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
Search Results for: eco-home/water-quality/water-filters
Tiny House Living
As more people downsize and choose to โlive smallโ, you have to ask: Why are tiny houses so popular? People are joining the tiny house movement for many reasons. The increase in environmental concerns, financial constraints, and the overall burden of having so much โstuffโ are just a few reasons people downsize their homes. Why
Books
Inspiration Green Book Recommendations. Selected green, eco, sustainable books to read. Plus- sources of digital books.
15 Creative DIY Garage Plans And Ideas
Your garage can be one of the unique spaces in your home. Most commonly, a garage provides you a secure place to park your vehicle and acts as a catch-all for tools and yard equipment, but there is a wide range of possibilities to improve your garage and maximize use of this space. Why Build
Bamboo Buildings
Bamboo Buildings
Tire Art
Over 1 billion tires are manufactured annually, made of synthetic rubber, natural rubber, carbon black, polyester fabric, and steel wire. Tires stay in the environment a long time. Green-thinking artists are doing something with them. The Best Tire Art Tire Frame by Chakaia Booker Pic: newcambridgeobserver.com chakaiabooker.com Male Torso that left his path by Chakaia
12 DIY Lip Balm Recipes
If you love lip balm, you know the dread when you’re down to the last few uses. Make DIY lip balm with just a few simple ingredients to save on buying it new. Lip balm is essential for facial health and looking and feeling your best. Rather than purchase a ready-made lip balm, have a
Growing Raspberries
Across the country, market demand for raspberries far exceeds availability and provides an ideal opportunity for homesteaders to cultivate the fruit for local markets as well as home use. A berry patch of an acre or less can provide a significant cash crop with little expense for equipment or supplies. Brambleberry production is ideally suited
How to Make Olive Oil
Olive oil has been an important food source, lamp fuel, religious material, cosmetic, and medicine for thousands of years. More than just a salad topping, olives join wheat and grapes as the core foods of the Mediterranean. In the modern age, it has enjoyed waves of popularity as a health food and DIY ingredient. This
Tiny House Plans
When looking for blueprints and designs for building your tiny house, the search can be arduous and overwhelming. With all the options on the internet and in books it can be hard to know which ones are worth using. Look for tiny house plans that come with detailed instructions explaining how to construct the house,
17 Of The Best Hanging Plants To Add Beautiful Greenery To Your Home
One of the most recent trends in home decor includes adding greenery to your home. Hanging baskets allow you to grow beautiful plants without sacrificing counter space. Hanging plants can add greenery inside your home and have been proven over and over to have positive impacts on your health and the air quality in your
Rodent Control Without Poison
As the weather starts to cool, rodents such as mice, rats, chipmunks, and squirrels attempt to find a warm place to stay well fed during the cold winter months. While these rodent pests are small, they can cause huge problems for homesteaders. Rodents contaminate food and indoor surfaces with salmonella and a diverse array of
23 Genius Epsom Salt Uses For Your Home, Garden, And Wellness
Epsom salt established its name 1600 years ago from the location where it was first discovered in Epsom Common, Surrey, England. It is most commonly marketed as bath products: powder, granules, crystal, flakes, and bath bombs. Although similar to common table salt in color and texture, Epsom salt and table salt are distinctly different. Epsom
35 Awesome Pallet Projects
Whether it’s because they’re an affordable option or they provide a rustic feel, pallets have become increasingly popular as a source of material for DIY projects. They can be adapted in the most simple or complicated ways, making them a great option for DIY newbies and veterans alike. With pallet chairs to pallet wall art
7 Indoor Trees To Add Some Greenery To Your Home
When one thinks of trees, visions of vast swaths of forested mountains, steamy jungles, or frosty taigas may come to mind. But not every tree needs a scenic backdrop to flourishโsome can be content to live in your home with you. And you have to admit, few things can enliven a bitty apartment or a
Tiny House Designs & Styles
Tiny houses come in many shapes and sizes. Most people consider tiny houses to be anything less than 400 sq. ft., and some even describe ~500-800 sq ft homes to be tiny. They’re certainly below the average American single family home, so it’s not unreasonable to do so. When most people think of a tiny
Homestead Fire Prevention
Many people fail to realize that they face serious wildfire danger. However, if you live in the rural prairies, foothills, or mountainous regions of North America, you are at risk. Fire is frightening, unpredictable, and life-threatening. Weakness in your homesteadโs fire protection scheme can create opportunities for a fire to take control, often because of
Flame Retardants
Flame Retardants are everywhere
Perfluorinated Compounds
Perfluorinated Compounds
Kitchen Compost Bin Options
With a greater focus on the environment than ever before, more and more people are trying to figure out how they can make a positive impact. If this sounds like you, then indoor composting might be a top solution for your home! Indoor composting is environmentally-friendly. Plus, the compost can also provide excellent fertiliser for
Celebrity Endorsements Sling Unhealthy Food to Consumers
Should celebrities be more careful about their endorsements? A new study found that celebrity endorsements of food products encourage less healthy food choices.
21 Facts About Bottled Water, The Environment, & Human Health
The plastic water bottle market in the United States is worth billions of dollars annually. Plastic water bottles can be purchased just about everywhere and they are quite convenient, but there are many problems associated with them. In fact, when you become aware of the problems and how many there are, you may never buy
Melting Ice Could Lead to Massive Waves of Climate Refugees
As the earth warms, the melting of the earthโs two massive ice sheetsโAntarctica and Greenlandโcould raise sea level enormously. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, it would raise sea level 7 meters (23 feet). Melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea level 5 meters (16 feet). But even just partial melting of these ice sheets will have a dramatic effect on sea level rise.
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?
Health
๐ฅ Food
Traditional Lawns: Their Environmental Harm & Practical Replacements
Lawns, as we know them, have held their landscaping tyranny over our yards for far too long. Backed by out-of-touch homeowners associations (HOAs), zoning requirements, cultural expectations, and longstanding history of conformity, lawns have kept too many of us out spraying, mowing, reseeding, and weeding for no good reason. Itโs time for a change. Watch
20 Free Porch Swing Plans for Warmer Days
With beautiful weather upon us, there’s no better time to build your very own porch swing. Sure, you could purchase a porch swing that’s already assembled and finished — but you’d miss out on huge DIY benefits! A porch swing is a great entry-level building project for people with beginner to intermediate experience. You can
How To Get Rid Of Mildew Smell To Freshen Your Space
Mildew is a type of fungus that produces a distinct, foul odor. The growth is often confused with mold which has a different texture and is usually darker. Mildew has been linked to health issues like respiratory problems, skin irritation, and chronic fatigue. Often, the terms mold and mildew are used interchangeably. Mildew growth occurs
The Best Amazon Prime Day Deals For Homesteaders
Amazon’s massive Prime Day promotion started Monday, July 15th at 12 am PT. They’ll be announcing deals throughout the day. This year’s Prime Day will last for 48 hours. Each deal will be one of four types: Prime Day Deals: Deep discounts on top products that last until Amazon runs out of stock (in some cases,
Insteading Giveaway – December 2019
Regardless of whether you had a large harvest of food from the garden this year, or simply found a lot of cucumbers on sale at the grocery store, preserving food is an excellent way to provide yourself with a little more self-sufficiency in the winter months. While canning and dehydrating are common methods of food
Ten (More) Ways to Change the World Through Social Media
Blogging, social news, peer-to-peer philanthropy, microblogging, social networking, wikis, video sharing, and more. These are the new agents of change. Back in May, we penned the original 10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media. Though most of those first 10 are still relevant, the pace of innovation and advancement on the social web
Homestead Stories: The Burglar Bear
We were living down the canyon in a big, round house with a 45-minute drive one way just to get to the grocery store. So we grew some of our own produce and raised chickens (and a duck) for eggs. Living out in the woods with gardens surrounding your house and a small flock of
Tiny House Cost
Tiny houses vary widely in cost. The factors that are going to impact the final price tag of your tiny house are: The type of materials you use (natural materials, salvaged or new) The systems and features you chose (off-grid or on-the-grid) Whether you are building it yourself or hiring a builder If youโll be
Natural Roach Killer
Unless youโre a roach-loving entomologist, chances are you canโt stand having little critters all over your kitchen. Not only are they unsightly, but they are also known to be allergy triggers, especially for those who have been diagnosed with asthma. According to Pest World, cockroaches are said to spread at least 33 kinds of bacteria,
20+ DIY Indoor Hanging Planters to Refresh Your Home
Science tells us that indoor plants offer benefits such as reduced stress, improved attention, and a boost in productivity. Additionally, plants have a positive impact on a homeโs indoor air quality. Indoor plants are great for those who enjoy gardening, and they also add a decorative touch. One way to get creative is by making
20 Outdoor Showers for Your Lake or Poolside Home
If you live near a river or lake, you know how frustrating it is when sand gets tracked into your house. It makes a mess, it’s dirty, and once it’s made its way into your home, there’s no turning back. It’s there for what feels like forever, and let’s not forget about all the dirty
Cob House Interiors
Earthy and warm, the inside of cob homes exude an incomparable charm.
20 Smart Uses For Shredded Paper Around The Home
Many people use a lot more paper than they should. From printing to scribbling down notes, itโs easy to waste paper without even realizing it. Finding ways to reuse paper scraps around the home can help folks cut down on paper-based waste and put shredded paper products to good use.ย So before you toss those
Can I Compost Peanut Shells?
Learn how to optimally prepare peanut shells for composting, and explore the benefits they bring to a compost system. Find out the necessary details on how to process them, and the conditions needed to prevent potential composting issues.
Can I Compost Garlic?
Inclusion of garlic in compost pile is a double-edged sword. Although it boosts the nourishment of your compost, large quantities of garlic scraps can significantly impact your pile, especially its microbial action.
Best Cordless Drill Combo Set
When thereโs a need for a cordless drill, close by is the need for an impact driver. The two tools are the proverbial salt and pepper shakers on the carpenterโs table. The drill and impact driver are quintessential tools to fasten materials and drill holes. Without them, youโll be stuck spending extra time and energy
Can I Compost Mushrooms?
Discover how to compost mushrooms, everything from preparation and composting methods, to potential issues and alternatives. Gain insights about how adding mushrooms to your compost pile can enhance the nutrient content and help improve your garden soil.
Controlled Burns: Everything You Should Know
Fire has always been a part of our environment just like water, earth, and air. Believe it or not, fire is one of the most essential natural agents of change because it plays a vital role in maintaining certain ecosystems. Native Americans have understood this and used fire to maintain prairies, keep the ecosystem healthy,
Best Work Gloves
Work gloves protect construction folks and DIYers alike from cuts, bruises, scrapes, and other nasty events. They also eliminate the chafing and blistering that can result from hands coming into direct contact with construction materials or work equipment. Get A Material Tough Enough For Your Work The first thing to look for in good work
Buying Ethical Meat At The Store
So youโre at the supermarket, standing in the chilly wasteland of the meat aisle. Youโre looking at all the options and wondering how do you really know which brand or label is better for the environment, the animal and your body. Perhaps wondering if there is any substantial difference at all. The biggest problem with
Can I Compost Parchment Paper?
Find out how to compost parchment paper with this comprehensive guide. Discover which types of parchment paper are compostable and which should be avoided due to their chemical coatings. Follow proper preparation and optimal composting techniques to ensure a healthy and efficient composting process.
Best Wood Planer
A benchtop planer is beneficial in any wood shop to accurately plane a plank of wood to a desired, consistent thickness. Itโs important to note that when it comes to the benchtop planers that are on the market, you should be more concerned with the quality of the final product rather than the strength of
40 Large Planters For Trees And Flowers
When you’re planning your garden for the upcoming spring, you may find yourself quickly running out of space in your yard, garden beds, and hanging planters, but who says you have to pick and choose what plants you want just because your yard is full? The deck, patio, and front porch are all free for
35 Fun DIY Indoor Activities For Weekends And Rainy Days
Whether the rain is pouring down from the sky or you just have a weekend without any plans, there are plenty of fun ways to keep the whole family entertained while stuck inside. Having a blast indoors doesnโt have to mean a big expense, and many of the following suggestions are perfect for both kids