If you are a single person reading this article, read it anyway and learn from it because you may be able to educate your friends about how to prepare their entire family to survive through disastrous times. This article will discuss what you need to do in order to properly prepare your family.

Recognize Threats

This is the tricky part for anyone who doesn’t see the world or the events that happen in the world as a threat to them or their family. In other words, if you are one of the people who don’t believe that a tornado outbreak will affect you since you live in an area not prone to tornadoes, then you are a prime candidate to suffer greatly during a sudden and unexpected disaster.  What kind of threats should every family recognize and prepare for? Let’s talk about a few common and some not-so-common threats.

Tornadoes

Tornadoes are known to strike suddenly and with little warning at all. Technology however, when coupled with competent meteorologists, can help increase the advanced warning times tremendously. Tornadoes are devastating because of their suddenness. They drop from the clouds, destroy everything in their paths, and leave the surviving victims to pick up the pieces. If you have ever experienced a tornado, you know exactly how it makes you feel. But what if you aren’t? Should you still prepare? The residents of Springfield, Massachusetts, were shocked that one summer afternoon in June 2011, when suddenly a severe thunderstorm spawned off a tornado that wrecked havoc on the city. To make a bad situation worse, it happened during rush hour and when the kids were being let out of school.

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Can you imagine the shock and horror on the faces of many commuters as the tornado tore across the Connecticut River and destroyed buildings downtown? What would you have done if you were one of those people? Many of them had never even experienced a tornado because tornadoes are not common for the northeast.

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are also natural occurrences that result in disaster, especially in an overpopulated place. What is worse is that earthquakes happen without notice and suddenly turn the lives of individuals and families upside down. An example of this is the January 2010 Earthquake in Haiti, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Those living in earthquake-prone areas are usually prepared by their state and local authorities. But even if you do not live in an area prone to earthquakes, it’s a good idea to have a plan… just in case.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are destructive forces of nature that cause widespread damage and chaos. Although hurricanes are widely destructive, a person and his family are usually given days’ advanced notice of the hurricane’s projected path. In the recent years, hurricanes have been claiming more lives and causing billions of dollars in damage. Hurricane Katrina was the world’s most talked-about hurricane until Hurricane Sandy reared her head in 2012. Hurricane Sandy pummeled the East Coast of the United States, leaving millions without power for weeks. Although they had advanced notice, many survivors suffered without power and water long in the aftermath of Sandy.

Fires

Wild fires and local fires are not as common, but they do happen! California has suffered its fair share of wildfires. What would you and your family do if a fire suddenly sparked near your home and you were called to evacuate? Would you be already prepared? Or would you be scrambling to gather the necessities in order to flee?

Power Outage

Many people do not think of power outages when it comes to disaster preparation. Power outages are one of the most common causes of human suffering during a disaster or crisis situation. When the lights go out, many things began to happen. For instance, all electronics stop working. A lot of people today have telephone service through their cable company. Once the power goes out, there isn’t going to be any calling for help! “I still have my cell phone,” you might say. Yes you do, but once the battery drains, you won’t be able to charge it. The refrigerator will cease to stop working, causing all the food inside to spoil within hours. During a widespread power outage, a family could expect to go hours, if not days without electric service. Will you be ready for this?

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Making a Plan and Preparing

Okay here is the fun part—making a plan. Making a plan for your entire family will be exhausting, stressful, and sobering, but it is well worth the effort when you think of the benefits of having a well-prepared family. Lives will be saved—the lives of those whom you are entrusted with saving! What better reason to take the lead in making sure your family is rightly and well-equipped for survival? There will be those who balk at your efforts, but don’t pay them any attention. Why they are laughing and criticizing your efforts, their families stand openly exposed and disposed to disaster! You will be prepared and so will your family.

What to Prepare

When you think of what to prepare, start out with a blank sheet of paper. Make at least four columns, (you can always expand this later), and label each column with Food, Water, Clothing, and Medicine. That is where you start. Those are the four basics you will need to start preparing and stocking in your home.

Involve the Entire Family

When planning and preparing for a disaster, it’s best to include the entire family into the process. Why? Simply because securing the lives and the survival of your family is your utmost responsibility and should be highest on your priority list. If you are a family head, with a wife and four children, you must think of each one, taking their needs and thoughts and feelings into consideration. Younger children tend to “freak out” more during a disaster situation. Think of the last time there was a severe thunderstorm that struck your area. Most kids will be terrified of the thunder, lightening, and wind. Once the lights go out, which usually happens during a severe storm, their anxiety and fright level intensify. Therefore, preparations for disaster situations might need to include some sort of comfort item—a favorite toy or book, perhaps. Do you have a strong-willed child who tends to be a leader? Involve him or her in the process by delegating certain tasks to handle if and when a disaster happens.

Taking all aspects into consideration is imperative to properly preparing your family. Making sure they know and believe that disaster and crisis can strike your family is important. Every member has to be convinced in order for everyone to handle his or her tasks properly. This is not an easy task. There are many attitudes in the world that speak against disaster preparation. Do not allow this to deter you or your family.

Regardless of how you may view it, as a family head, it is your sole responsibility to make sure your family’s lives are preserved through a worldwide disaster or crisis situation. Knowledge is the best weapon of choice. Preparing a family will take time, energy, and a lot of forethought in order to successfully execute your plan. But it is well worth the effort. Your family will thank you when crisis times arrive (and they will) and you have already prepared for it. They will not be among the throngs running about without a clue of their next step. Ironically, during a widespread disaster, you may be able to feel at ease, knowing your family is safe.

But surprisingly, many who choose to embrace this lifestyle never take the time to fully investigate alternative styles of home construction, preferring instead to stay safely ensconced in their own version of the timber-framed wooden boxes that dot the landscape and fill up suburban housing developments everywhere. Occupants of the modern home are quarantined inside squares and right angles, confined to rigid, boring, boxy shapes that are plain in color and unimaginative in design choice, with adjacent garages thrust prominently forward as if the comfort of the family car were more important than the comfort of people living inside the home. These are the standards of housing construction that predominate today, and few, if any, seem wont to challenge them, including those who have ostensibly rejected the “follow the herd” mentality.

But if we are determined to achieve our liberation, why should we allow ourselves to be constricted by a mindset that makes a fetish out of the right angle, an abstracted shape that can’t be found in nature? Why live in boring boxes when we could be living in dynamic spaces that curve and twist and arch and provide us with aesthetically-pleasing sights to enjoy as we go about the often-grinding business of daily living? This route of escape from the ordinary is the promise borne in the concept and reality of the cob house, and it is high time that off-the-gridders of all stripes and persuasions take a good hard look at the exciting possibilities that building with cob can offer.

A “Cob House”? What Is That?

Now I know what you’re probably thinking: “Gee, I didn’t know it was possible to build a house out of corn cobs. Wouldn’t that tend to attract a lot of flies?”

Maybe it would. But that is a discussion for another day, because what we are talking about here has nothing to do with corn. In this context, the “cob” we are referring to actually comes from an Old English word that means “lump or rounded mass,” and the type of lumpy mass used in home construction is an earthen material made of soil, clay, sand, water, and straw. When mixed together in relatively equal parts, these substances will produce a gummy, self-binding material similar in consistency to cookie dough (when it is prepared properly) that can be used to create large-scale customized shapes. After this preparation dries, it becomes incredibly strong and rock-like, and because of this characteristic, it can function extremely well as a building material.

There is really nothing new or revolutionary here – cob has been used for construction in Europe for centuries, and similar mixtures have been created throughout the ages by indigenous cultures in need of cheap and available building materials. But in the US, wood has been so dominant for so long that other alternatives have been all but ignored – at least until now.

Ever Made A Mud Pie? Then You Can Make Cob

Making cob is extremely easy. If you decide to give it a shot, you will either need soil that is rich in clay content or extra clay to supplement the soil you do have. You will start by mixing your soil/clay conglomerate together with sand and water in a lined pit or on top of a plastic tarp, which will allow you to create a malleable substance with the approximate consistency of bread or cookie dough. After adding straw you will mix, roll, and knead the “dough” repeatedly with your hands and/or bare feet (similar to old-fashioned wine making!), adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that until you have something that can be rolled into a ball or lump and will stick together without running or flaking (the latter would mean your substance was too wet and the former would mean it was too dry). When you are satisfied with the result, you will need to store your cob in a dry place for one or two days to cure it, after which it should be ready for use as a highly adaptable building material.

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Using such a methodology, it could be a little difficult for one person to produce enough cob on their own to build an entire home, so cob making is something that ideally should be done in teams. Fortunately, the skills involved are not hard to learn, and even children can help once they get the hang of it. But if you are short on time, human labor, or patience, you could take a shortcut and use a cement mixer or an earth-moving machine with a front-end loader to mix the cob more quickly and in larger amounts.

Foundations, Walls, and Ceilings: Techniques and Requirements

Cob walls are generally constructed to a thickness of between one and two feet, although once it hardens, this material can provide adequate structural strength at thicknesses of as little as four inches if used in smaller building projects. The actual construction process is as simple as it comes – just tote your lumps of cob to your ascending walls, plop it into place, and shape and form it as prescribed in your building plan. Then simply rinse, repeat, and keep going until your walls are solid and complete. Putting up cob walls is really that easy, and the only limits on what you can do with cob are the ones in your own imagination. Lime-based renders and plasters will be used to finish both the inside and outside of cob walls, giving it that distinctive glistening ivory appearance that makes buildings constructed from cob so visually pleasing.

Before work can begins on the walls, however, it will be necessary to create a foundation, which will consist of an undulating and continuous stem-wall made from stones, urbanite (recycled concrete from old sidewalks, buildings, etc.), fired bricks, or concrete blocks. Prior to the installation of the stem-wall, a downward-sloping drainage trench will be dug directly beneath its intended location, around the circumference of the building, and the trench will be filled with small stones, gravel, drainage rock, and a perforated four-inch polyethylene drainpipe that will help facilitate easier runoff.

Roofs over a cob home can be constructed in a variety of styles and with a range of materials. One type of cover that has proven popular with many cob builders is the reciprocal roof, a self-supporting cone framework constructed from logs intertwined to form a spiral. Regardless of the underlying materials used to make the roof, it is quite common to see cob homes topped off with living roofs, which seem to blend in quite nicely with the natural hues and forms associated with cob homes.

Because cob is made from the earth, it can soak up moisture quite easily, so to protect the walls beneath, a waterproof membrane made of EDPM rubber will need to be laid over the lowest layer of roofing material. Roofs over cob homes should always be pitched, arched, or domed, and they should have broad eaves that keep runoff away from the base of the exterior walls (and the ground should slope away from the walls of a cob home to keep water as far away as possible).

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cob

The advantages of building homes with cob are many and myriad:

1. Cob homes can be constructed for as little as a few thousand dollars, if the natural ingredients used to make the cob are obtained locally – which they almost always can be – and labor is supplied by the homeowner along with friends and family. Using recycled doors and windows and foundation materials like urbanite can cut costs even further.
2. Artistic expression isn’t just possible with cob, it is virtually required. Because this substance is so pliable and because you are building your walls one small lump of material at a time, sweeping curves, slopes, waves, and geometrical flights of fancy are encouraged and easily accomplished when working with cob. Rigid right angles are an affront to nature, and building with cob can free you from the straightjacket of traditional building techniques forever. Cob homes are not so much built as they are sculpted, and you don’t need exceptional artistic ability to create something memorable and attractive.
3. Building with cob is labor-intensive, but it requires little in the way of outside power input and cuts down on the use of manufactured materials dramatically.
4. After they harden and compact, cob walls are so strong that they can make it through an earthquake without suffering the slightest bit of damage (the straw in the mixture acts like a natural rebar). Cob houses in general are amazingly durable, and some older cob homes in Europe have been standing for hundreds of years.
5. Because of cob’s wonderful pliability, the interior of a cob house can be shaped and formed to include niches, grooves, natural shelves, and benches that emerge directly from the walls.
6. Cob is extremely energy-efficient because it has high thermal mass, meaning it can soak up unwanted heat during the daytime and release it at night when outside temperatures cool down. Also, because cob homes are not angular and rigid, structural openings for windows can be carved in at the perfect orientation to take full advantage of indigenous sun angles (for the harvest of natural light and the sun’s passive solar heat).
7. Because cob homes eschew the use of manufactured materials that flake and outgas, indoor air is kept pure and clean and free of pollutants, making these homes ideal for those who struggle with allergies. Cob is also a naturally porous material, so cob walls will “breathe” quite readily, and this will help keep indoor air circulating efficiently.
8. Earthen walls absorb sound marvelously regardless of the source, so indoor sounds don’t reverberate and outdoor noise fails to penetrate.
9. The soil, sand, clay, and straw found in cob does not taste delicious to termites, burrowing insects, or rodents, which makes cob immune to the attack of destructive pests.
10. Cob doesn’t burn, so the fire risk in a cob home is significantly reduced.

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As you can see, there is a lot to like about cob. But despite its utility, cob does have three significant disadvantages as a building material that could be a deal breaker for many interested parties:

1. Dealing with government bureaucracy is always a pain, and that is most certainly true for those who wish to build with cob. Unfortunately, cob is not covered by building codes, which gives county administrators great leeway when deciding whether or not to issue building permits for these sorts of structures. In urban and suburban environments, approval might be all but impossible, while in other areas you might have to involve a structural engineer and an architect in the process before a building permit can be issued. But the good news is that many rural areas regulate lightly, so you might not have quite so many hoops to jump through if you live far enough out in the boondocks.
2. While it is theoretically possible to build a cob house of any size, because of the time and labor involved and the desire most have to keep costs down, anything larger than a moderate-sized two-bedroom home might not be practical. If the goal is to construct a full-time residence, cob is undoubtedly best suited for individuals, couples, and small families; it is always a great choice for smaller structures, however, like cabins, art studios, or tree houses.
3. Because it is porous, cob is not a very good insulating material. Of course insulation can be added to walls, ceilings, and under floors, but even then cob houses would still be difficult to keep warm in really cold climates such as those found in the northern United States. Cob houses are excellent for those who live in desert climates, where cob’s high thermal mass properties can regulate indoor temperatures quite effectively, and they work just fine in places where it doesn’t freeze much in the winter. But in frigid locations they would consume too much energy (for wintertime heating) to be practical.

Make A New Plan

If you are interested in building with cob, or just want to investigate this construction option more thoroughly, there are oodles of resources available to help you out. For starters, you will want to check out some of the websites that are dedicated to cob and also look at some of the many videos available that will introduce you to the techniques involved in cob making and construction. Next, you should purchase one or two books on the topic so you will be able to get a better feel for what working with cob would actually entail. Finally, you will want to sign up for a workshop run by experienced cob builders so you can gain hands-on experience and instruction. Usually these workshops last from a weekend to a week, and there are enough of them out there now that you should be able to find one within traveling distance of your current location.

Cob building has a lot to offer those who are dedicated to the off-the-grid lifestyle, as well as to those who would prefer to construct a home that will more accurately reflect their style and personality. If you are someone who likes to think outside the box, there is no reason you should choose to live inside of one when there is another alternative available.

So, what is a shelf stable option?  Consider butter, and for the purposes of this article, two specific forms of butter: ghee and canned butter.

Why in the world would anyone want to go through the hassle of making ghee or canning butter when there are other easier fat options out there? Perhaps you have your own source of butter and have more on hand than you can use before it goes bad. Perhaps you have limited freezer space and want a shelf-stable option for your butter so you have freezer space for other foods.  Whatever your situation, making ghee or canning butter might be options that would work for you. Conventional butter is generally better than, say, partially hydrogenated oils such as vegetable shortening that contains trans-fats. Consider your food preps and decide for yourself which option you will choose for your family.

The best choice to use for making butter products is butter from organic grass-fed cows.  Realizing this is not always affordable or even available, it is also entirely possible to make these butter products with butter from conventional corn- and soy- fed cows.  You will just not have as many of the beneficial nutrients that are found in grass-fed dairy products, such as the omega-3s and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and K, most of which we in America are deficient. Whatever your butter source, make sure to use fresh butter when prepping it for long-term storage.

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Let’s compare ghee and canned butter, some attributes of each, and learn how to make them.  Hopefully you can decide from there what the best choice is for your situation.

Ghee: What Is It?

Simply put, ghee is clarified butter that is used most commonly in Indian cooking. It has a very high smoke point (485° F)—much higher than regular butter (250-300°)—making it a good choice for frying. It has a shelf life of about six months when stored at room temperature.  It is cooked down to remove the water in the butter, and afterward the milk solids are removed, leaving a clear amber-colored butter product that is shelf stable.

Ghee: How To Make It

What you will need:

• Butter
• Thick-bottomed pan large enough to melt and simmer the butter
• Spoon
• Ghee strainer (a coffee filter or cheesecloth and metal strainer will work)
• Sterilized jar and lid

1. Begin by putting your butter into your pan and melting the butter down. Heat further until the butter is sizzling. This is the liquid being evaporated from the butter.

2. Once the sizzling sound starts, reduce the heat. Simmer until the sizzling stops and the milk solids settle to the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently so that the milk solids do not burn and give the ghee an off flavor.

3. If you wish, you may skim off the white foam.

4. Once the sizzling has stopped and the milk solids have settled, set up whatever straining method you have chosen and pour the contents of the pan into your filter.  Allow the ghee to strain through your filter and into the jar.

5. The ghee should be a clear amber color with no other impurities in it.  If you are allergic to dairy and want to be extra careful of milk solids, you may strain it again through a clean filter a second time.

If you want to take further measures in preserving your ghee, you might want to consider canning it. Detailed instructions can be had at Cooks.com.  I do not personally see much benefit if you are working with sterile methods in making and storing your ghee in the first place, as the shelf life for the canned ghee on the recipe site is the same as for regular ghee stored in a sterile container (six months).  For planned long-term storage of larger quantities of ghee, I might find more peace of mind if I were to can it.

Ghee has a shelf life of about six months when stored at room temperature. If kept in a cool area and clean of any food bits or other adulterations, it has been reported to last almost indefinitely. Some sources claim their canned ghee has kept for up to ten years.  Use your own judgment and of course refrain from eating anything that appears, smells, or tastes “off.”

Ghee: How Do I Use It?

Ghee can be used one-to-one in any recipe calling for butter.  Ghee can be also used to fry at much higher temperatures than butter, so go ahead and use it for frying! If you wish to reduce the “bad” cholesterol of butter/ghee and raise the heat point of more beneficial oils (such as extra virgin olive oil), the oils may be combined in cooking to get benefits from both oils.

Ghee: Alternative Sources

If you would rather purchase ghee for your prepping stores, you should be able to find it at an Indian grocer or in the ethnic section of your local grocery store.  If you are not fortunate to have those options available to you, it may be purchased online at a number of online retailers.  There are versions available to suit several tastes, whether you are looking for plain, conventional ghee or ghee from organic, grass-fed cows. Consider your nutritional needs for prepping and whether you think you will need the extra nutrients during a potentially stressful time and buy accordingly.

Canned Butter: What Is It?

The term “canned butter” can be confusing and a bit misleading, as the phrase can be used to refer to multiple food items: commercially canned butter, butter sealed at home in jars, and truly home-canned butter.

Commercial Canned Butter

Butter that has been commercially canned is available for purchase and is usually made in Australia, New Zealand, or Holland.  Red Feather is one brand you can look for.  I am not sure why it is not produced in the United States other than there is not enough demand for such a product and there is a wide availability of fresh dairy products year round in stores. Luckily, that doesn’t stop you from ordering it over the Internet. I have found it to run about $6.50 for a twelve-ounce can. It has a shelf life of about two years.

Canned Butter vs. Commercial Canned Butter: What’s The Difference?

It is important to realize that many of the homemade methods of “canning” butter promoted on the Internet are not truly canned. The end product looks like it is canned, since the butter is in sealed jars like Grandma used to make, but it has not gone through a true canning process.

The method of “canning” butter has been around for some time, but it is not recommended by the USDA or any county extension office as being a safe method. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says that “canning” butter is pointless because “good butter is readily available at all times.” While that would not be true for everyone in an emergency situation, they do suggest alternatives further down in the article.  Please read the information, as there are other valid reasons to reconsider “canning” butter—the main issues coming down to potential botulism poisoning.  Butter is a low-acid food and a good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) environment for storing botulism spores.  Botulism spores are killed at 240°F, while water at sea level boils at 212°F, so getting the proper consistent temperature for a long enough time to kill the spores in your food product requires a pressure cooker and not an oven. Even with the heat, the fat in high-fat foods such as butter can protect the spores from being destroyed, leaving the live spores in the food to create their toxins and poison the consumer in the future.

Now is the perfect time to bring fresh dairy products back to the home kitchen!

This is not to say that people have not been “canning” butter successfully for years without having any (documented) issues with food poisoning.  There are plenty of testimonials lauding the safety of “canning” butter.  When making your decision as to whether you want to “can” butter, consider your butter source, your setup, how you will be using the butter after it is canned, who will be consuming the butter, how long you plan to store it, and how you would plan to deal with botulism should it occur. So, that said, proceed at your own risk.

How To Make Canned Butter

Most sources on the Internet offer instructions on “canning” butter that include “sterilizing” jars in a hot oven, melting butter, pouring it into the hot jars, placing lids and rings on the jars, and shaking the jars as the butter cools in order to keep it from separating. This is not canning.  In my opinion, there is a lot of room here for error, and there is a better way.

You can truly can your butter with a pressure cooker and reduce your risk of food poisoning. Keep in mind that, again, this is not recommended by the USDA. I am including these instructions rather than the most popularly posted method because I feel they are safer and we need to think about the health of our families during difficult times as much as we think about providing food for them. Again, proceed at your own risk.

How To Truly Can Butter In A Pressure Canner

There is an excellent resource on YouTube on how to truly can butter.  The process is broken down into two sections, Part 1 and Part 2. The following instructions are condensed from those videos.

What you need:

• Butter (half salted and half unsalted)
• Large heavy-bottomed pan for melting your butter
• Half-pint jars
• Large pan of boiling water for sterilizing jars and lids
• Pressure canner

1. Unwrap your butter, touching the butter as little as possible with your freshly washed fingers, and place it in the pan. The reason for using half salted and half unsalted butter is that, as the butter is melted down, some of the water will evaporate, making a more concentrated butter product. If you use all salted butter, it will be saltier than you are used to.

2. Place jars, lids, and rings in boiling water for ten minutes to sterilize them. To keep them warm until you are ready to pour butter into them, place the sterilized jars open side up on a warm (220°-240°F) baking sheet in the oven.  Placing a clean, damp dishtowel on the baking sheet will help keep them from sliding around.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in your pan on the stovetop. Skim any foam from the top and save for it another use, such as on vegetables.

4. Gently stir the butter to include milk solids in each jar. Ladle the hot butter into jars, leaving one inch of headspace. A canning funnel will help you to keep your jar rim clean.  If you get anything on the rim, wipe it using a clean paper towel dipped in hot water to help ensure your lids get a proper seal.

5. Using a magnetic sealing wand, remove a lid from the boiling water, shake off any excess water, and place it on the jar. Place a ring on the jar and hand-tighten it until you feel resistance. Don’t over tighten.

6. Load the jars into the pressure canner as per your pressure cooker’s recommendations. Process the jars as you would meat. For half-pints, use ten pounds of pressure for sixty minutes. Check canning recommendations, such as those in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, for canning meat in your jar size and at your elevation for more accurate times.

7. When the jars are finished processing, allow the pressure to go down in your pressure canner as per your pressure cooker’s instructions.  Carefully remove the lid and use a jar lifter to remove your jars to a towel on your countertop.  You should start hearing the jars “ping” as they cool and seal.

8. Allow the jars to cool enough to where you can comfortably handle them.  Shake the jars every fifteen to twenty minutes to get the butter and milk solids to combine. Continue doing this until the jars are completely cooled. This will leave you with a smoother product once the butter has cooled.

Truly canned butter does not have an official keeping time.  The maker of the YouTube video, katzcradul, says that hers has lasted for years.

Canned Butter: How Do I Use It?

The texture is not as smooth as regular butter, but the taste is the same.  It should behave as regular butter in cooking.

When it’s all said and done…

My personal opinion may differ from yours, but here is how I would rate the various options for long-term storage of butter, in order from best to least:

1. Commercially canned butter

2. Canned ghee

3. Ghee (store-bought or homemade)

4. Truly canned butter

5. Commercial butter-like dry mixes

6. “Canned” butter (sealed without a pressure canner)

The first three are a close tie. The reason I put the commercially canned butter at the top is because it has been commercially canned at high enough temperatures to kill botulism and other things that might make the butter go bad. It is also in metal tins that are more durable in the case of moving food stores, potential freezing, etc.

I put canned ghee second because it has been clarified and already has at least a six-month room-temperature shelf life. In my estimation, canning ghee in a water bath will extend that shelf life because one more step has been taken to kill any bacteria that may have gotten into the jar, and I would not be worried about botulism in this situation.

I put ghee (uncanned) third because of its basic shelf life of six months, knowing that its shelf life may be longer. Without the canning process, though, there is potential for things to go awry if something were not sterilized properly or the ghee is not stored in optimal conditions.

Butter that has been truly canned in a pressure cooker would fall fourth on my list but would come almost at a tie with ghee.  I do have some reservations due to the method not being recommended by the USDA, but I am much more comfortable with this method of canning the butter as if it were meat rather than the other methods of “canning” butter that are not truly canning.  I also prefer real butter to butter-like substances when it comes to nutrition.

If I were to include commercial dry butter-ish products in my considerations, they would fall fifth.  They are expensive and not exactly all-natural, but they are shelf stable and pretty much not something to worry about getting sick with.

I put the “canned” butter as a last resort because I have many doubts as far as the risk for botulism and, if food poisoning were to occur in my loved ones from my “canned” butter, I am not sure how to treat botulism poisoning in a world that may not have hospital facilities readily available. I do not feel it is worth the risk of someone’s life or well-being. I would rather do without butter if “canned butter” were my only option, and instead seek out a different fat source.  I would certainly not give “canned” butter to a small child.

If you have health issues that would prohibit you from regular use of butter as your main source of oils in your diet or if you are turned off by butter as a fat source for other reasons, you may want to explore other options. Some other natural, fairly shelf-stable oils, especially if you have cool year-round storage, are raw coconut oil, palm oil, and olive oil.

Good luck and happy prepping!

Well, Canada is colder, but it has far more empty wilderness to hide in. Some of these wilderness areas, such as Northern Ontario and much of Quebec, are fairly close to large urban areas such as Toronto in case you have to work.

Even though Northern Ontario has some rough winters, it is a good place to grow crops, its streams and lakes are full of fish, and its forests are full game. There are also lots of running streams for hydroelectric power and lots of trees for firewood. Living off the land and the grid in Northern Ontario is perfectly doable; in fact, my ancestors did it for generations.

Physically homesteading in some parts of Canada, such as Quebec, Ontario, the Maritime Provinces, and British Columbia, would not be that different from homesteading in much of the United States. Nor is the culture that different; the basic lifestyle most Canadians live is much the same as in the United States. Even French Canadians have more in common with Minnesotans than Frenchmen. The big differences are political, and they are not that noticeable on a day-to-day basis.

US vs. Canadian Government

The big difference between the US and Canada is that the Canadian government has a lot more power and authority than the American government—at least on paper. Canada’s government, like Britain’s, is a parliamentary system in which there is no separation between the executive and legislative branches; Parliament writes the laws and runs the government. This makes for a far more centralized national government that has more power.

Practically, this means that laws can change faster in Canada than in the US. The government can implement sweeping changes and then take them away again after the next election. For example, the last liberal government in Canada ordered all guns in the nation registered. The next conservative government reversed the policy.

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Canada also has fewer constitutional limitations on government than the US does. The government is free to put more restrictions on gun ownership, and the courts have broad powers to censor the press. There is a caveat though: the government has more legal power to interfere in the rights of citizens than in the US, yet its activities are restrained because it is a little more accountable to voters than the American government.

Even though the government is more powerful in Canada, it doesn’t seem to be more obtrusive in the lives of ordinary citizens than in the US. Practically, Americans and Canadians have about the same amount of freedom and legal protections. As in the US, government power in Canada is often irrationally and illogically used.

Residents of Canada have the same basic legal rights as Americans, such as trial by jury, representation by a lawyer, and protection from searches without warrants. As in the US, these rights are often violated by overzealous authorities.

So Which Nation Is Freer for Living Off the Grid?

In most practical respects, a person living off the grid in Canada won’t notice much difference in living off the grid in the US. You’ll still be able to grow your own food, own your own land, and generate your own electricity. As in the US, you will still have to worry about overzealous authorities.

For the average family living on a homestead, there won’t be much difference as long as they take care to avoid the government. As in the US, the level of government interference differs widely from area to area. If you take the time to trouble to find an area with little or no government, you should be pretty safe.

That means you’ll have to do some research, such as checking the local newspaper and talking to local people. Some regions of Canada, such as British Columbia, have a historic tolerance for alternative lifestyles. Try spending some time in an area and seeing what it’s really like.

Something to be aware of is that Canada, like Britain, has a long welfare state tradition. That means most Canadians will tolerate a higher level of governmental interference than Americans and expect government to control certain areas, such as health care.

Yes, Canada does have a national healthcare system, but despite what some Americans think, nobody is forced to participate in it. Instead, it is your choice whether you use the system, which is called Medicare, or not. That system could help some families be more self-sufficient, because it eliminates the need for private health insurance and pays for most medical services.

Healthcare in Canada is more bureaucratic and restricted; there are shortages of doctors, and it can be difficult to see a specialist. The stories about rich Canadians coming to the US to see specialists are true. A dirty secret about Canadian health care is that many wealthy Canadians use Medicare for most of their needs but run to the States the minute it won’t pay for something they need or want. Yet with Obamacare coming in, the differences between American and Canadian healthcare seem to disappearing.

There is a way to effectively opt-out of the coming health care nightmare…

In practical terms, the level of freedom for the average person in Canada and the average person in the US is about the same. The interesting question is which country will it be easier to survive a crisis or collapse in?

Which Country Is Safer?

My guess is that if some sort of nationwide collapse hits in the United States, it’ll bring Canada down too. The Canadian and American economies are joined at the hip; if one collapses, the other will come down. The effects of a large-scale collapse in Canada and the US will be pretty much the same.

So from that practical standpoint, the side of the border you live on won’t matter that much. In some ways, Canadian society will be more vulnerable, because Canadians seem to be more dependent on government for some services like healthcare. Yet vast numbers of Americans are also dependent on the government for those services.

The US has a higher crime rate and more ethnic diversity, which could make for more civil unrest. The greater availability of guns in the US is a double-edged sword: it gives American families more means to protect themselves, but it also means more guns for the bad guys to use on average people during a period of chaos.

Something else to remember is that the enforcement of Canadian gun laws is about as bad and uneven as the enforcement of American gun laws. That means there are large numbers of illegal and unregistered guns floating around in Canada. Therefore the chances for armed violence in the event of a large-scale collapse are just about as great in Canada.

Canadian police forces are also better organized (at least in Ontario) and more militaristic than American police. That means they might be better equipped to deal with civil disorder. Yet Canada’s centralized law enforcement structure might be more vulnerable to collapse or cyber-attacks. Unlike in the US, day-to-day uniformed law enforcement in much of Canada is provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the legendary Mounties or RCMP) run by the federal government or by provincial police forces (similar to the state police in Pennsylvania).

The Canadian government might have an easier time reestablishing order in a major crisis than the US government. Yet its ability will be restricted by the availability of the grid and other technological resources.

The truth is that Canadians and Americans are pretty much in the same boat. Residents of either country that want to survive and thrive in the long term will need to rely on their own resources. This is so because neither the Canadian nor the American welfare state can be sustained on a long-term basis. Both nations face the specter of economic collapse and dysfunctional government in the near future.

You should choose your homestead location on the ability of your family to live there independently on your own resources rather than the flag flying over the post office. In the near future, it may not make much difference what side of the border you’re living on.

However, while it certainly is possible to do some serious cooking on a wood-burning heat stove, there is actually a much better and more specialized option available – the wood cooking stove. Making due with a regular wood stove is a makeshift operation, but wood cookstoves are designed to occupy kitchens and provide families with all the delicious home-cooked food they could ever want or need. Meats, vegetables, desserts, breads, stews, soups, pastas, rice, and complex gourmet dishes guaranteed to delight each and every discriminating palate can all be prepared efficiently and deliciously on or in a wood cookstove, and if not for that extra added hint of wood smoke flavor, no one consuming these culinary concoctions would ever have any idea where they came from (and before you become concerned, rest assured that this additional flavor boost is a good thing, and it is one of the main reasons why those who make the switch to wood cookstoves hardly ever regret their choice).

Wood cookstoves are highly versatile, and families surviving off the grid have been relying on them to meet their food preparation needs since the days before there even was such a thing as the grid. Design tweaks notwithstanding, wood cookstoves manufactured in 2013 are essentially the same as the units that were produced back in the 1880s, which just goes to show how wise that old adage about not messing with perfection really is.

The Wood Cookstove: Up Close And Personal

Wood cookstoves normally include the following features or compartments:

• Firebox: The beating heart of any wood stove, in a cookstove it will generally be installed on the left side of the unit. These boxes are smaller than what would be found in the typical wood-burning heat stove, but they are designed to kick out concentrated heat bursts that will heat both baking ovens and stovetops to the temperatures required to really get things going at mealtime. In order to control the heat output of the firebox, air vents can be opened and closed as needed to stimulate or stifle a fire’s intensity.
• Baking oven: It will be found side-by-side with the firebox in most stoves, but in some models, the oven component is installed directly below the firebox for highly effective top-down cooking. Baking ovens are heated indirectly on the (left) firebox side and also from the top down, as firebox emissions circulate repeatedly in the space between the top of the baking oven and the stove’s upper cooking surface. With most units, it will be necessary to use an oven thermometer to keep track of baking temperatures.
• Stovetop:  Covering both the firebox and the oven (or possibly just the firebox in vertically arranged models), the wood cooking stove stovetop does not have burners per se but does have removable lids that can be taken out when the firebox or the top of the oven needs cleaning, or when there is a desire to grill something directly over an open fire.
• Water reservoir: This will be located on the right in the wood cookstoves that have one (most do but some do not), beside the central baking oven. In most stoves, the reservoir is used to store and heat water for later use, but some setups will allow water to be circulated continuously through this section before it is warmed and released into a separate storage tank that essentially functions like a hot water heater. An average water reservoir might hold something in the neighborhood of five gallons, and it should be kept at least partially full whenever the stove is in operation to prevent heat damage.
• Warming oven: A neat addition to the wood cookstove repertoire, warming ovens are located directly above the stovetop and when closed can produce temperatures in the 150⁰ F range, perfect for defrosting frozen foods, allowing bread to rise, or helping to keep already prepared dishes warm until supper can be served. The doors of the warming oven can be opened and closed as needed to regulate interior temperatures.
• Chimney pipe: Chimney pipe flow in a wood cookstove is regulated by the oven damper, which, when closed, restricts or blocks the release of heat and smoke up the chimney. This damper is controlled by a lever or sliding mechanism; when the stove is being fired up for use or is actually in use, keeping the damper partially or completely closed will force the heat of the fire to circulate throughout the interior of the stove – thereby heating the oven and the stovetop – before it is finally released up the chimney.

The compartmentalization of the wood cookstove promotes high efficiency through effective division of labor. This is why this type of kitchen stove has been so popular for so long among real pioneers and those with the pioneering spirit. The skills required to cook delicious dishes on a wood cookstove must be learned, but they can be grasped relatively quickly when a common-sense approach is combined with a cheerful trial-and-error methodology.

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“Now You’re Cooking!”: Tips For Aspiring Wood Cookstove Chefs

No matter what kind of food you might want to prepare, wood cookstoves produce more than enough heat to get the job done. But there are some issues with heat distribution, which is uneven and in some cases can be a little unpredictable. For example, baking ovens tend to be hotter – sometimes much hotter – on the side next to the firebox and also in the upper part of the oven thanks to the heat that circulates under the stovetop just above, while stovetops inevitably get cooler the farther away you move from the firebox.

The latter problem is not necessarily difficult to solve; moving food away from the area directly above the firebox is the equivalent of turning the heat down to a lower setting on an electric stovetop, so most who are new to wood cookstove food preparation will be able to figure out how to handle the temperature differentials on their stovetops in a relatively short amount of time. And if an even lower temperature is desired at a particular location, a trivet can be added that will lift a pot or pan up off the stove’s surface. When the oven damper is closed and heat is allowed to circulate, a stove’s temperatures will naturally rise to cooking levels, and from that point on, a wood cookstove stovetop will be able to match the performance of an electric or gas unit with little difficulty – just don’t put a pot filled with food in one place and walk away. You need to pay attention so you can rearrange things as needed.

With baking ovens the situation is similar; uneven heat distribution only becomes a problem if you put a loaf of bread, a roast, or a casserole in the oven and then leave it there without ever changing its position. Generally the best way to proceed is to start out with your cooking pans as far away from the firebox as you can get them, on racks that are set as far below the top of the oven box as you can get. Then you can simply rotate your pans as they are cooking or maybe cover them for part of the cooking circle, to ensure that nothing burns and that everything gets heated evenly. This is one area where things can get a little unpredictable, however, as many wood cookstove owners report hot spots inside baking ovens in unlikely and surprising places. So when you first start using a new wood cookstove, you will have to monitor your baking carefully to make sure that you don’t have this problem.

Starting from scratch, it can take up to an hour to get a fire going that will be hot enough to actually cook anything. Once these temperatures are achieved, the heat and intensity of the fire can be managed by opening and closing the oven damper (opening it makes the stove cooler), opening and closing the air vents that feed oxygen to the fire, and obviously by adding more wood once the initial supply burns down. If your fire burns long enough and hot enough for a good bed of coals to accumulate in the bottom of the firebox, this will usually provide a steady supply of cooking heat for a long enough period of time to prepare most dishes.

When We Say Clean It, We Mean It!

To ensure consistent performance, wood cookstoves must be cleaned frequently. This will involve removing and emptying the ash tray below the firebox; lifting the lids on the stovetop so you can sweep and/or scrape away the fly ash and creosote that accumulates on top of the oven compartment; cleaning out the inside of the firebox; emptying and scrubbing the water reservoir; checking the inside of the chimney for creosote, and scrubbing or sanding it away if you find it; and vigorously scouring the stove top, rear splashback, and lower part of the chimney to remove all grit, grime, and dirt.

Basically any cleaning tools used on metal surfaces will work well to accomplish these various tasks, and many newer stoves include special tools that are made for just such a purpose. If you have a cast-iron stove (still the most commonly used construction material), after cleaning and before the next firing cycle you will need to coat the stovetop with a thin layer of vegetable oil to season it, just as you would do with cast-iron cooking pots and pans. Rust is a significant issue with cast-iron, which is why you should take precautions to protect the stovetop in particular from the deleterious effects of contact with moisture. Stainless steel and other materials are sometimes used to build modern wood cookstoves, so if you want to avoid a potential rust problem, you could always go with an alternative to the traditional cast-iron.

Many will recommend that wood cookstoves be cleaned three or four times a year, but really it should be based on the results of constant visual inspection – in other words, check things often, and when you see something that looks grungy, greasy, cruddy, filthy, foul, or skuzzy, the time to take action is right then and there. Wood stove maintenance is not compatible with laziness, and in addition to affecting cooking performance, allowing your stove to get dirty and stay that way could very well result in a nasty and destructive fire.

In Any Cost/Reward Calculation, Wood Cookstoves Come Up A Winner

Outstanding characteristics aside, there are a few issues that can make wood cookstoves a less-than-ideal choice in some situations and for some people – the way they heat up the kitchen (good in the winter but bad in the summer), their need for constant and regular cleaning, the fact that they cannot provide heat on demand like a gas or electric stove, and the high cost of a brand new unit (a state-of-the-art model will likely cost you between $1,500 and $3,500). But really, these are mostly inconveniences rather than deal killers – except perhaps for the price, and that shouldn’t be much of a problem if you are willing to save for awhile. The bottom line is that there is no drawback to a wood cookstove that should discourage the hardy and adventurous in the least, and if you are an off-the-gridder, then by definition you are as hardy and adventurous as they come.

From an off-the-grid perspective, wood cookstoves are the perfect cooking technology. And in addition to their superb functional abilities, their timeless and rugged design gives them an alluring rustic aura and an authentic charm that will enhance the appearance of any home or castle. A good wood cookstove won’t come cheap, that is for sure, but if you are truly excited about the possibilities of cooking with wood and are willing to make the effort to do it right, the cash you put down to purchase a high-quality wood cookstove could end up being one of the very best investments you’ve ever made in your life.

The advantage to a paper library is obvious: Paper is not vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and power outages. Books are not going to shut down if the power grid collapses or an electromagnetic pulse disrupts the Internet and Wi-Fi. Sure, Kindles and iPads are handy, but without electricity and an Internet connection, a Kindle or an iPad is nothing but a paperweight.

Every serious survivalist and prepper needs to build up a paper library of books and other publications for emergency purposes. This library will serve the dual purpose of providing useful information and entertainment. Something many people don’t consider is what will you do for entertainment if there’s no television, video games, or radio?

Electromagnetic pulse can shut down the Internet and your tablet. It cannot shut down the box of comic books or paperback novels you have in your basement. You may find you’ll need to kill time in an emergency situation. The biggest enemy in many survival situations is not looters, disease, or starvation; it’s plain, old-fashioned boredom.

Books for Essential Knowledge

There are two kinds of printed publications that you should keep in your paper library: those that contain essential knowledge and those that provide entertainment. Essential knowledge is the practical information that will help you provide your family with things like food, shelter, and healthcare. Accumulating a store of printed publications with essential knowledge should be your first priority in assembling a paper library.

Some essential knowledge that you might need includes:

• Gardening books
• Field guides to help you locate edible plants for foraging
• Auto manuals and books on car repairs
• Books on home maintenance and home repairs
• Books with information about practical skills, particularly those you lack, such as carpentry and plumbing
• Books on self-defense and firearms
• Books on first aid, medicine, nutrition, and health care
• Cookbooks, particularly those that contain old-fashioned and country recipes (Hint: They were written before people had modern kitchens.)
• Books that tell you how to construct or repair things you need
• Books or publications that tell you how to maintain systems such as water filters, solar panels, windmills, etc.
• Maps and atlases (Hint: There will be no GPS if an EMP hits.)

Examples of essential books could include The Boy Scout Handbook, old military training manuals, textbooks, and do-it-yourself books. Beyond that, you should have basic knowledge about things like law, government, history, education, literature, etc. Remember, you might have to rebuild civilization or at least help rebuild it.

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Some basic knowledge books your family should include:

• A Bible and other religious works, such as prayer books, hymnals, etc.
• A book that contains the basic documents of the United States (the Constitution and Declaration of Independence)
• A good world atlas
• A road atlas
• A topographic atlas of your state or province
• A set of encyclopedias; good encyclopedias such as the Britannica contain a vast amount of information.
• Basic textbooks on subjects like math, finance, history, civics, government, law, chemistry, science, biology, economics, geology, engineering, music, philosophy, theology, literature, etc. You can use these to educate your children or yourself if necessary. Note: Older textbooks on literature, history, and civics are often better because they are more accurate and comprehensive.
• A good basic history of the United States
• A dictionary
• A thesaurus
• An English-Spanish dictionary (Spanish is the most common foreign language spoken in North America)
• Some basic survival books, such as field guides, The Boy Scout Handbook, etc.
• Copies of literary classics, such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, etc.
• Biographies of great people, such as Lincoln, Edison, Washington, etc.

Books for Entertainment

You should also assemble a stash of reading material for entertainment purposes. Accumulate a large supply of the books and other publications that your family likes to read. This should include a lot of your favorite fiction, such as murder mysteries, thrillers, westerns, romance novels, horror, fantasy, science fiction, or whatever you like to read.

Try to put in copies of works by your favorite authors and authors you’ve always wanted to read. Throw in some really long books as well because you’ll have plenty of time. If you’ve always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings, War and Peace, or The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, get a copy, because you’ll have a chance if the grid goes down.

Other works you can read for entertainment include magazines and comic books. Graphic novels (paperback reprints of comic book stories) can be good entertainment. Comic books are also a great way to get kids, particularly boys, to read. Make sure you have some kids’ books, such as the Hardy Boys or Harry Potter, as well, because the kids will have nothing to do.

Lay in a large supply of reading material, because you might not know how long you’ll be without electricity. You might go weeks, months, or longer with no Internet and no television. Your paper library might be the only thing that keeps you from going insane from boredom.

Books and Publications for Trade

Books and other publications will also make great trade goods in an emergency situation. If there’s no electricity, people will want something to do. You might be able to trade old Stephen King novels or back issues of Captain America or Motor Trend for ammunition, canned food, or other items that you might need. A copy of The Boy Scout Handbook could be worth a fortune to people who know nothing about surviving in the woods.

If you find a big stash of old paperbacks or popular novels, put it aside somewhere, even if it is stuff you don’t read. You might be able to use those books as trade items in an emergency.

Where to Find the Books

A big advantage to books and other paper information sources is that you can buy or get many of them real cheap these days. Walk through the alleys of any big city and you’ll see dozens of perfectly good books in dumpsters and trash cans. Many thrift stores sell old paperbacks for fifty cents apiece and old hardbacks for one dollar. Comic book stores often sell back issues of less popular titles at less than a dollar apiece. You can pick up a set of encyclopedias at a garage sale for ten dollars.

If you need a particular book or a book on a particular subject, go online and check eBay, Google Shopping, Amazon.com, and bookfinder.com. You can find most books there for less than five dollars plus the cost of shipping. Other sources of books include school and library sales, used bookstores, and thrift stores.

A good way to get your hands on a lot of used books for free is to volunteer at your local library, because libraries are constantly throwing out or selling off books. You can help your community and have a choice of books at the same time.

Saving and Preserving the Books

Once you’ve assembled your paper library, you will have to preserve it. Paper is vulnerable to rot and the elements. It can also attract all manner of insects, including bedbugs.

The best way to do this is to put the books and other items into plastic storage containers. These containers are cheap, and they are airtight and waterproof. If necessary, you can hide them or even bury them.

Something to remember is that the first thing political extremists like to do when they seize power is to burn books. Remember those pictures of the Nazis burning books when Hitler took over in Germany. American political extremists of both the left and right also have a long history of burning books they don’t like.

It isn’t hard to picture the politically correct going through libraries and destroying every book written by dead white males, or fundamentalists burning anything that contains the word science. It’s also easy to picture the Department of Homeland Security trying to destroy any book that contains information about poisons, firearms, or explosives. Such fanatics could easily shut down or censor the Internet; they can’t censor your paper library if they can’t find it.

A paper library might not just help you survive. It might also help preserve our heritage and our civilization for your children and their children.

This doesn’t mean you need a fortress or a place with a bomb shelter in the basement. Instead, it means that you need a residence where you and your family can live for a long time without any outside help—or at least minimal outside help. That means a place that will contain enough food, water, and other supplies for your family to survive for a period of weeks, months, or longer.

Contrary to popular belief, this does not have to be a farm in the country. A house on a large lot in a city, small town, or suburb might do just as well. What you really need is a home that meets certain characteristics. You must keep these characteristics in mind when you go house hunting.

The Most Important Resource: Water

The two most important necessities for survival are food and water. The most important of these is an independent source of water, probably a well. Try to find a home with a good well on the property. The house doesn’t need to be getting water from the well now – it simply needs to have one that won’t go dry.

Try looking at older houses because many of them have wells, even if they are hooked to a water system. A good way to find such a house is to ask realtors, and if you let realtors know you won’t buy a home without a well, they’ll find one for you. Make sure you get a house with a well, and preferably one that you can draw water from without an electric pump. Examine the well closely – many older wells go dry because the water table around the country is going down. However, the well doesn’t have to be the best because you’ll only need water for drinking, cooking, and irrigation.

If you can’t find a home with a well, see if you can find one with another source of water, such as a stream right next to it. (Another advantage to living on a stream is that you can always catch fish and crawfish for the dinner table.) If there’s no stream or well, try building a cistern to catch rainwater. If you do catch rain or river water, you will have to purify it to make it safe.

Supply Food at Home

When you choose your home, make sure there is enough room to plant a very large garden. You don’t have to plant a garden right now, but you should have enough room to plant a large vegetable garden in a crisis. Also, look for enough room for a chicken coop, greenhouse, fishpond, and other means of providing provisions.

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Even a house with a large lawn can do because you can always plow up the lawn or flower garden to grow vegetables in a future crisis. A house with a lot of flower gardens might be a good buy because those can easily be turned into vegetable gardens.

Try getting a house that has fruit trees already growing on the land. That way, you can have your own source of fruit in case of an emergency. Another good tip is to buy a home that is close enough to open land where you can forage for greens and other food if need be. Many cities and suburbs have large swaths of open land in the city.

Storage Space: The Real Key to Survival

After food and water, storage space is the real key to survival. The way to survive a future crisis will probably be to store up enough supplies to live for a long time. Try to find a house that has a lot of extra storage space in the basement, attic, cellar, etc. Look at older homes because some of them will have outbuildings and root cellars.

The more storage space you have, the more you can store. Try storing up large supplies of the things you use all the time, including dried foods, canned foods, frozen foods, laundry detergent, medicines, prescription drugs, cleaning supplies, and clothing. Something to remember is that in an emergency, you might be able to trade or sell a lot of this stuff to get things you need.

If possible, lay in a stash of trade goods, including luxury items such as cigarettes, liquor, and wine. These last a long time, and people will trade almost anything to get them in an emergency. In some disaster situations, you might have an easier time trading a case of Marlboros or a bottle of Jack Daniels for ammunition than using gold coins.

Camouflage: The Other Key to Survival

Once you’ve taken measures to supply food and water, you’ll need to ensure safety. The best way to do this is to make your home uninviting to thieves or looters. The way to do this is to camouflage your home to make it look as if you are not prepping and don’t have any supplies stored up.

The reason for this is obvious: the best way to survive a fight is not to get in one in the first place. Convincing the looters you have nothing to steal is a better strategy than trying to shoot it out with them. The way to do this is to keep survival preparations out of plain sight.

Make sure that weapons, ammunition, survival food, generators, fuel, gold coins, extra cash, liquor, trade goods, first aid supplies, etc. are hidden. Don’t show anybody these items or tell anybody outside the family where they are. One way to hide stuff is to build a secret room or cabinet somewhere in the house. You can hide a door by simply pushing a heavy appliance such as a refrigerator in front of it or do the old Hollywood trick of hiding it behind a shelf of books. If you have a safe, keep it hidden and don’t show it to anybody.

If you grow a garden, tell the neighbors that you’re growing it because you like fresh squash and peas. If you install solar panels, say you’re doing it to get the tax credit.

Hiding is Better than Fortification

Try not to obviously fortify your home because that makes it look like you have something to protect. Fortifying your place is an advertisement that tells people “Hey, they’ve got something valuable in there.” That’s the last message you want to get out if law and order breaks down. If you make any sort of preparation, make sure it cannot be easily seen from the street or road.

Something else to remember here is that with our modern technology, a group of armed people will be able to break through almost any fortification you set up yourself fairly easily. If you barricade yourself inside your house, they can simply blow their way in with explosives or drive a bulldozer or a truck through your front door. Try and avoid this situation by disguising your place.

Survival preparations will be useless if all they do is attract the looters. If you can set up your home so that people who walk in have no idea what you’ve really got in there, then you’ve created a real survival machine.

Clearly, we no longer enjoy the freedoms of the generations before us, and our lives are being tracked and traced wherever we go and whatever we do.  Between forking over our livelihoods in taxes, fearing being accused of hate speech, and being told that the FDA doesn’t approve of our tomato garden in the front yard, life is becoming more and more integrated and dependent upon “the system” while self-dependent lifestyles are demonized and ridiculed.  You might be wondering, “Is there a place for people like me anymore?”

But, this is just the beginning.  Millions of Americans have a gut feeling that something bad is about to happen, something that may be used to evaporate what little freedom we have left.  Now, only the naïve seem to be under the impression that the U.S. can continue along its current path and face no cataclysmic consequence.  Whether it’s war, pestilence, or disease, society is headed for a collapse of continental proportions.  It’s only a matter of time before the government through the U.S. military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (or FEMA) can trade our liberty for their “security.”

Already FEMA has established programs called the “Clergy Response Teams” and the “FEMA Corps.”  These programs are specifically designed to go into action during a crisis, where controlling the public is of the uttermost importance.  In fact, some of these programs have already been used with astonishing effectiveness.  The U.S. government was able to confiscate legally owned guns in certain circumstances through their ability to quell public dissent.

It’s long been confirmed that FEMA has been creating “internment camps” for use in national crises.  Curiously, the agency has only spent 6 percent of its budget in preparing for such natural disasters.  So if FEMA’s prime function (the other 94 percent) is not natural disasters, then what is?  Perhaps it has to do with bill H.R. 645, where in the rationale, states that the agency is to refurbish these decommissioned military installations into internment camps in order “to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.”

The True Christian Heritage and Christian Ideals That Are Woven Into The Very Fabric Of The Constitution…

The Department of Homeland Security has already listed those who are “reverent of individual liberty” as right-wing extremist terrorists.  Clearly, the U.S. federal government thinks that liberty lovers are terrorists, and it is already figuring out a place to put folks who will dissent against the government in the event that liberty is abolished.  Their chess pieces are quickly moving into their strategic places, waiting for the opportune moment.

However, FEMA is merely the tool.  These folks (while willfully committing treason against the Constitution and their fellow citizens) aren’t the ones who are crouching at our door.  These mandates are issued from beyond the Office of the Presidency, who is only a humble salesman for those who have bought and paid for the U.S. government.

Knowing this, it’s easy to see why good Americans are losing hope for the future.  Not only does it feel as if our elected officials have totally lost control, but the unelected officials have assumed absolute power.  The Constitution is becoming null and void very quickly, while those in government spend the US economy into ruin.  America burns, while Washington fiddles and frolics in elitist cocktail parties.

Is it all over?  Not just yet.

What They’ve Got and What You Can Do About It

As we mentioned above, FEMA has already implemented one of their programs called the “Clergy Response Teams.”  This program was used in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, where local pastors were briefed with the mission of quelling public dissent.  We all learned to our horror that the U.S. military went from house to house collecting guns, and it was due in part to the Clergy Response program in New Orleans that the population didn’t produce a large outcry.

Curiously, those pastors in the Clergy Response program have kept their traps shut about their involvement with FEMA.  This program made its debut on KLSA 12 directly after the Katrina disaster, but we haven’t heard much about it since then.  It would seem that either the program was dissolved (which is unlikely, due to it’s astounding effectiveness during the Katrina disaster), or the news reports were burie and all pastors were told not to reveal any information regarding the program.  However, with what information we do have, we know that FEMA works closely with “faith-based organizations,” and they were able to nail down a specific denomination from tracking the sources of the KLSA 12 story: Assemblies of God.  One should keep in mind that this happened in 2007.  It’s a possibility that hundreds of thousands of pastors over a wide variety of denominations are now involved with the program.

In addition, FEMA also has a program called the FEMA Corps.  It’s a program consisting of young people ages eighteen through twenty-four who are civilians and assist FEMA during times of crisis.  Interestingly, the program is setup is oddly similar to that of the Hitler Youth: young and impressionable kids, unarmed, and commanded directly by the dictator (the President) during times of “crisis.”  During WWII, these youngsters were used as spies against their own families for Adolf Hitler’s secret police.  It’s not rocket science to see where this is going.

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We already know enough about these programs to understand one thing: they must operate in secret, away from media sources.  Their system becomes compromised if they are exposed to public scrutiny, as this would certainly not go over well with most Americans.  Also, we know that these programs require children to be uneducated, impressionable, and willing to do whatever FEMA tells them to.

So, if you become aware that your pastor is apart of the Clergy Response program, then first, be sure to let your friends and family know about it.  In addition, alerting certain media sources (especially if you’ve got concrete evidence, confirming your case) could be an appropriate action to take.  There is a very prevalent understanding that most of these pastors will be leaders of “mega-churches,” meaning that his or her celebrity-like status might attract curiosity to the FEMA program as a whole.  The media originally broke the story, alerting the public to the existence of the Clergy Response program during Katrina, so there’s a big chance that they’ll do it again.

Also, be sure to keep your kids out of federal government programs like the FEMA Corps if you can.  The key to making sure that your kids don’t blindly follow a “leader” is to be good parents.  Loving homes that educate their children to the principles of freedom are, and always will be, the first line of defense against tyranny.

Kids are impressionable, which is one reason why it’s so easy for charismatic leaders/father-figures to round them up, indoctrinate them, and set them loose.  The kids that are the most resilient to those tactics are the ones that have a deeply engrained faith, along with a biblically accurate, well-educated worldview.  Simply put, their vacuum of knowledge and importance is already filled, and they don’t need an all-powerful dictator to fill it.  Most kids will be running towards tyranny, while your kids will be running in the same direction you will be.

As for your mental state, do keep an eye on current events, as you will want to know the “triggers” that will most likely take place before that crisis hits.  However, in my own personal experience, too much news can lead to depression and hopelessness.  When you feel this way, don’t waste another minute, but instead spend some time in prayer.  Regaining that eternal perspective can feel like a cool breeze, helping you see the light through the darkness of this fallen world.

Last, you need to physically prepare.  Be sure to learn about wilderness self-reliance skills, bushcraft, and homesteading.  When that cataclysmic event occurs, it will be the desperation for resources like food, clean water, and medical supplies that will have people willingly checking in to the FEMA internment camps.  You don’t want to put your loved ones in that position, so be sure to have an evacuation plan, route, and destination ready with supplies enough to sustain you through the crisis –however long it may be.

The longer you stay alive and free, the longer liberty does the same.

First, many preparedness types have, as part of their goal, the intent of helping neighbors and family who were unable – or unwilling – to prepare. In my own case, part of what I have in mind is assisting a large group of Down’s syndrome children that my church has taken under its wing (a group the state would do no more than “warehouse” if it were under their direction). Not all preppers feel this way, but I would bet my bottom can of stored tuna fish there is an exceedingly large percentage of preppers who feel similarly.

One significant point of observation that has significant ramifications relative to preparedness is that, in my experience, the non-prepper type is generally of a socialist orientation. Of course, as most of you know, this approach was tried – and found wanting – all the way back in the Pilgrim era. Many of you are aware that when the Pilgrims first arrived, they worked out of a communal system. The result was starvation and death. As this approach did not work, they then “privatized” their system – and of course flourished. You can easily research this history yourself, but if one has any experience with human nature, it is immediately apparent why this didn’t – and has never in history – worked. The issue is that human nature is imperfect and selfish, just as Adam Smith wrote about in the Wealth of Nations. A simple recognition of this basic aspect of human nature – and finding a way to work with this reality, rather than against it, provides the most good for the largest number of people – exactly as Smith wrote, and exactly as history has shown for anyone who has eyes to see. To do otherwise impoverishes people, and in times of crisis, will lead to otherwise avoidable deaths. Working with this reality of human nature, rather than at cross-purposes with it, has brought the greatest good for people overall in both prosperous periods of history as well as difficult.

For those of you with Judeo-Christian worldviews, this issue is why Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn called Communism “a Christian heresy”; he argued the Communist assumptions about human nature were completely off base and went against scripture. Long story short, the question is, Is man perfectible (particularly with the best and brightest, such as Hillary, George Soros, Al Gore, and Obama telling – nay, forcing – us what to do), or are all men fallible, and the dictum of Lord Acton correct that absolute power corrupts absolutely correct? There is an unbridgeable divide between these two assumptions, and this divide makes itself manifest in the Hamlet-like “to prep or not to prep” debate. The Fleet Street Letter put this matter in perspective a number of years ago, and is worth quoting at length:

There are two major traditions in Western political thought. The first is Aristotelian, logical, rational, centrist, mechanistic. You concentrate power and truth in the centre and apply it outward, shaping the world according to plan. This was the guiding principle of the Roman Empire. It evolved into the Holy Roman Empire and the Church of Rome. Except for Switzerland, it has dominated politics on the continent ever since. Most recently, it has morphed into the European Union. The principle is simple – smart people can figure out how to run things, and should be allowed to do so. This was the idea behind Hillary Clinton’s health care task force (and now Obamacare), as well as Japan, Inc. and even Adolph Hitler’s National Socialist Germany. It has animated nearly every politician (each one of whom, as Garrison Keilor notes about Lake Woebegone children, are above average) in this century. But there is another tradition that is much less well understood. It is the tradition of the Roman Republic… of English common law… of Adam Smith and Emmanuel Kant… of Austrian School economists such as Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek and of pre-Rooseveltian American. It is organic, rather than mechanistic – the tradition of tradition, based on the recognition that people, no matter how smart, cannot replace thousands of years of accumulated experience. Experience is embodied in the evolved systems of values, customs, rules and traditions that people use to order and give meaning to their lives. A free market and a free society allow people to express these preferences, as well as allowing the process of social and civil evolution to continue. This tradition, in other words, is neither liberal nor conservative in the modern sense, but anti-political. Indeed, it is often seen as “anti-intellectual” because it denies the authority of intellectuals to tell the rest of us what to do (through the political process).

Perhaps you, like I do, remember the “best and the brightest” who led the Vietnam War? How did that one work out? Or, if that news is too stale, perhaps you care to visit present-day Detroit – which was the first city to adopt the socialist “Model Cities Program” under Mayor Coleman Young a number of decades ago. Similarly, Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” was a quasi- socialist endeavor, which was intended to end poverty. You can judge for yourself what all those $9 trillion dollars spent on this “war” resulted in (hint: we now have just under 48 million on food stamps, up from 32 million when Obama took office, and with more poverty than ever).

The basic misunderstanding is, as Frederic Bastiat wrote in The Law:

Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.

There is yet another misunderstanding to clear up for those of Christian persuasion. Many point to Acts 2:24 in the New Testament as an argument for socialism when it states about the early believers, “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common.” Dr. Jay Richards addresses this superbly in his book Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem by simply noting that the early Christians held things in common privately, voluntarily, and without compulsion. This is light years away from state-forced sharing and under compulsion.

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One more important observation that is applicable to the prepping community to consider is about charitable donations. When I donate my own money at present, I watch like a hawk where it is going and what it is doing. When my money goes for taxes to “help” others – for the few dollars that actually make it past the money-sucking gauntlet of bureaucrats – how much actually reaches its destination? Some research shows as little as 10 percent or so. As the saying goes, it is much better to teach someone to fish, rather than just gives them a fish for a day. I can do a thousand times more, with a million times more love, for 1 percent of the money, than the government could ever dream of doing if I were left with my own money to donate as I wish.

Similarly, preparedness is most optimally left to the individual, not the state. I am clearly not saying there is no place at all for the state to assist. However, it should be ancillary and very secondary in function. To do otherwise is to set expectations that can only be dashed – exactly as was seen during hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

So, how does this relate to preparedness with potential future catastrophic disasters? In a collapse – whether it be Argentinian/Greek/Zimbabwe style, or EMP, or a global war, compassion must be personal and voluntary. Not only is it more effective; it is more ethical because it is more caring, more direct, and more efficient. In a collapse, there should be a voluntary exchange, and for those that are not prepared, there should be some type of assistance rendered by the one who has not prepared (it could be cooking, gardening, carpentry, or even guard duty). Where this is not possible, simple humanity and compassion should – and undoubtedly will be – the hallmark of many preppers.

In a serious collapse, there may well be a need to choose whom one would help, or not, but that is a decision that will be very personal. For myself – in contrast to the government representatives who so condescendingly accuse preppers such as myself of being self-centered, I will indeed (as noted above) look to help the weak and helpless. You may object by saying “A lot of good that will do – we should, as per people like Dr. Peter Singer, just let the weak die.” To which I reply, “A society that only values those of utility is not a society worth keeping – and in fact, is precisely the type of society – with its abortions, euthanasia, etc. – that got us into this mess in the first place.”

Another point: I would be remiss not to mention in the context of this article the very self-apparent fact that for every person who is prepared, that is one less mouth to feed in a real crisis. This needn’t be addressed further, as it is patently obvious, but it is yet another reality that the debunkers always seem, somehow, to neglect to address, though it is staring them right in the face. The regular silence by these debunkers about this very issue is a stark testimony to what is either a lack of critical thinking or a purposeful lack of honesty when examining the relative merits of preparedness.

God has written self-preservation into our very DNA. Certainly, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, each individual person has the right to self-preservation. The Bible is replete with laws allowing for self-defense in the Old Testament, and even in the New Testament – while unequivocally admonishing believers to be peaceful and forgiving. Even Christ instructed His disciples to be prepared in Luke 22:36 when he said, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”

There are, historically, several approaches to defense in the Bible – complete pacifism, the use of “police” force, and just war, but that is beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice to say that self-defense is well within the historical understanding of options for Christians in a violent world, although admittedly this can be a difficult issue to navigate, and there is a range of conclusions which sensible people can come to within the pale of faith. Similarly, I extend this self-defense conception into the realm of preparedness. I think the extension is fair and reasonable, about which reasonable people can disagree in some areas.

Also, relative to preparedness and faith, Proverbs 27:12 explicitly states – and which passage many preparedness types are familiar – “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” In a world where well-regarded individuals like Dr. Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University state the total amount of unfunded liabilities – federal, state, municipal, and corporate – are now a staggering $222 trillion, where the amount of derivatives (which Warren Buffet famously once called “financial weapons of mass destruction”) world-wide makes that amount look like a molehill, in a nation where people like Jon Corzine can “lose” $1.6 billion and simply walk away without a day in jail, where lives are lost during Fast and Furious and people just shrug their shoulders, or a in nation about which Billy Graham’s wife Ruth once said “If God doesn’t judge America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah,” is preparedness unwise? Leftists may object, and that is their prerogative. However, if they wish not to prepare, then perhaps they ought to take to their own hearts and written commentary the one thing they forcefully invoke for everyone else in every other situation – tolerance. What business of theirs is it?

With all due respect to them, why is it our non-prepper friends—as exemplified by the written commentary of Ms. Lucus-McEwen noted above—cannot practice what they presumably preach about tolerance? Why must people like this actively vilify those with whom they disagree? (But of course, the answer is obvious – just as in the days of Imperial Rome, everyone but everyone must bow to the all-encompassing supremacy of the state. To do otherwise means crucifixion – 2,000 years ago, this was in the arena; today, it is the high tech lynching of a Clarence Thomas, the fashion execution of a Sarah Palin, or the just the “mere” thuggery against those of us who beg to disagree with big government by modern day Kristalnacht Alinsky ruffians.)

The whole area of faith and preparedness admittedly needs much further and deeper exegesis – but hopefully this scratches the surface of the subject, and opens up additional conversation. But even for the non-believer, one’s body is wired for self-preservation. And if nature is all that exists, logically one has no basis to “backtalk against one’s DNA,” which has written self-preservation into the body. From either a biblical or non-biblical perspective, self-preservation is an intrinsic “good.” Why should preppers then be castigated?

One final – and extremely telling – point about “selfish preppers.” The woman who wrote this disparagingly of preppers was a government worker. This means she makes a good living off of private sector people such as myself. As a matter of fact, I cannot currently make adequate preparations for my family because I have to provide a “princessly” salary and retirement package for her (the average government worker may make a third more in salary than a private sector worker, and retires much, much earlier). But here is the kicker: If there is a disaster – which will mostly likely brought about by yet another miscalculation by the self-proclaimed “best and brightest,” (again, think Vietnam, the internet bubble, Long Term Capital Management, Jon Corzine, the housing bust, etc.)— do you know where these “important” will people go? They will go to official locations called continuity-of-government shelters!

In other words, if there is a miscalculation, and a nuclear war or an EMP or biological attack starts, they are all set to retreat to giant, specially built, lavishly equipped caverns – while you and I fend for ourselves, due to a mess of their creation! Any word from our “preppers are selfish” commentariat on that? Why not? If nothing else in this article sinks home to you, this should make crystal clear the hypocrisy behind the prepper criticism. The truth is, just as we see with today’s cronyism in high places, as George Orwell so aptly noted, “In the socialist workers’ paradise, we’ll all be equal… only some of us (usually them!) will be ‘more equal’ than the others.” Just ask Nancy Pelosi why her Congress exempted themselves, their cronies, and their districts from Obamacare if you don’t believe that.

In sum, I prepare the same reason all my ancestors did each fall: I don’t know what the winter (or in this this case, the future) will bring. While for believers, God has promised to be with us and sustain us, as the old saying goes, we can’t ask God to direct our steps if we are unwilling to move our feet. I trust, and my feet move.

Raising Chickens in an Urban Environment

Raising chickens means a source of eggs and, at times, meat. Chickens are also a great way to garner a substantial amount of natural fertilizer, and they are fantastic pest control. You may think that you don’t have the space to raise chickens if you live in an urban environment, but there are a lot of ways to make it feasible. Chickens adapt to small urban environments easily enough if you set up the proper infrastructure. With a little bit of work, it is definitely possible to raise a small flock of hens outside your city home.

The first step to raising chickens—and this is an important one—is to check the local laws or regulations that may impact the legality of raising chickens in your area. These laws and regulations usually exist at the local level, not the state level, so start your search by checking with the animal control office in your area. They should be able to let you know if it is legal to own chickens in your area, and if there are any restrictions on the number of chickens you can have. Some cities will house these ordinances online, so it’s also a good idea to check online with your local law enforcement agencies. These ordinances may prohibit you from housing roosters (since they can be extremely noisy), or from housing a certain number of chickens. If chickens are illegal or restricted in your area, you may need to apply for a license or permit in order to begin raising chickens. In some cities, people have pushed for pro-chicken ordinances in order to have the right to raise chickens on their land. Whether or not this is possible in your area, it’s important to know the limitations on raising chickens in your area before you purchase any animals.

Start Your Homesteading Before You Even Leave The City

Once you’ve ensured that raising chickens on your land is permissible, you should invest some serious time in researching different breeds of chickens. Some chickens will lay more eggs than others, while some look better or taste better once cooked. Different chicken breeds will also come in different sizes, so it’s important to choose a reasonably sized chicken for the land that you have. When dealing with some breeds, you may even be able to purchase a bantam chicken. Like a toy breed in dogs, these chickens will be significantly smaller than their regular counterparts. While you’re doing this research, check out online forums for chicken breeders and reach out to others in your area who are already doing what you’re about to do. These individuals will be able to give you a lot of advice about how to proceed, especially in crowded urban areas.

After all that, it’s important to build a strong coop that will be able to withstand the weather that your area will experience. The general rule of thumb is that you should allow four square feet per chicken inside the coop—or two square feet per bantam chicken— within the coop. Outside of the coop, each chicken should have about ten square feet—eight for bantam chickens. This may mean that you can only raise a few chickens, but it’s important to preserve quality of life for the animals you choose to raise. To save space, some homeowners build vertical chicken coops, increasing the amount of space that can be used as outside space for the chickens. After you build coops, you’ll need to build nesting boxes for your chickens to lay their eggs. A great rule of thumb is one nesting box per four hens. These boxes need to be kept dark and lined with a little bit of straw. During the day, your yard is fine for the chickens to roam in. They will freely return to their coop when they need to. If you’re living in an apartment with limited space, you can build a small run off the coop. Once you are set up to receive chickens, make sure you purchase feed for your chickens before you bring them home.

Grow Your Family’s Food

You do not need unlimited space to meet your family’s food needs. While that would be ideal, you can get along just fine with an efficiently organized garden filled with nutritious fruits and veggies. If you are juggling space between animals (chickens or goats) and growing food, it can be tough to maximize your space. One great option is a square foot garden—a box garden measured in increments of square feet. Each block in the box should be a twelve-by-twelve square, and you can make the box as little or big as you like. Set up a wooden grid over the top of the box so that you can easily separate the blocks and mark them clearly with the foods that they will house. Some great choices for a small city garden include carrots, radishes, winter greens, spinach, lettuce, and peas. If you have pets, build a flexible garden cover with chicken wire and a shade cloth to keep your cats and dogs out of the garden.

If you don’t have space for a garden, you can rely on container gardening instead. There are a wealth of available containers that will fit perfectly into your windowsills or on your kitchen counters. These are easier to maintain than traditional gardening plots, and container gardening can help you save your outdoors space for raising chickens or other animals. The best containers for these projects will be made from clay, terra cotta, or even plastic. As long as the roots of the plants that you choose have plenty of room to grow, you should be good to go. Because none of these containers will be of an unwieldy size, it should be easy for you to move the plants around to optimize their exposure to the sun as needed. Another useful strategy is the use of vertical gardening. This can be a great strategy for tomatoes, peppers, or simple kitchen herbs. Hanging baskets can be installed in your kitchen or on your balcony, and they require relatively little care.

Optimize Water Use & Waste Reduction

When you’re living in a small city space trying to create a green and self-sufficient lifestyle, one of the most important things you can do is to utilize everything, from recycled rainwater to materials that can be used as compost. Some estimates guess that rainwater collection in urban areas could shave $90 million dollars every year off of urban water bills. While rainwater can be contaminated and is not prime drinking water, it can be used for other daily activities, like laundry, toilet functions, and gardening. There are some local ordinances, however, that can restrict the purposes of rainwater in your home. Check with local law enforcement offices to see if there are ordinances that can interfere with your ability to use rainwater in your home for non-potable purposes.

With other materials, make sure that you reuse everything. Use food remnants to create compost, repurpose old clothes for your children’s clothes or new household items, and save spare parts in case you need them later on— it’s always useful to have the spare parts that you need on hand instead of purchasing new buttons, screws, or hardware every time you start a project.

Once you’ve worked these practices into your life, start investigating alternative sources of energy to power your home. You may find that solar panels are a good choice for you, especially if you’re tight on space but your roof is free. To start the journey to a completely green and self-sufficient life, incorporate simple practices into your daily life. It will make a difference!