We all love the idea of growing our own, but the idea of growing chicken and farming eggs often seems daunting- until you see this awesome DIY chicken coop!
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Tiny House Made from Big Dumpster
There’s dumpster diving, then there’s this – maybe we should call it dumpster dwelling? The Homeless Homes project is turning urban waste into small homes.
You Need Chickens: Backyard Chickens and Why They’re Great
Fluffball and Arrow, our two urban chickens, are pretty much the greatest pets ever.
What if You Woke Up Tomorrow and Cinnabon Was Vegan?
I’ve never eaten at (or a) Cinnabon. I’ve smelled the cloying aroma wafting through shopping malls inappropriately mixing with department store perfumes and greasy Sbarro pizza. It offends me not just as a vegan who can’t eat anything at a Cinnabon, but also as a human being who prides myself on my ability to not face dive into gobs of white flour and sugar in the name of something resembling a breakfast food. We need Cinnabons on earth about as much as we need the shopping malls they live in.
Zeer Pot Refrigerator Keeps Food Fresh Without Electricity
This is a great tutorial for building a Zeer Pot refrigerator that will allow you to keep food fresher, longer, and keep you totally off the grid, as well!
Apple Juice Is Not Healthy For Kids (Or You)
Apple juice is the quintessential kid’s drink, right? It turns out that your child’s favorite drink isn’t so healthy.
Florida Law Makes Living Off The Grid Illegal
If you’re in Florida and hope to live a more sustainable lifestyle free from the influence of energy companies and massive agricultural conglomerates by adding solar panels to your home, harvesting rainwater, and planting an organic garden on your property- watch out. Citing the International Property Maintenance Code, city officials in Cape Coral, FL are […]
Generation Gap: Wind Power Opens Big Lead over Nuclear in China
In 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. Then in 2013, wind pulled away—outdoing nuclear by 22 percent. The 135 terawatt-hours of Chinese wind-generated electricity in 2013 would be nearly enough to power […]
DIY Teardrop Trailer for Camping and Survival
Watch as this man builds a DIY teardrop trailer from a generic pull-behind using simple tools and an old manual- a perfect low-budget bug out shelter that can be towed by just about anything!
5 Gallon Bucket Gardening: Seven Ways to Reuse Plastic Buckets for Growing Food
We usually discuss container gardening in the context of space: if you live in an apartment, or have a small yard, containers might be your best bet. But even though I’ve got space for gardening – not a ton, but enough – I’m thinking about incorporating containers more this year. Not only are they mobile, […]
Forage the Urban Bounty: 11 Crowdsourced Maps of Edible Plants
The art of foraging goes back to our hunter-gatherer days, but most of us don’t spend much time any more walking the neighborhood looking for edible weeds and fruit trees. That’s changing, though, as many try to simplify and take advantage of food that’s available for the taking in our yards, parks, and other green […]
Planned-opolis: Planning the City’s Future
Planned-opolis – Planning the Cities Future
DIY Prepper Project: Build Your Own Motorhome (w/ video)
One of the topics that regularly comes up on the prepper/post-collapse pages I frequent is the bug out vehicle. Almost no other topic brings up more diverse and “energetic” opinions than what the best bug out car, truck, or SUV really is. One thing that does seem certain, however, is that you should be prepared […]
DIY Drip Irrigation System Costs Less than $10!
Have you been thinking about starting a vegetable garden but don’t want to deal with watering? A cheap DIY drip irrigation system is your solution!
USDA Recommends Deregulation of 2,4-D Resistant GMO Crops: What’s the Big Deal?
Last week the USDA released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on newly developed 2,4-D resistant genetically modified corn and soybean traits. As the internet exploded with pro-biotech advocacy celebrating the move towards deregulation of yet another GMO product line, I couldn’t help noticing the number of straw men participating in the debate! Just so the ‘no thank you’ side of the unfolding 2,4-D debacle is fairly represented, here’s why some sustainability enthusiasts don’t consider this potential ‘alternative’ even a little tiny bit preferred.
Camping: the Kahuna Camping Kayak Concept
What you’re looking at here is a pretty novel outdoor sporting concept called the Kahuna – a lightweight composite-bodied outrigger kayak that’s ready at a moment’s to put you up for the night when you’re way, way off the grid. The Kahuna was a Hobie Kayaks design project with industrial designer Mario Weiss, and was […]
Processed Food vs. Whole Foods: Where does Tofu Stand?
There’s a perception that tofu is a highly processed food, but is it really as bad as haters would have you believe?
U.S. Nuclear Power in Decline
Nuclear 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 early 2000s. It then plateaued between 2007 and 2010—before falling more than 4 percent over the last two years. Projections for 2013 show a further 1 percent drop. With reactors retiring early and proposed projects being abandoned, U.S. nuclear power’s days are numbered.
13 George Orwell Quotes Make 2013 Seem Like 1984
There’s no doubt about it, we live in a weird time in American history. Consider that our phones are tapped, our conversations are recorded, our purchases are monitored. Heck, even curiosity is becoming a crime! Some people are coping with these realizations by laughing about them, while others are fighting back, getting arrested, and getting […]
Vegan Athletics: The PCRM VegRun Program
The folks at Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) launched a plant-based running program, and they offered me a free account to try it out. I jumped at the change to prove that vegan athletics are totally possible!
Gary Pickering Builds “Tiny House” Survival Pods for the Homeless (w/ video)
Gary Pickering is making the world a better place by donating a number of self-built, portable ‘micro-houses’ to Utah’s homeless people in an effort to help them survive the area’s harsh winter weather conditions. How’d he come up with that? They say that necessity is the mother of invention. For Gary Pickering, years of being […]
DIY How-to: Build a $300 in-Ground Greenhouse (w/ plans)
Farmers have been trying to extend the growing season of their crops for hundreds of years. So far, the greenhouse has been the dominant technology, since it doesn’t usually require electricity to operate. The problem with setting up an off-the-grid greenhouse is that the typical, “glazed glass” structure can be prohibitively expensive to construct. That’s […]
Blast From the Past? Las Vegas Home Features Epic Bomb Shelter! (w/ video)
Remember “Blast from the Past“, that late-90s cold-war parody/rom-com that starred Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone and told the story of a family that built a lavish underground bomb shelter beneath their LA home to ride out the apocalypse in? It was pretty terrible, but the weird thing about that movie is that it could […]
How to Get Maggots to Take Over Your Kitchen, On Purpose (w/ video)
In the future, we’re going to be eating bugs. I think that’s the real message of schmeat and the Eat-a-Bug cookbook. Oh, and that thing, up there. It’s called the Farm 432, and it promises to turn 1 gram of black fly maggots larvae into 2.4 kilograms of high-protein, low-fat black fly maggots larvae every […]
Why Did You Think They Were Called “Heirloom Seeds”?
Most of us in the Western world get the majority of our food from the local grocery store. Generally, they are huge buildings that are stocked with an amazing variety of food from across the planet. These massive food stores, however, depend on a supply chain that is much more fragile than it might appear […]
Blue Green Box Helps Turn Your Aquarium into a Hydroponic Fish Farm (w/ video)
Urban farming, living off the grid, surviving a zombie apocalypse, spaceflight, and Formula 1 racing. Those seemingly unrelated activities do, in fact, have something in common: the people who are successful at them understand that 1 object can serve many purposes. Sometimes it’s a wood-chopping axe that you use to bust open zombie skulls, other […]
Watch and Share: Genetic Scientist’s TED Talk Indicts GMO Agriculture
Dr. Thierry Vrain spent most of his working life advocating for biotechnology companies, as a soil biologist and genetic engineering enthusiast. In his recent TED talk Vrain systematically unravels the biotech spin, from the perspective of a scientist who can no longer ignore a growing body of evidence that GMOs cause problems. No matter how desperately chemical companies seek to paint critics as anti-science, reality rears its evidence-based head: considering everything we’ve learned since 1996, genetically engineered food crops deserve our best and most enthusiastic skepticism.
Coke – Not Pepsi – Removes Carcinogenic Caramel Coloring
According to CEH, last year both Coke and Pepsi agreed to remove 4-MEI, a known carcinogen, from its caramel coloring, but only Coke has fully followed through.
SunOven: the Ultimate Off-the-grid Cooking Tool for Post-apocalyptic Foodies (w/ video)
Solar ovens are long-lasting, zero-emission cooking tools that use no fuel – making them perfect for both off-the-grid cooking and developing countries that don’t have access to a reliable grid to begin with. In an effort to get healthy, well-cooked food to these nations, the American SunOven company has put together a series of initiatives […]
“Grass-Fed” On The Label: What It Does (And Doesn’t) Tell You
What does the “grass-fed” label really mean? The USDA’s grass-fed labeling standard tells you a lot, but what it doesn’t tell you is just as important.
Renzo Piano Builds a Haute Shiver Shack For Off-the-Grid Singles
Italian architect Renzo Piano has come up with a small, simple-living home design that could is less of a shiver shack and more of a one-person, off the grid castle – and, if you’re in the market for a “tiny house” and you have an eye for going off grid, you’ll want to pay attention, because it doesn’t get much better than this …
Skinnygirl Exposed (Again): Not-So Naturally Flavored Vodkas
Bethenny Frankel recently unveiled four new Skinnygirl flavors: Mojito, Sweet ‘n Tart Grapefruit Margarita, Moscato and White Cherry Vodka. And while all of them sound kind of suspect, I am particularly suspect about the “natural” flavored vodkas. As I wrote in Skinnygirl Wine Exposed, the Skinnygirl wine’s low-calorie positioning is nothing more than marketing and promotional bluster (low calorie […]
Top 10 Most Common GMO Foods
Genetically modified food is already present in the supermarkets. We don’t always know which foods are GMO and which are non-GMO. Besides looking for label, here are 10 foods that are commonly GMO.
Bel Brands USA Responds To Red Wax Wrapper Question
A few weeks ago I posted about Mini Baby Bel’s red wax wrapper and how the company could not confirm that the red dye doesn’t leach into the cheese it contains. Here is the response I received. Dear Miss Kaplan, Thank you for contacting us. Our wax is composed of fully refined paraffin wax, micro-crystalline […]
5 Things You Absolutely Need To Know About GMOs
What’s all the fuss about? Even if you’re out of the loop on the GMO debate, here are five things you want to know about GMOs and the food supply. 1. GMOs are hidden in many foods. It turns out that genetic engineering is used in the production of countless products. For example, additives made from GM […]
Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Red Covers May Leach Dye
According to a recent email from the Feingold Association of the United States, Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Mild Cheddar suggests that Laughing Cow “was unable to be sure if the dye in the red plastic cover will leach out into the cheese.” You know which red plastic (I thought it was wax!) covers we are talking […]
Top 10 Reasons I Love My Dehydrator!
We met about three years ago, on my birthday. I’d checked out his profile, and knew he was interesting… but I never dreamed how well we’d hit it off! I’ll never have a dehydrator-free kitchen again, if I can help it — here’s why!
Similac Organic Formula: Is it healthier?
Choosing the best formula for your baby is tricky business! Similac makes an organic formula, but how healthy is this option for your child?
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill to Allow Horse Slaughter
On Friday, Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin signed a bill to allow horse slaughter within the state.
Wanderlust Festival brings mindful joy, healthy living to north shore of Oahu
Creating community around mindful living. Traveling the world meeting a cultural demand that’s already there, and just fulfilling it.That’s the job description for John Krasno and Seane Hoess, founders of Wanderlust. They’ve been doing this for a while, but they’ve found new elements to incorporate in the Oahu Wanderlust–especially surfing. Seeing the correlation between surfing […]
Spotted: Growing Mushrooms in…a Laundry Basket?
I’ve used a mushroom-growing kit before and seen folks growing mushrooms in those innoculated logs, but over the weekend I stumbled on a different – and versatile! – way to grow mushrooms: in a laundry basket!
The DIY Soil Block Maker: 7 Plans
Want to try using soil blocks for starting your garden seeds this year? You can buy a soil blocker… or make your own from one of these DIY plans.
Avoiding Mid-Life Crises With a Life Course Correction: Burning Man
Men approaching 40 often hit what is termed a “mid-life crisis”. They dump their old car and buy something they can’t afford with lots of horsepower and a sexy exterior. They start jumping out of planes. And often, they divorce their wives in the pursuit of younger women. The underlying cause is a feeling of […]
What is an Intentional Community?
Have you come across the phrase “intentional community,” but didn’t really understand what it meant? Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage resident Ma’ikwe Schaub Ludwig provides an insiders look at what it means to live in such a community.
Tea During Pregnancy: Which Ones Are Safe?
Not all herbal teas are safe when you’re pregnant, but many are A-OK! So, what’s the skinny on tea during pregnancy?
Vegan-izing Your Holiday Favorites
As the holidays approach, so do the family get-togethers, office parties, and dinners. For those of us living a vegan lifestyle, finding something to eat can be challenging, to say the least. The good news, however, is that it is easier now than ever before to choose vegan eating options – even during the holidays. Many holiday favorites can be “veganized” with a little advanced planning.
The Great Transition, Part I: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy
The 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 and climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new world energy economy is emerging. The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced with an economy powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy.
Quinoa and Barley Give Healthy Eating a Good Reputation
In late August, I discovered that barley is a tasty and much healthier alternative for brown rice. After that menu-changing discovery, I wondered how quinoa compared. I cooked with it and did a little research. Here’s what I found.
October Unprocessed: Unsweetened Crock Pot Applesauce
When I first learned about October Unprocessed, the question that immediately came to mind is: what defines processed food? This crock pot applesauce recipe contains no refined or added sugars and should work for your month of unprocessed eating, no matter how strict you decide to be.
The DIY Aquaponics System: 6 Plans for Bringing Fish and Plants Together to Grow Food
Putting fish and plants together in a closed loop (that’s organic by necessity) strikes me as a brilliant use of biomimicry… or, at least the notion that “waste equals food” in the natural world. But can a backyard tinkerer put together an aquaponics system on the cheap?
