I live in a rainy climate and I want to live off of rainwater. I'm purchasing some homeowner's books, and I'm wondering if it's worth it to buy a book on standard plumbing techniques and methods. I want to know if that is still relevant when it comes to storing and using rainwater.

I have a camper to live in while I build my cabin in an eco-village.. Any good tips on living in a camper in the Canadian Winters? What to be cautious about? Thanks

I get plastic trash washed up on the beach all the time every day here. I want to make something useful (fuel) from it rather than sending it to the dump. There's a process - pyrolysis, and possibly catalytic pyrolysis - that breaks down the plastic into (shi**y) fuel - liquid and gas. So an airtight steel chamber, heater (TBD), water cooled condenser, some vessel for capturing the gas fuel, cans for liquid fuel. Disregard the fuel quality issue for now.

If you had free solar PV to heat the chamber, it would be feasible and net positive energy output, neglecting capital cost.  But I don't.

So if I only have the plastic as input, can I take a portion of the flammable output (ideally the gas) and use it to heat the chamber (once steady state is reached by using a startup fuel like propane) and capture the rest of the output? Or is the energy input needed for pyrolysis greater than the total energy content of the output fuel?

Hey everyone! Happy Friday!

I recently made a huge list of resources mainly geared towards mental health and assistance. Hoping this finds the people who need it <3

In 10 years time, give or take, i am moving to an island. In the time up to that, i am renovating a house from 2ww and prepping a tree garden.

I have chosen 4 apple trees, they need years to mature enough to be sturdy trees.

What other trees would be a 'must have' ?

Living in norway, zone 2. Harsh winters.

So all the selfdependent people what makes you call selfdependent and what does it actually mean to be self dependent fully

Theory One

“Heaven On Earth is Already Here we just need to Open Our Eyes to See it”

Just look at how comfortable everything has gotten. We have comfortable shoes on our feet that protect us, clothes on our back that help save us from the elements, comfortable homes that light up at night with interior climate control so we don’t have to sleep in the cold and dark, we have fresh food, clean water, advanced light screens that allow us to communicate and see each other through through spacetime, Amazing transportation vehicles with ultra comfort that let us travel through time faster than our legs and horseback can.

We’ve gotten this far in exploration and advancement but the question arises; Why all the perceived suffering, need for psychiatrists, alcohol, drugs, mindless distractions, overeating, botox, excessive workloads and somehow we still have a sense of discomfort?

The simple and easy answer is greed, anger, envy, fear, addiction to striving and a need for more when we almost all have more than enough and even middle class households live more comfortable than kings from medieval times could ever dream.

So what is the simple and easy answer to all of our “perceived” suffering?

The simple practice and Practical application of Self Compassion, Self Love, Self Respect, Compassion and Love and Respect for others, Gratitude Daily, Healthy Boundaries, Effective Communication, “Fair” Consent of All Parties in Every Situation, And (if needed) CBT and/or DBT Therapies.

We also need to learn how to share and help our fellow humans in need and learn to not hoard our belongings and riches or spend it on unnecessary ventures and unneeded items. I saw a picture of Elon Musk with a quote attributed to him that stated, “We can use the rocks on Mars to feed the hungry.” That picture greatly changed my view on how we should be living and spending.

Below is a link on the components of self compassion to help get you started.

Kristin Neff: The Three Components of Self-Compassion

We made juice with blueberries, oranges, carrots, and apples. Combined it with some wildflower honey and gelatin to make these yummy gummies. My kids really like them! Any recs for alternatives to gelatin? It’s quite pricey.

Hi there - 24 here living with my partner in the first home we own which is a flat with no balcony/outside space in an British city.

How can we be more self sufficient? We cook most our own meals and rarely buy new things, but looking to be more self sufficient in any way possible so when we move to somewhere with a garden we have the backbones of everything ready.

Advice on where to start? Lists of things we can do??

New to the sub, not to the tenets of it. Recently moved into a house in the PNW (owned by friends) and we have an unused L-shaped backyard; roughly 1k sq/ft of usable space. Thoughts on maximizing returns? The backyard shares fences with other neighbors' backyards, all are pretty chill. Thanks!

A dream we’ve had for years is now our real life. But I’m 65 now- still with the dream of being more self sufficiency with some limited mobility. Husband is still quite capable and we have adult kids at home.

So, we are needing to prioritize.

We bought 18 wooded acres. Cleared 2 for driveway (1/4 mild off the road) and 6 acres for the house and garden. Maybe pigs one day. Certainly chickens and I’ve always wanted bees. Growing food- this year we plan on planting tomato, pepper, herbs, cukes- We started compost.

I’ve always done woodworking and Lord knows we have the trees so we bought a sawmill -still only half put together. We bought a tractor, chain saws, tiller, attachments for tractor.

My husband still works, so our time outside if precious and we want to make the most of it. We don’t know much about growing food and like I said, how do we best prioritize the steps for the journey. Being older we also would like to enjoy the journey together.

We also bought a welder (sometime we’ve both wanted for years to do) and we took a class on blacksmithing and plan on setting up a small forge area.

We’ve always cooked and baked from scratch, buy whole pigs/cows with freezers but I am terrified of canning. How does one get over the fear of botulism!

We seem to want to run off in many directions at once :)

We built our dream home. A passive house that surprised us this winter with not even needing to turn the heat on on sunny days. Even in the 20s in New England. We don’t have solar yet, but on our list.

Well, I’ve filled this post. Breaking down questions. What are first small steps to serious self sufficiency given what we have to work with. We plan to build a chicken coup this spring for next year. Build a garden shed. I am starting bees this year. And like I said, attempting to grow food for the first time ever!

I live in a townhouse and the best sun I get is at the front. I was thinking of putting metal raised beds in between the pathways of the houses. My only concern is the ice melting salt that gets used in the winter by myself and neighbour.

All the snow that gets shovelled from the pathways gets piled where the raised beds would be. Would putting a tarp over the raised beds be enough to protect the soil from the salt? Or is there a better option that someone has tried?

Groceries are becoming more and more expensive, and before this week, my SO and I were already getting only the necessities when at the store. Do any of you have any suggestions/ideas on how to be self-sufficient when we have no room to grow a garden and have limited space indoors to grow anything?

Edit: Thank you all so much for your advice! I am still doing some research, and I will most likely do a few of the things you suggested.