As promised, here is my discussion with permaculture guru Paul Wheaton of his book, Build a Better World in Your Backyard.
self reliance
Needs Are Problems Looking for Solutions, not Products
The marketing industry has trained us well to buy products that will supposedly solve all of life’s problems. But you might already have what you need.
How to Make Natural Wood Stain with Homemade Vinegar
Combine vinegar with steel wool to make a dark, rich wood stain I have been on the lookout for photo backgrounds for months. I’ve checked out expensive wooden cutting boards and pricey marble pastry slabs and giant pieces of natural fabrics but I’d feel silly buying a bunch of backgrounds for photos that I hope […]
By Popular Demand: Online LIVE Sourdough Bread Workshop
So many people have asked for it and here it is: an online, interactive, sourdough bread workshop Years ago I taught myself to make delicious sourdough bread—and didn’t bake a really good loaf for months. Drastically shorten your learning curve! The first person who took my sourdough bread class baked a wonderful loaf—on his first […]
How to Sew a Bento Bag
Family, friends and coworkers, please stop reading now… And if you don’t sew, you can also skip this post and buy an original, proper bento bag from Ambatalia, a small, locally owned producer of gorgeous textile goods made from natural fibers and purveyor of daily essentials to help you live “a non-disposable life.” Check out […]
Coconut Milk Made from Dried Coconut
I make my own coconut milk for several reasons: Store-bought coconut milk is packaged in either wasteful cans lined with plastic or hard-to-recycle and even more wasteful Tetra-Paks that contain plastic Many of these plastics contain BPA or a replacement that is just as harmful Store-bought often contains food-like and suspect ingredients Homemade contains only […]
Please Do not Turn Zero Waste into Another Consumer Lifestyle
Every day, companies contact me about a “fantastic opportunity to collaborate” and peddle their wares for them on here, wares that apparently no zero waster can live without. I can’t possibly respond to all the messages I get, so I generally ignore these pitches—even for products and services I might like. But when I do […]
9 Items I Banned from My Kitchen and How I Replaced Them
In 2011, my daughter MK and I decided we would try to live without plastic. Because I’ve been at this for a while, I take for granted many of the early changes we made back then to wean ourselves off of the stuff. But with all the welcome press lately on the plastic pollution crisis […]
Lemon Extract
I feel as though have a part-time job at the moment finding uses for the lemons that our tree rains down upon us. If I had more than one lemon tree as prolific as this one, I would lose my mind. Or I would list the location of my trees on Falling Fruit, a site […]
Go Plastic-Free This Year (or Close to It)
If you’ve arrived at this blog, you’re probably aware of the plastic pollution problem so I won’t spend time discussing it. You can read recent news on that here, here and here. Instead, I’ll discuss changes we can make in our own lives. Individual choices may not seem like much in the face of this disaster but […]
Doggy Approved Puréed Bone Treat
Before I start this post, let me point out that I am neither a vet nor a dog nutritionist, if that’s a thing, which it likely is because where I live, we have not one but two dog ophthalmologists (that I know of). I don’t have a dog. I had hoped my cat Bootsy might […]
Homemade Pasta
When we cut the plastic back in 2011, I swapped many store-bought foods for homemade versions, such as: Cookies Crackers Cereal Canned pumpkin Canned tomatoes Many other foods, including those that don’t begin with the letter “c,” such as pasta If you love pasta and start on the zero-waste path, finding a replacement for it […]
How to Grow Basil from Cuttings
I’m so excited about this tip, I decided it deserved its own blog post, rather than just a footnote in another post (which I had originally planned to do). I buy basil often at the farmers market. When I get it home, I store the bunches in jars of water to keep them fresh. It […]
Solar-Dried Tomatoes
I made literal sun-dried tomatoes. And I mean literal in the formerly correct sense of the word… I used a solar dehydrator for these. I haven’t tried dehydrating tomatoes in my oven. I feel I should use the solar dehydrator since I have access to one but tomatoes should turn out well in the oven. […]
Homemade Tahini
We eat lots of hummus and so go through quite a bit of tahini. I’m pretty sure when people set out to reduce their waste, their hummus intake becomes inversely proportional. There’s likely a mathematical theory that proves this. This past weekend, I cooked two cups of chickpeas in my pressure cooker for hummus but […]