That headline in The Star newspaper certainly got my attention! According to the front page article, repairs to several power stations and overdue maintenance will mean a lower output of electricity this winter. That, and the usual seasonal electricity usage increases in winter, practically guarantee a number of blackouts over the next few months. So I ran out to the Woolies to stock up on torches (flashlights), batteries and candles in anticipation of the impending darkness.
Now on a related topic, they do not recycle in South Africa (stay with me; it is related.) I guess they have bigger fish to fry what with apartheid only (relatively) recently being outlawed and rhino poaching still rampant. But it bugs me coming from a place where recycling and composting had become an integral part of my daily routine. So as we also have been collecting a large number of wine bottles which I have been loathe to just throw into the trash, the thought occurred to me, "These wine bottles would make great decorative candle holders if they just didn't have that narrow top part!" In other words, instead of recycling my old wine bottles which I can't do anyway, I can re-purpose them as candle holders for the candles I need to have for all the power outages that are forecast for the winter. See? Related.
So I sent handy-dandy Vince (he really is) out to the local hardware store to get a glass-cutter and set him to work. Now instead of an endless supply of wine bottles filling up the garage, we have an endless supply of very attractive and unique candle holders around the apartment. And as an added bonus I do not have to feel bad about all that wine we seem to drink. I am doing my part to be a good South African citizen and reduce electricity. Bring on those power outages!
No comments:
Post a Comment