Archive for April, 2009
H1N1 or Swine Flu: Natural Approaches
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The fear of swine flu is everywhere these days. But there are quite a few things you can do to protect yourself from any flu, and I will list some of these further down. First I want to give my take on the current situation with the flu, then give you those protection tips, and end with a link to articles on the big picture of this flu situation.
Small Houses
Kelly and I currently live in a very small house and we have discovered that there are many advantages. Of course, it cost less to buy, and it uses less in the way of utilities. To our surprise, after decades of having separate offices, we are enjoying working in different parts of the same room, separated by a huge bookcase so we aren’t breathing down each other’s necks but we can quickly discuss something. (I’m the software geek, he’s the natural building expert).
Our friend Owen Geiger has been designing small houses, Kelly has recently been putting some of the plans up on his ecological house plans website, and Owen’s plans have already begun to sell. Links are at the end of this article. Read the rest of this entry »
Reducing Your Trash Output
The No Impact Man project blog by Colin Beavan is a great example of how much we can change our lives to live more simply without a lot of deprivation. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, young daughter, and dog.
I came across his blog because of a link someone else had to his article on 42 ways they are avoiding making trash. I was intrigued by using baking soda and cider vinegar instead of shampoo and may try it – he links to full details.
I like his last one::
A Simple, Elegant Composting Toilet
Here’s an artistic composting toilet from Emma Holister of http://www.art-margin.com/ — I can’t completely agree about compost toilets not smelling, having had two of them that did now and then smell… but they were not this kind.
Also, perhaps because I’ve lived in third world countries, or maybe I’m just more fussy than Emma, but I would not personally use humanure on veggies. Fruit trees, yes… I just like a little more distance from that compost!
These are small points, though. I completely agree with her comments about the need for such toilets worldwide.
For larger images, just click on any one of these pictures. —Zana Read the rest of this entry »
The Cheap-Ass Curmudgeon’s Guide to Dirt (Building, That Is)
The Cheap-Ass Curmudgeon’s Guide to Dirt: Hand-Building with Adobe, Papercrete, Paper-Adobe, and More, by Michael Van Hall, is a delight.
This downloadable ebook will take you through the steps to make your own simple dirt structure. He doesn’t go into all the details of how to build a house, as he points out that you can find that information everywhere. (I will add you can find that sort of thing at our natural building bookstore.)
This 100-page ebook focuses on… as you might guess from the cover… dirt. With close to 100 photographs and numerous drawings, the book is a relatively quick and very enjoyable read. It will motivate you even if you already are excited about natural building. And it will give you enough information to pile up the dirt with his special method.
(One quibble: he says you can also do this approach with papercrete and other materials. Kelly and I used papercrete as the exterior covering on our earthbag house in Colorado, and we have several friends who built all-papercrete homes. Don’t do it just before the rains come or during the rainy season, as it needs to really really dry or there can be mould problems. If you want to use papercrete, do a lot more homework on it specifically.)
Okay, back to this ebook. After an upbeat introduction with some history, there is an illustrated section on the traditional way to make adobe bricks, with comments on how much work it it – both to make them and to carry them to the building site. Not to mention the patience required to wait for them to be dry enough to use.
Much better, says Michael, is his Self-Locking Pour-in-Place System (trademarked.) Much of the book describes how to do this, and it looks like a lot of fun. Okay, any play with dirt is still going to be a lot of work, but this sounds like fun work!
I specially enjoyed the chapter where he did everything wrong… at least by traditional standards.
Michael’s website is fun too – click here to see what else the cheap-ass curmudgeon has to say, download some chapters of his ebook at no cost, and buy it if you want to.
Positive Thinking Helps in Recession, and I’d Say with Simple Living
Yesterday I was submitting an article to ezinearticle,com, a website where people put articles that can be used on other sites. I glanced at some articles that other people had posted, and this one kinda struck me. I liked its advice, so decided to post it here.
She doesn’t say anything about simple living, but you can read that between the lines. Recession is an opportunity as well as a wake-up call. And I like her emphasis on inner attitudes.
