AZUMA News!!

On May 10th, AZUMA Leasing began providing washer and dryer rentals in the Richmond, VA area!! We are very excited to be a part of such a historic community!

A few historical tidbits of information about the lovely city of Richmond:

• The Powhatan Indians inhabited much of the Richmond area until 1607.
  
• Richmond became a settlement between 1607 and 1609.
  
• The city of Richmond is named after the London suburb of Richmond-upon-Thames and was given this name by William Byrd II.
• Richmond served as a trading post trading furs, hides and tobacco until it became a city in 1742 and later became the state capital in 1782.
• In May 1861, Richmond was declared the Capital of the Confederacy

Richmond boasts many attractions devoted to it's historically-rich and diverse culture.

• The Historic Downtown section has cobble-stone streets and homes that were once occupied by Edgar Allan Poe amongst others.

• Maymont Park is considered to be one of the most beautiful urban parks in the country. The land for Maymont Park was donated to the city of Richmond by a wealthy landowner and now has numerous fountains, an Italian-inspired garden and a peaceful Japanese tea garden. There is also a petting farm for children with sheep, lambs, chickens and other animals.

• The American Civil War Center and Richmond National Battlefield Headquarters is the site of the iron foundery that supplied items to the Confederate Army. The goal of the center is to be the definitive museum on the Civil War and showcases information and items from both sides of the battle.

• The White House of the Confederacy was the mansion used by Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War.

• Interested in a walking tour? Swing down to Monument Avenue to walk the old brick roadway and take in the statues and beautiful homes.

What's not to love about Richmond? With it's history and charm, AZUMA Leasing is very happy to add Richmond to our AZUMA family.

Until next time, keep it clean!

A Brief History of the Washer

Ever wonder how we went from pounding and rubbing our clothes on rocks to the slick, in-home washers we have today? I was wondering that myself and decided to do a little research (afterall, we are in the business of renting washers and dryers so it only makes sense to know how we came to have the equipment we rent!).

A looooong time ago, people use to take their clothing and linens to a nearby river to wash them. Rubbing the laundry on rocks helped to flex the cloth and make it easier for soap (made of animal fat) to penetrate the fibers to get it clean. This eventually led to the advent of the wash board but this still required rubbing the clothes but at least a basin of water could be used instead of a river! People traveling by water would sometimes place their clothing in a bag, toss it over the side of the ship and let the ship drag the bag through the salty water for several hours.

In the early days before running water, gas or electricity, doing laundry was very laborious and time consuming. Imagine (if you can) - one wash, one boiling and one rinse use to use approximately 50 gallons of water (that's the equivalent of about 400 pounds). The water wasn't in your home so you had to pump it from an outdoor well and then carry that water inside to be heated on your woodburning stove and THEN transfer the water to the wash basin to START the wash process. To conserve time, many women would reuse the warm soapy water after the least soiled clothing was washed, then use it for progressively dirtier clothing. And when all of that was done......you'd get to do it all over again! WHEW!!

The earliest washing machines had tubs made of wood. Later, metal tubs allowed a fire to burn below the washtub to keep the water warm during the washing process. Electricity was not common in many households until the 1930's so most washers were hand operated. Later, automatic washers were connected to sink taps to have a temporary water supply attached. By 1940, 60% of electrically wired homes had an electric washing machine. Water removal by spinning didn't come into play until electric motors were developed since spinning requires that the tub be moving constantly to properly wring out the clothing and by the 1950's, most American manufactured washing machines had a spin-dry feature. A University of Montreal study found the advent of the washing machine to be an important milestone in the liberation of women. Women were now able to enter the workforce because they were free from the drudgery of doing the wash!

In the last century, washing machines have gone from being a luxury to being an item of daily necessity in most households.

Hope you enjoyed the little history lesson! Until next time, keep it clean (which is a lot easier now that you don't have to beat your clothes on rocks!).

National Arbor Day

April 30th is National Arbor Day. Arbor Day is a nationally recognized celebration to preserve and care for trees. Trees play an integral part in our day to day lives. They provide foods that we eat, give shade to shield us on a hot, summer day, clean the air that we breathe (trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air) and countless other things.

A little bit about Arbor Day:
It was founded in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska.
An estimated one MILLION trees were planted on the first Arbor Day (that's a lot of trees!!).
Arbor day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April (although each state has its own state Arbor Day holiday as well).

There are many ways to celebrate Arbor Day. How about........

• Organizing a beautification project in an area park or schoolyard
• Ask co-workers, friends and family to recycle paper (newsprint, magazines, etc.) and for every pound recycled, plant a tree
• Take a walk with your family or friends and see how many different kinds of trees are in your area
• Volunteer with a local tree-planting organization to make a difference in the quality and beauty of your community
• Plant a fruit tree in your backyard
• Visit a botanical garden and take in a lecture on caring for trees

Trees do some pretty amazing things for our environment. Did you know that ONE tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces in 25, ooo miles? Or that trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves? Or how about trees cutting down on noise pollution by acting as natural sound barriers (and they are MUCH prettier to look at than a large noise reduction wall!). Makes ya wanna go hug a tree, doesn't it?

For more information on Arbor Day and tree preservation, check out the following websites:
National Arbor Day Foundation – www.arborday.org
American Forests – www.americanforests.org

Until next time, keep it clean! Now get outta here and go plant a tree!

Earth Day

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!! Earth Day was created to inspire awareness and appreciation for our environment. The very first Earth Day celebration was on April 22, 1970. The celebration has been expanded in many communities across the country (and the world) as EARTH WEEK (April 16th through April 23rd). All of these celebrations focus on environmental issues and ways we can ALL make a difference to preserve our planet.
There are so many things that we can do to make that happen. Ya know the phrase "reduce, reuse and recycle"? That's just the tip of the iceberg but it's a GREAT place to start!
REDUCE - Think twice about the number of goods you purchase. Do you REALLY need to buy that book or can you check it out from your local library? Are you able to walk to the grocery store instead of driving thereby reducing the amount of gas you consume? Install a low-flow shower head to reduce your water consumption.
REUSE - Instead of tossing things out because they are worn out or stained, etc., find a new use for the item. Be creative!! How about covering old cereal boxes with brown paper and using them as shipping boxes for sending items to friends and family? It works and it saves you a couple of bucks on a new box for shipping. Try using coffee grounds and tea leaves as natural plant fertilizer. Instead of tossing out those nylon mesh vegetable bags (you know the ones that bulk onions and some citrus fruits are packaged in), wad it up and use it as a scrubber for various cleaning tasks around the house. Buy a stainless steel water bottle and refill it with water instead of buying a plastic water bottle (you are REDUCING the amount of plastic for recycling and REUSING the water bottle by doing this!!).
RECYCLE - Take old magazines to work for others to read while on lunch breaks or take them to local bookstores for reselling. Make a compost pile in your backyard with organic matter that you have leftover from your kitchen (egg shells, vegetable and fruit peels, etc.). You can then use the nutrient rich compost to fertilize the veggie garden you started so you don't have to drive to the grocery store (you see where I'm going with this?).

All of these things are SIMPLE and INEXPENSIVE. It's really about making small changes and then working towards the larger ones. So think about it, give it a shot and help preserve this wonderful place we all call home.

Until next time, keep it clean!