Did Roman Blinds Come from The Romans?
Roman Blinds are one of the most popular blind styles available on the market today, but interestingly, their origins started rather differently to how we know it today…
Created more than 2,000 years ago in Rome (surprise, surprise!), essentially the concept of the Roman blind still remains the same today – to provide a simple solution to an everyday problem.
Introduced to The Eternal City in the ancient times, during the construction of the Colosseum, the Roman blind was invented out of pure necessity. Dust was constantly kicked up from the horse-drawn carriages and masonry remnants from the creation of the Colosseum, which was a nuisance and a huge inconvenience when windows were opened. Therefore, hanging a damp cloth from the windows seemed a natural solution to stop the dust from entering the home.
Once the blind (damp cloth) was well established in the home, it was soon discovered that as well as keeping the dust outside, it was also very useful in protecting against the very hot, Mediterranean sun and keeping their homes cooler.
The Romans are known for their love of elaborate decorations and the development of the Roman blind confirms this. They soon turned the damp cloths into ornate furnishing, with various patterns and colours to choose from, and once this was well established in the homes of many Romans, it became widespread throughout the whole Empire.
Following this, the strip of material then incorporated a drawstring, in order to lower and raise the blind as and when needed. The most common design of cord slats that interlinked is typical of Roman creativity, which came much earlier than even the simplistic roller blind.
Roman blinds remain a popular choice in modern homes. They’re available in a wide variety of styles and may be made from a range of materials, including bamboo, hemp, silk, reinforced cotton and other fabrics.
Roman blinds should be deep cleaned periodically. Unfortunately, they’re heavy and unwieldy to work with – and that’s where we come in. We can clean and repair your roman blinds – see out website if you’re interested in finding out more.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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31.7% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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68.3% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Harrier Hawk 0823
Harrier Hawks seem to have flight routines. It was not uncommon to see one flying southwards over Burn St from the Roslyn Rd area as this one was doing. I often wondered if it was always the same hawk but anyway I've not seen it happen recently.
SLASH BESIDE THE TRACK UP TO TRIG
I question the wisdom and the morality of an industry which creates so much waste, waste which is also a cause of widespread and devastating damage. So, I searched the internet for potential uses of slash. It was easy to find.
I recommend a visit to nzbioforestry.co.nz. I quote from the website:
OUR SOLUTION:
NZ Bio Forestry proposes to develop a sustainable renewable forestry model that increases the economic value of the NZ- Aotearoa forestry sector, simply by integrating bio-technologies augmenting the forestry, wood manufacturing, and petrochemistry industries into one model.
Specifically, our strategy is to utilise the whole tree and convert the tree’s sugars into bioenergy, biomaterials, and biochemicals. This means using slash, off cuts, pruning, and wood waste to produce biofuel via bio pellets and biochemicals. It means optimising logs through the whole process….logging, manufacturing freighting, and refining process to serve the many Asia-Pacific markets with high-value products….not just exporting raw logs to one or two large dominant markets! (End of quote)
NZ Bio Forestry then contrasts the financial return from the present exports of raw logs with the potential return from utilising the WHOLE TREE.
In US dollars, the return from exporting logs is between $50 - $140 per log.
Using the whole tree including the slash and other waste for wood processing would return $200 - $800 per tree, and,
Using the bio-refinery process to convert the wood waste into fossil-free biochemicals would return $2,500 - $11,200 per tree.
I can’t help but conclude that our current focus on exporting logs is a pitiful failure of industry and government policy compared with the potential benefits of processing THE WHOLE TREE. And to complete the argument, this not just theory. In Scandinavia, SCA, which owns Europe’s largest private forest with 2.7 million hectares, has built a well-invested value chain that maximises the value of each individual tree and all of the forestry’s resources.
A SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS:
Wood Pellets and Chips: Slash can be collected, dried, and processed into hog fuel or wood pellets for use in industrial boilers, as a replacement for coal, to generate heat and electricity.
Biofuel Production: Research is underway to convert forest residues into marine biofuel to help decarbonize the shipping sector.
Gasification: Advanced, small-scale, on-site processing plants can turn slash into renewable energy products like bio-oil, ethanol, and hydrogen.
Biochemicals: Specialized refineries can convert woody waste into sustainable alternatives to plastics, chemicals, and industrial products.
WAKE UP Aotearoa, New Zealand!!!
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