Having grown up with a family that lived through the depression of the 30’s and world war two I came away with lots of money and environment saving skills.
Even though I am many years away from my childhood home life I continue to use alot of the ideas passed on by my parents.
We grow a huge garden each year using the French Intensive method. The yields are incredable.
We recycle everything. A sustainable compost heap can be easily made from old lumber found for free at construction sites and sometimes even at home centers.
We have over the years collected seeds from wild flowers and plants which has replaced the grass in our parts of our yard. In the other parts we have begun herb beds and vegetable beds. These beds are empty only during rotation time and provide a great deal of herbs and vegetables.
As much as is possible, we have been bicycling or sharing rides to and from work.
This post was submitted by mike.
Nobody has mentioned spinning. weaving, dyeing, sewing and other 18th C life skills. Not only is spinning fun but you can use your yarn for whatever purpose. I am currently working on angora neckwarmers for my kids. Handwoven dish towels last much much longer than store bought ones. Handknit chenille washcloths are pure luxury. Sewing clothes is fast, easy and cheap.
My sheep eat the lawn, I shear the sheep and use them to make whatever. The black walnuts produce 1) nuts, 2) dye from the husk and 3) VERY strong arm muscles.
One homeschooling project is that we are attempting to make flour from acorns this year. Not sure how that will work but worth a try.
I have goats and cows so fresh milk is in glass containers. The surplus is used for cheese, ice cream, etc. I recycle most kitchen scraps back to the hens. Even olive oil is purchased in metal cans that are put back in play by turning them into lamps. Many types of cans make very cute lamps.
The last time we ate out was a year ago. I make bread, ice cream, everything. And it is better than store bought, cheaper and generates much less trash. When you have a system developed, meals can be * fast food* in less time than it takes to run out and get something. I go to the grocery once every 2 weeks as my cows are dry right now and we use a lot of milk.
Another current project is to cart train one of the goats. Then he can be used to pull a cart to do the * heavy work* here. Plus amuse the kids.
I am not a farmer type. I am a city girl that chose to have better quality foods and has a few acres to do so.
This post was submitted by Mary Margaret.
Havent used A/C in five years. Grow all my own fruit, veggies and raise my own organic chickens for eggs. The chickens are fed veggies from the garden and have free range on two acres that have been organic since I purchased them 14 years ago. Barter stall space for goat milk (FFA student’s project). It’s just nice to FINALLY see other people get the concept. I started my tree hugging in the 70’s and have dealt with the nay sayers on my own for far too long. Welcome aboard!
This post was submitted by Deborah.
We bought a free-standing umbrella-style clothesline a couple of years ago when the dryer stopped working. It has become a source of pleasure to take the time to hang out the clothes in the backyard, and especially to bring them in smelling so deliciously of fresh air. I’ve learned how to fold big sheets (edges up, pinned to parallel lines)so they don’t drag on the ground. I amuse myself by putting big contour sheets over the top of the clothesline, stretching the corners of the sheets over the lines four “arms,” which makes it look like the clothesline is wearing a big shower cap. Ah the simple pleasures!
Occasionally, it is true, we have to bring in laundry when it is still slightly damp and hang it around the house overnight, but I hope to set up an indoor line in the basement so we can do laundry when the weather is wet.
This post was submitted by Sara Katz.
Check out the book “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez (tip: you can probably get it at your local library). I read this book over 10 years ago and it made a HUGE impact on how I live. I now enjoy a level of freedom and financial independence that I never thought possible.
The book walks you through the process of tracking every penny that comes in and goes out of your life. You also assign a happiness score to each expenditure. Even if you only do it for one month, you’ll be SHOCKED at the amount of money you spend on stupid things that don’t make you happy.
The first month that I tracked my expenses I had a category called “stuff” for lack of a better term. I has horrified an the amount of money I had spent on things… I couldn’t even remember what most of them were by the end of the month! I then proceeded to have an arguement with myself. Part of me was saying “but I want to be able to treat myself and buy things… it’s MY money after all.” Then it hit me… “IT’S MY MONEY!!!” why was I trhowing it away instead of keeping it?
That was step one in a long process of extracting myself from the consumer rat-race. Exiting from the consumer culture also means living a much more eco-friendly lifestyle!
This post was submitted by Rebecca.
Now that colder weather has arrived, I have transferred what few things I had in the fridge to a shelf on the front steps. This consists mainly of some leftover soup and roasted vegetables and dry active yeast in a jar. I am buying local vegetables and fruits (apples) regularly so that cool storage isn’t necessary. I access the internet for brief periods at work and when home in the evening organize, read, stretch, and cook by candlelight.
This post was submitted by Patrick Lang.
The Jewish concept of the Sabbath is a 3,000 year old tradition of observing a “carbon-free day” once every week. There is a prohibition against against using any sort of technology, such as motor vehicles, electronics, etc. For a person who lives to be 70, that equals 10 whole years of “no impact.” If all of us were to observe a “Carbon Sabbath” just once a week (Jews do it on Saturday), we would each reduce our carbon output by approximately 15%! That’s a significant chunk, and all it takes is one day a week.
This post was submitted by Dave Wasser.
I have 2 vermicompost bins. All of my non-greasy food waste (and since I don’t eat dairy that is most of it) as well as much of my paper waste, goes into the worm bins and becomes a fertilizer with a natural growth enhancer in it. This gets used to start vegetable seeds and fertilize the garden.
About once or twice a year I’ve got enough worms that I can pass them on to another person (sort of like Heifer International but the livestock are much smaller). The bins themselves are not purchased. One is the full-width vegetable drawer out of an old refrigerator and the other is a plastic file box that was no longer needed when I sorted out old papers. Each has holes drilled in them so the worms can breathe and they are kept in the bathroom because that is one of the warmer rooms in the trailer.
They do not smell bad, but occassionally smell like dirt after a rain. that is actually pleasant in the middle of winter.
I’ve been able to keep quite a bit out of the landfill, to enhance my food production, and to give back to my community. And occassionally I get to use a few worms for fishing.
This post was submitted by Jill.
Very few things actually save a tonne of CO2. Here they are. Anyone can do these, you may even be able to do all ten and so save 10 tonnes and halve your CO2 emissions. Most other actions are small fry – go for the big savings to make a real difference.
Fly one less long haul trip
Fly three less short haul trips
Get a better car — 10mpg less than your current one
Drive 3000 less miles per year
Have 75% of your food be grown in your state AND Seasonal
Reduce Meat and Dairy consumption by 75%
Give your house a Thermal Makeover
Switch your thermostat 3 degrees lower
Share your house with an additional person
Shift $3000 of spending from high carbon goods to low carbon goods and services. For example spend on durable products, second hand goods, repairs, live entertainment, education and experiences rather than physical goods like electronics, building materials and short life products
This post was submitted by Edwin Datschefski.
Over the years, we’ve become more and more low-impact but, like others of you have said, we could do such more. We live in a small house (880 sq.ft), only have one car (and it’s 10-years-old, gets good gas mileage), walk when we can. Our local store is a health food store that only carries organic, mostly local, and no meat-1.5 blocks away-lucky, aren’t we?
My partner is the head of an electronics recycling facility-they recycle almost everything. Again, this is lucky because there’s very little we can’t recycle. And we buy almost all of our electronics used, including computers. I eat almost no meat, and only a smidgen of dairy.
We always use reusable mugs, we buy local whenever we can.
Still, when I take the footprint quiz I find it would take 4 planets to sustain this lifestyle-amazing.
Clearly the culture itself will have to change in order for us to scale down further.
I’m so looking forward to learning more from all of you.
This post was submitted by Isbel Ingham.