How to maintain carpet floors

Keeping a clean carpet floor in not complicated, although if it is a very busy area it could need a bit more maintenance.

Currently, there are many ways and products available to keep your carpet floor clean and in good conditions.

Firstly, the key point to keep a clean carpet floor is by vacuuming at least three times a week. Carpets tend to accumulate dust and hair, so the more you vacuum, the less dirt you will accumulate, and the easier it would be to keep it in good conditions. Before you vacuum, remember to check that the vacuum cleaner is (indeed) clean and that it doesn’t have too much dust inside; if that is the case, you should clean it, otherwise it will not vacuum and it would be as if you didn't clean at all.

If you have some specific stains in your carpet, (for example if something falls on the floor), as we’ve mentioned, there are many products you can buy in order to clean the carpet floor: foams, liquid shampoos, and others. So, if you have a specific stain in your carpet, you should rub some of these products by following the steps mentioned in the packaging, and that’s it.

Now, going back to maintaining your carpet floor, besides vacuuming, it is recommended that every few months, you make a good, deep cleaning to the carpet floor. In order to do this, you may use of the aforementioned products, or you may call a professional service provider. Generally, the professionals use a special machine that soaks the carpet, and then absorbs the water. This way, the cleaning is very deep, since besides water, they generally use shampoo and antifungal products or the like. In some countries, you may rent these carpet cleaning machines, but before you do, make sure you know how to use it.

So, even though having a carpeted floor has its pros and cons, if you are considering installing one in your apartment, now you know how to keep it clean; it is not difficult!

Problems in the garbage recollection in Buenos Aires

Since mid2012, the recollection of garbage in the City of Buenos Aires has had its ups and downs. There have been some days when people woke up and found the bag of garbage that they had left the night before on the street, or when they went to take their bag to the special container, it was completely full.

This was because the employees of the Ceamse (company in charge of managing waste and developing national environment) had an uncertain future. By March 2013, the landfills where the waste of the whole city and surroundings is left would be full. This would bring unemployment to Ceamse’s people and of course a chaos in the City for the lack of garbage recollection.

For this reason, in 2012 there has been several months of uncertainty and many days where the garbage hasn’t been collected and it began to accumulate. In addition, there was a lack of communication between the government of the City of Buenos Aires and the Province of Buenos Aires.

In order to keep updated and to try to see if there was a solution for this, the “Asociacion Gremial de Obreros Y Empleados de la CEAMSE (AGOEC)” [Ceamse’s Union] met the employees in several informative assemblies.

After several days of no recollection, the trucks went to collect the garbage of many days, but the system collapsed, so it took some days for it to go back to normal.

It is estimated that around 60 tons of garbage are gathered in the City of Buenos Aires and about 11,000 tons are collected in the surrounding localities, known as Gran Buenos Aires.

In relation to the solution, in January 2013, the government of the City of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri and the government of Gran Buenos Aires, Daniel Scioli, met during the opening of the new waste treatment factory in José León Suárez. This new factory and Mauricio Macri’s commitment to reduce the waste of the City of Buenos Aires in 78% should make the system work properly.

Currently, the waste recollection situation seems to be normal, although there have been some union problems that could bring new chaos to the city; let’s hope it doesn’t.

More spaces for bikes in the city of Buenos Aires

For some years now, the government of the City of Buenos Aires has been promoting a system of “sustainable mobility”. In order to accomplish that, it is promoting the use of bikes around the city. In order to motivate people to ride their bike to work, 25 Km of bike lanes have been constructed around the City of Buenos Aires and new rules are being implemented so that people have more space to park their bikes.

One of the regulations that the city’s government has implemented is that every parking has to have 8 spaces for bikes for every 50 car spaces they have. Moreover, the rule established that the price for leaving the bike in the parking must not exceed the 10% of the price for leaving a car.

Another way that the use of bike is being promoted is through agreements with private businesses. Many companies, especially banks in Buenos Aires have accepted to promote their employees to go to work by bike. The way of promoting the use of bikes in companies is by installing places for employees to leave their bikes, build lockers, showers and dressing areas, etc. This way of promotion of bike use in Buenos Aires is working really nicely, and more and more people are using their bikes every day.

Moreover, the government of the City of Buenos Aires is planning to install parking spaces for bikes in the Governmental buildings, for employees and neighbors.

In relation to private buildings, each administration is different, and there are still no rules or solutions to the bike parking there. Many people receive complains because they get on the elevator with a bike, or that they leave their bikes in the parking space and t is not allowed, etc.etc.etc… Despite these things, the system of sustainable mobility is expected to continue summing people and so building administrators and people can get to an arrangement.

The City of Buenos Aires seems to like moving on two wheels, and more citizens are adding to this idea each day.

Exotic pets living in apartments in Buenos Aires

It seems that as years went by, cats and dogs have stopped being funny and peculiar as they have always been; now, the exotic pets are ruling. Each day, more and more people in Buenos Aires choose to have exotic pets. Although the list is getting longer within the days, the most famous exotic pets at the moment are: lizards, snakes, parrots, spiders, guinea pigs, porcupines, turtles (although now they are not for sale), and even monkeys.

The variety is wide and the number of people who buys these pets increases each day. Even though these types of pets are not as loving as cats and dogs may be, exotic pets have their benefits.

Many people choose to have small animals, like lizards, spiders and guinea pigs because they are easy and cheaper to keep. For example, lizards do not smell and they eat small insects, so their food is not expensive.

In the city of Buenos Aires, there are around 50 pet shops that sell exotic pets. For some years now, the lizards have become really popular. Some shop owners estimate that around 1000 lizards are sold within two or three months.

The problem of having exotic pets in apartments (in the middle of the city) is that this is far beyond their natural environment. Likewise, many people that have these exotic pets in their apartments don't always know how to take care of them and which are their special needs. Most of the exotic pets now living in Buenos Aires’ apartments are not that easy to look after. They generally cannot eat all types of food, even if they are vegetables or fruit.

Despite this, the apartments of Buenos Aires are filling with exotic pets, so don’t be frightened if you find a lizard in your kitchen one day… it could be the neighbor’s pet. And, on the other hand, if you choose to have an exotic (or not that exotic) pet, check what their needs are and how to look after it in order they have a healthy and long life… and please, don’t abandon them.