill the earth and subdue it... he didnt say what to fill it with or how to subdue it.
Joke... laugh.
oil dripping out of your car does in time biodegrade in the soil. after all oil is a natural part of the earth. if you think not you have never stepped in a natural oil seep in the woods. YUCK!
nature poluting itself.

the clean air laws require powe plant emission output be very well regualted. the output form a coal fired power plant depending on your state is pretty clean.

I pee outside. its ureic acid. I pee on trees... on the bushes. i have cats who pee everywhere. my horses pee [good god do they pee] so you know, we pee out more acid than I will ever use draino.
I suppose you dont pee outside.... the uric acid goes in your tank and out your leech bed so.... you contaminate the soil with acid allllllll the time.
chickens??? you know what kinda chemical horrors are in chicken poop??
lol

I applude your spirit.... as pointless as it is.

well you wanted to know what to do with all that wood ash. make lye. sell it to other enviromentalistas... "organic drain opener".

see, ive just made you wealthy... say thank you.

oh good I wasnt forced to type thaat observation and be all alone. lol

if she is just doing it because she wants to and not to unclog a drain... ok your rant is well deserved.
if the drain is clogged... you got wood ashes, go make some hippy-draino and use it.

cuz when it rains youll have gallons of leach lye runoff anyhow you might as well use some to clean the drains.

I don't believe i would put drano down there, but red crown or a 100% lye wouldn't hurt a bit. It will balance the ph level in the tank if it gets out of whack.

The other thing too is if you use soap, its made with lye too.

Though I didn't agree with your comment on environmentalist, I have to say that I can appreciate your passion for doing your part. It's good to see some spunk when it comes to the planet. I've found that when it comes to the environment, religion and a host of other topics; people can fiercly disagree on the method, but agree on the final goal.

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Agreed! I hate it when DDT gets on my chocolate ice cream

Nikki

You have far more issues than drano in the septic system.........what a sad commentary on a sad life.

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if you are that detached froom your mommy why dont you have the state care for her or go drop her at a bus stop or something?

whats your motivation to keep her around?

petro-chemicals are organic

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

Well I just wish my mom was around for me to gripe about. Almost everyday I think about the things I could have done with her. Although when she got sick after my dad passed on I did take her places she had never been before and did things she never done. If I stepped on someones toes so be it as this is a fourm to voice ones opion. As i see it anything we do polutes to a certain degree. Heck pig crap, cow crap, human crap, all put off gasses that are susposed to be harmful. If someone is so stressed about where they live that they have to rant and rave then they need to make a change. It reminds me of the story they used to use on tv to get your money about the poor woman that walked 10 miles every day to get water and lived in a tent in Africa. There was a real simple answer to her problem. Move the tent closer to the water hole. Again Just my thoughts. Sam of Tamsam

Seems the "maturity" (or lack of it) is really shining thru--- I stand by my original statement.

There is something called Preventative Cleaning ( preventative maintenance ) so it DOES NOT plug up. I do mine every once in awhile so I DON'T have a problem even though it is Pumped every 3 years. Won't hurt a bit.

Oh, dear.

This reminds me of the story my younger sister told. When her husband was overseas with the military, she and her two boys lived in a trailer on our Mom and Dad's little farm. The drains were old and she had trouble with them a lot. Once she said she put some drain cleaner (dont' know what kind) down the drain and waiting for a couple of hours. Then put more - didn't seem to work - and put more. She said she then hear a rumbling and suddenly 'stuff' was blowing out all the drains back into the trailer - feet into the air. She called my stepdad who rushed out. He went to the septic tank and heard the noises so decided to dig down and take the lid off the tank. He said when he had dug enough to loosen the tank lid, it blew off the septic tank!!!

Now I agree three cans is just silly - but I don't know how much it takes to create such a reaction.

But I also agree many of us walk the walk of trying to be environmentally conscious - but so many of the ones who are out there being so shrill about it only want YOU and I to be consious - not them.

It seems the American SUV's are what is choking the planet - yet I never hear anyone mention the fact that almost everything we buy must be transported around the world by huge megaships, trains and big trucks.

We were recently in our grocery store in NE Texas trying to buy oranges - wanted Texas oranges - no way. We had oranges from Australia - and they averaged out at about $1 each.

Not only are they not cheaper, it has taken a lot of fossil fuel to get them here when it is only a relatively few miles to the Rio Grande Valley.

trixie, I agree with you one hundred %. The point is, if everyone tried to reduce their footprint just a little, it would add up to make a big difference. So we do what we can (recycling or composting most of the paper that walks through our front door, buying local, etc), and you do what you can, and we'll see if we can't save the earth yet. It's not about going crazy vegan and totaly organic, or giving up, but about trying to be as ecologicaly responsible as possible.

We try not to buy anything made far away, but it is hard to decide how "far" is "too far"--some people try for 100 miles or 200 miles for food items, but I still like an occassional orange or banana or some sugar. We do generate 60% to 75% of our power with solar and wind, drive cars that get better tha 40mpg (and last bought a new one in 1971), don't travel by plane, grow most (maybe 2/3) of our food, etc., so I feel that we are trying to do our best, but are also always looking for ways to improve.

How Would You Like To Be Me? I Am Having Remodeling Done On My House Abd I Came Home Last Night And My Bathroom Is Completely Gone-piled Out In The Back Yard...what Is Left Of It.

ummm, lemme see if I got this right, you went downstairs to use the plumbing that works since yours doesnt. You find drano and seem to think theres a problem. looks to me like maybe ma is onto something here, HER plumbing works, yours doesnt, she uses drano, you dont.............

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"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits." Mark Twain

I agree these things are harmful and should go but some things take time to change and so do people. Anyone attempting to change is doing good, we can't all be perfect RIGHT NOW. -And neither are you, I'm sure. I feel sorry for your mother. How about asking her not to use this or that instead of 'taking them from her'. She is a person with her own opinions. (Surely you wouldn't throw her off the property for having a differing opinion.) She might see your way of thinking if you were a little less disrespectful. Sorry, just my thoughts.