Since I wrote about how wonderful my Kindle is, I feel like I have the obligation to show the flip side, like the fact that the screen died this weekend. Black, horizontal lines appeared all over it.

Doesn't this just break your heart?

If you look online, you’ll find other examples of this, as well as suggestions for fixing it. So I tried charging it up. I tried resetting it two different ways (by pressing alt-shift-R and by pressing the tiny button next to the power jack with a paperclip). I tried refreshing the screen (by pressing alt-G). The parts of the screen that weren’t covered in black changed, but it didn’t solve the problem.

Since I’ve only had it four months, it’s still under warranty. I contacted Amazon (by phone, since their email response was useless), and they were very prompt about sending a replacement. I received it today, with prepaid packaging to send the malfunctioning one back to be refurbished.

Four months is really not a good lifespan for an electronic device. Technically, I’ve passed the magic number where it breaks even with paper books (22.5), but I expected it to last a lot longer than that. The idea is for it to be more efficient than books.

But this whole thing has underscored just how addicted I am. It’s driven me crazy to go five days without it. That’s only partially because I was in the middle of a good book. Every time I have to close my book because I need to do something with my hands, I miss it. Every time I need to turn the page on the bus, I miss it. It’s just a better reading experience.

I really hope the new Kindle doesn’t develop a problem with the screen, too. I’ll keep you posted.

For those of you who haven’t heard, people in the Boston area have been told to boil their tap water for a minute before drinking or cooking with it, because of a burst pipe leading from the reservoir. It’s certainly a bizarre situation for an urban area like this to be without potable water for days, but what’s even more bizarre is people’s reaction to it.

Why?

From the Boston Globe:

“The state ordered 2.5 million gallons of drinkable water and asked the federal government for help in securing additional supplies if necessary.”

“People flocked to convenience stores and groceries in search of bottled water, amid scattered reports of shortages.”

“Coakley set up a hotline for people to call in tips about alleged price gouging.”

Seriously? It’s not like there’s no water coming through. All people have to do is boil it. As long as they have a pot and a stove, they should be all set. So why the fuss over cases and cases of bottled water?

I don’t think it’s laziness, because it’s got to be more of a pain to make a special trip to the store and fight through crowds to pay more money for what comes directly your house for free (after taxes).

I think it’s a serious worry that the water coming out of the tap will make them sick. They’re thinking of their water as something akin to sewage, and if I imagine it like that, I can understand. But it’s mostly the same water they’re used to, with something like 3-5% pond water added. Pond water treated with chlorine. If you’ve ever gone swimming, you’ve probably ingested water worse than this. The precautions are there for the off chance that people might get sick from it, and they’re a good idea, but there’s no need to go overboard.

I’m worried that this will not only create a huge temporary demand for unnecessary bottled water, but make it a habit. I already know people who will never drink tap water, even if it’s filtered, because they’re convinced it’s unclean. That’s crazy. Our water system is generally good. It’s regularly tested, and reports are sent out to residents yearly. And if that’s not enough, you can just test it yourself, like I did. The test costs less than a three-pack of Brita replacement filters.

Now, all this is just me preaching at people, because I’m lucky—Cambridge’s water comes from a different reservoir than the rest of the Boston area. The only way I’ve been affected is that I had to fill up some bottles at home to bring into work. But it’s just been weird to see people’s reactions. Some people weren’t even using the water to wash their hands. After going to the bathroom. News flash: not washing your hands is going to make you sicker than drinking this water.

Okay, I’m off my soap box now. Good night.

Two things conspicuously absent in my links this week: the Cape Cod wind farm approval and the Gulf oil spill. They’ve been covered to death by everyone else, and I really don’t have much to say on the subject except I love windmills, and this is why we need more of them.

• Four Thing You Should Focus on This Earth Day – Slate. Transportation, diet, housing construction, and energy-using products. We can only say this so many times, but sometimes we need to be reminded.
• Scrap Metal Radiation Raises Concern in India – New York Times. Yet another reason we should pay attention to how our electronics are recycled….
• You Are What You Eat: Pictures of Factory Farms – The Good Human. Warning: this is really disturbing. But important.
• Urban Composting – (Anti) Social Development. Municipal pickup of compost would be best (like in San Francisco), but more services like this would be great, too.
• Manic Meatless Mondays – The Green Phone Booth. This is why takeout is such a problem for me, because I don’t have enough emergency meals planned.
• Save Money with Proper Food Storage – Sense of Home. This includes a great link to a chart showing how to store all kinds of fruits and vegetables.
• Switch to a Cast Iron Griddle – Condo Blues. My sister loves her many cast iron frying pans. I’m not entirely in love my mine, but they do last forever.
• Reduce Plastic While Cleaning – Retro Housewife Goes Green. More cleaning recipes!
• Is Your Veggie Burger Killing You? – Slate. More on hexane. Did you know it’s also used in the making of vegetable oil, hop extract, spice resins, and “fish protein isolate.” Ew.

That’s all for now. If you read anything interesting, send it my way.

We checked on the worm bin tonight, and—finally!—the flies are gone. It’s taken four months of no feedings to eradicate the pests, but it eventually worked. (The spider that we found inside may have helped, too.)

It obviously wasn’t the ideal environment for the poor worms; the few dried-up bodies on the floor around the bin were a testament to that. The compost is too compacted because we haven’t been turning it, and too moist because we haven’t been adding paper to absorb the water. But the worms are still doing fine. In fact, they’re huge, and there are tons of them!

Worms love curling up in eggshells and laying cocoons.

There are even worms left in the old bin, the one we stopped feeding in September because it was “finished.” Now it’s really finished, maybe overly so. We’re going to pick the worms out and add them to the current bin. Once we get rid of the compost, we can start fresh and have two bins going at the same time.

There probably aren't even any nutrients left in there....

But from now on, to prevent another fly infestation, I’ll freeze all my scraps before putting them in the bin. Another method of killing fly eggs is microwaving, but I think I like freezing better.

I’m so glad that we can use our worm bins again—all the scraps building up in our fridge were gross and all the trips to Whole Foods to get rid of them were inconvenient. And I love playing with my wormies.

I’ve already told you all about Vida Verde, the Brazilian women’s cleaning co-op. Now here’s the perspective of Ruth Alves, the Vida Verde member who is cleaning our house. Ruth was nice enough to answer some questions that I emailed to her.

Where are you originally from? What did you do for work there?
I came from Brazil in 2005. I used to be a secretary there.

How long have you been with the Vida Verde co-op? Did you work for a cleaning service before that? And how does it compare?
I have been with the co-op for more than two years. I have been working as a cleaner since I got here. I used to work for a small company cleaning about seven houses per day. I would leave my house at 7AM and I would get home around 6PM, making $350 per week. Now I am independent and I am making money enough to live with dignity.

How has the co-op supported you? How do you support others within it?
In several ways. I am able to speak out now. I also learned how to work with other people and how to protect my rights. I am spreading the word about the green cleaners in my community. The co-op has trained more than 300 people in the last few years. I also try to make people understand how important it is to protect the enviroment.

What do you like best about your job? What are you planning on doing in the future?
I like to see how shiny the place turns after my work. I will still be working as a housecleaner in the near future. After…who knows?

Do the green cleaning supplies make more work for you?
Not at all. They make my work easier.

Before you started using the green cleaning supplies, did you have any problems because of the fumes?
I had a lot of allergies and strong headaches.

Do you use them in your own home?
Yes, I do.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
People should be careful about the chemical products. They are very harmful and we have very safe, easy, and cheap alternatives.