Insteading
Homesteading & Sustainability
Most of us were raised on flush toilets. You go in the bathroom, do what you’ve got to do, and then the press of a shiny lever flushes all your unpleasantries into oblivion, never to be thought of …
Continue Reading about 5 DIY Composting Toilet Ideas And Details To Consider →
Why is it a slow or clogged drain always seems to occur at the worst possible moment? You're busy preparing a dinner party, company is soon to arrive, and now you find the water in the guest bathroom …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1angHnp6PIEYou want a place to kick back and relax in your backyard, your teenager wants a space to hang out with their friends, and your kids want a place to …
Continue Reading about This Shed’s Sliding Walls Unveil A Beautiful Garden Studio →
Earth day is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than choosing to make some positive changes in your everyday life!Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint, teach your …
I love beeswax. It’s all-natural, versatile, and smells amazing. I used to use soy wax for everything I did, but after switching to beeswax, I have no idea why I ever used soy!I’m big into DIY …
Lead contamination. Chlorine and fluoride. E.coli. Fracking pollutants. Toxins and pharmaceuticals. There are so many things that might be mixed in the water that flows from the faucet, that turning …
Continue Reading about Rainwater Harvesting: The Basics And Why You Should Start Today →
Diatomaceous earth (DE), also known as diatomite, is a soft sedimentary rock made up of the fossils of algae-like organisms called diatoms. It’s 80-90% silica and usually comes in the form of a fine, …
Continue Reading about Diatomaceous Earth: 14 Surprising Everyday Uses →
I started making my own soap out of necessity, but eventually it became one of our farm products. Around 2000, I started having severe rashes. I had combination allergies, which made me allergic to …
Converting a school bus into a permanent residence is a bit like a coming-of-age story. You take a school bus, probably one very similar to the one you rode in elementary school, gut it entirely, and …
The Quonset hut, designed for military use, is finding its way into contemporary living— with some important upgrades.The original huts, developed on Quonset Island, Rhode Island, were cheap, …
Geodesic domes are enjoying a resurgence as more people seek out eco-friendly building options . Architect Buckminster Fuller invented the geodesic dome. The American Institute of Architects calls it …
There's a charm to underground homes and so-called 'hobbit homes', but many former owners of such buildings have moved out due to problems with moisture and related conditions. But, earth might be the …
It's prom season, and no one's giving any thought to the fact that all of the guys who show up are wearing used clothes. Renting a tuxedo is part of the experience for high school boys; the girls, …
Continue Reading about 5 Places To Donate Prom Dresses For Reuse →
While I can't say for certain, I'd guess that recycling's become so associated with environmental responsibility because it plugs right into our consumer society. As long as you know which materials …
Jeremy Howard isn't a doctor, but he can play one--scratch that; he can be one--by teaching a computer how to teach itself to do valuable diagnostic testing. Because the computers that Howard …
Continue Reading about Your Computer Overlords are Almost Here →
Every collected cans to take to a recycler in exchange for cash? It's one of the first ways many of us earn a little money: the five-year-old who lives across the alley from me always stops me …
You deserve the right to repair your own car. You deserve the right to jailbreak your own phone. You deserve the right to fix your own stuff.This is the manifesto of the iFixit revolution, which …
By J. Matthew RoneyIn China, wind power is leaving nuclear behind. Electricity output from China’s wind farms exceeded that from its nuclear plants for the first time in 2012, by a narrow margin. …
Continue Reading about Generation Gap: Wind Power Opens Big Lead over Nuclear in China →
By J. Matthew RoneyNuclear power generation in the United States is falling. After increasing rapidly since the 1970s, electricity generation at U.S. nuclear plants began to grow more slowly in the …
Introducing the FlameStower, a portable charger for small electronics that converts heat energy to electrical energy to keep your high-tech gadgets alive off the grid. Way off, if it comes to …
Continue Reading about Charge Your Cell Phone with Fire! (w/ video) →
Imagine a terrible disaster that leaves the air toxic and the soil contaminated with radiation. A disaster like that, one like Fukushima or Chernobyl or London towards the end of 28 Days Later, that …
Continue Reading about Cyborg Insects May be Post-apocalyptic First-responders →
By Lester R. BrownThe great energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way. As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about pollution …
Continue Reading about The Great Transition, Part I: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy →
By J. Matthew RoneyWind power is the world’s leading source of renewable electricity, excluding hydropower, with 238,000 megawatts of capacity installed at the start of 2012. Thus far, almost all of …
Continue Reading about Offshore Wind Energy Development Picking Up Pace →
It's rare to see a professional athlete photographed without a bottle of water in hand. The packaging of water bottles features snowy alpine lakes or cool minimalist designs. Bottled water is sold to …
Upcycling is one of the best things you can do both to save money, and to reduce waste. Sustainability can become a way of life through simple reuse, whether practical or decorative. That can also …
Continue Reading about 10 Creative Upcycling Ideas Anyone – Even the Non-Crafty – Can Do →
The holiday season is approaching, with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all in quick succession. This is a busy time of the year, where many people find themselves looking for cheap and …
Continue Reading about 5 Ideas for Recycled, DIY Christmas Wreaths →
Urban lumberjacking is a new term that has been coined to describe a growing core of people who seek lumber in urban situations. Typically the urban lumberjack’s activities include diving into skips …
Continue Reading about The Urban Lumberjack – The Accidental Eco-Warrior of the City →
Living off the grid sounds romantic...no more bills from dirty energy companies, self-sufficiency, green power, etc.; however, there is one "dirty little secret" found in most alternative energy …
Continue Reading about Propane: The “Dirty Little Secret” of Living Off the Grid →
For a long time we have been hearing that "Organic is the fastest growing segment of the food industry." Organic advocates make the claim that Organic could "feed the world" or that it could be …
Continue Reading about Why Does Organic Seem Larger Than It Is? →
Between the Arab Spring, the weird weather, and, well, the Casey Anthony trial, you may have missed the fact that 2011 was proclaimed "The International Year of Forests" by the UN General Assembly. …
Continue Reading about 5 Successful Reforestation Projects →
I tend to be a "glass half full" sort of person, particularly about the prospects of successfully feeding the 9-10 billion people we expect by 2050. My optimism is based on daily contact with …
Continue Reading about 10 Existential Threats To Global Agriculture →
[social_buttons]I'm probably going to irritate some people with this post. I apologize in advance because that is not at all my intention. For those readers that don't think …
Continue Reading about Organic Farming Would Be Better In Terms of Climate Change Impact. Right? →
In my previous post, I brought up the sustainability prism and the link between personal happiness or peace and the other three, traditional components of sustainability theory -- economy, equity, and …
Continue Reading about Personal Happiness and the Economy: A Sustainability Link →
Are you worried that an organic garden on the White House grounds might cause some Americans to start eating a wide variety of chemical-free, locally grown produce? The Mid America CropLife …
Continue Reading about Pesticide Lobby Bugged by Michelle Obama's White House Organic Garden →
ABC news' Brian Hartman has reported what many have been wishfully waiting to hear for months: the Obamas will soon plant an organic vegetable garden on the White House South grounds.Following a 60 …
Continue Reading about White House to Plant Organic Vegetable Garden →
Paper appears to be high on the agenda of a number of organizations this week. It’s necessary. Paper is so ubiquitous – from tissues to toilet paper to memo pads to catalogs to the mess on your desk - …
