Sustainable Homes

Power

• Solar Power, Heating and Cooling +
• Solar Cooking
• Wood Stoves
• Stirling Engines
• Biomass gassification (for internal combustion engines/generators)
• Wind Energy +
• Internal combustion steam engines

Food

• chicken, fish, garden (automated), goat milk, bees / honey
• greenhouses

Clothing

Water

• Pumps
• Grey-water Recovery and Treatment
• Rain Water Catchment
• Water from the Air +
• Water Wells +
• Showers

Transportation

Paint

Products worth purchasing.

Why we need to be Sustainable: The story of Easter Island

Living in Asteroids +

Also:

• Home Farms This seperate page is devoted to those people who not only live in homes that are sustainable (energy effecient, off grid, recycleing, etc...) but who also grow food for themselves and for others.

See also:

• http://tinyidahomes.com/ Tiny Idahomes+
• http://www.cleantektv.com A clearinghouse for green technology inventors, startups, investors and news with video introductions and links.
• http://www.oasisdesign.net Oasis Design — Ecological systems design. Water, wastewater, and grey water systems, edible landscaping, transport bicycles, and more. Books, articles, and consulting.
• http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/device/devicesToC.html Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them by Rolfe Cobleigh Associate Editor American Agriculturist Illustrated New York Orange Judd Company 1910+
• http://www.travisproducts.com/CostOfHeating_WkSht.asp Online calculator evaluates different fuel sources, considers cost of energy, converts to $/million BTU, and gives a quick monthly estimate of costs. Nice for a quick and dirty fuel cost comparison.
• http://www.greenfret.com/fuels.html Yet another online fuel cost calculator, written by a friend of mine. Compares oddball fuel like wood pellets, corn, and conmventional fuels like electricity and propane. You get to enter combustion efficiency numbers, allowing you to compare furnace efficiencies. Includes CO2 production from various fuels.
• http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=1885 Weather monitoring equipment (especially temperature reporting) has been found to have been placed in locations that would cause incorrect readings. For example, some were near AC system exhausts or in the center of black top parking lots. As a result, NASA has repeatedly revised it's listing of the hottest years on record. This article examines what real impact this finding has.+
• http://www.greenbuilder.com/ Everything about green building. Finding professional builders with a green bent, green realestate, and a really good sourcebook.+
• http://www.patternliteracy.com/urban.html Peak Oil and Urban Sustainability. Absolutely brilliant article about where you want to be when the shit hits the fan...+
• http://www.tilth.org/ Oregon Tilth is a nonprofit research and education membership organization dedicated to biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture. Tilth's history begins in 1974, as an agricultural organization with a unique urban-rural outlook.+
• http://www.treepeople.org TreePeople is a SoCal sustainability think tank speciallizing in water management and sustainability.+
• http://www.growingpower.org/will_allen.htm after a decade in the corporate world, he realized something was missing. “I needed the farm — it’s so real and so satisfying,” he says. “Mostly, I wanted that life for my kids.”
• http://www.motherearthnews.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4690&SearchTerms=,well Digging a well+
• http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com Very small, but very nice, afordable and sustainable homes.
• http://theepicenter.com/tipoweek.html disaster prep tips
• http://www.sustainabilityzone.com
• http://www.primitiveways.com
• http://www.compostingtoilet.org/ More than you every wanted to know about composting toilets.+
• http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/handouts/chippendale.htm Solar energy, rain water collection, wastewater treatement under a deck made of radiall-sawn hardwood timber (stringybark) which was laid green so the resins in the timber protect it against termites;
• http://www.journeytoforever.org How to resources from a small Asian NGO (Non-Government Organization)
• http://www.heifer.org/Get_Involved/Learning_Centers/Ceres_Center.shtml Heifer has a learning center in Ceres California "Guests are invited to drop in at any time or schedule field trips, half- and full-day education programs and multi-day service learning programs."
• http://www.developmentbookshop.com Europes leading online bookshop for international development and technology.
• http://www.gardenofwar.gq.nu/mill/millnotes.html Lumber mill.+
• http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/tresl39.html Making a chainsaw lumber cutting guide.+
• http://www.eddiem.com/projects/csmill/mill.htm Aluminum ladder chain saw mill for cutting lumber.
• http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/models/solderer.pdf A simple spot welder using a car battery charger/starter is detailed here:
• http://infoarchive.net/ Message group archive with a large section on sustainability
• http://www.homepower.com
• http://www.humboldt1.com/~michael.welch/extras/
• http://blogthoreau.blogspot.com/  Thoreau's Journal presented as a web log or 'blog. Much reflection on living with nature. Perhaps this should be listed on a page about nature, but it is the spirit, if not the technicality of sustainable homes that is presented by Mr. Thoreau.
• http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/mspong/about.html The Household Cyclopedia - Knowledge of the ages.
• File a Homestead exemption:
  • http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/arcc/services/homestead.html
  • http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=704.710-704.850
  • http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/arcc/resources/rd_forms.html
  • Legal description:

    you will need to enter the address and legal description of the property which you wish to declare as your homestead. While you will certainly know your address, the legal description is a bit more complicated. You can find the legal description of your property on the deed to your house. You should be able to find your deed in the stack of papers you were given when you first bought your house. If you can't find your deed, you can obtain a copy from the county recorder's office.

    The legal description of a single family residence looks something like this:

    "THE WEST 50 FEET OF THE NORTH 140 FEET OF THE EAST 60 FEET OF LOT 13 OF TRACT NO. 9999, AS PER MAP RECORDED IN BOOK 100, PAGE 00 OF MAPS, IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY"

Tips For a Lifetime!

1--Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips

2--Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot griddle-perfect shaped pancakes every time.

3--To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

4--To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the water before hard-boiling.

5--Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies treats in the pan-the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.

6--To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter before squeezing.

7--To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a  boil on stove top-skillet will be much easier to clean now

8--Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces-no more stains.

9--When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead-no white mess on the outside of the cake.

10-If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato-it absorbs the excess salt for an instant "fix me up."

11-Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator-it will keep for weeks.

12-Brush beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

13-Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it back up.

14-When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corns natural sweetness.

15-To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh-if it rises to the surface, throw it away.

16-Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

17-Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

18-If you have problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

19-Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

20-To get rid of itch from mosquito bite: try applying soap on the area for instant relief.

21-Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march-see for yourself.

22-Use air-freshener to clean mirrors: It does a good job and better still, leave a lovely smell to the shine.

23-When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

24-NOW Look what you can do with Alka Seltzer:

*Clean a toilet. Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush, and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.

*Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.

*Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.

*Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary). Don't put the cap on.

*Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka-Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.

25-If your VCR has a year setting on it, which most do, you will not be able to use the programmed recording feature after 12/31/99. Don't throw it away. Instead set it for the year 1972 as the days are the same as the year 2000. The manufacturers won't tell you. They want you to buy a new Y2K VCR.

Pass this along to all your friends.

BBob says:

Rub the crack [in a transmission or oil pan] with a bar of bath soap. That should hold until the wet season or river fording, which ever happens first...Great gasket prep, oil or fuel. Varying amounts of spittle required to achieve the proper consistency for the application.

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Questions:

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