by patience » Fri 11 Jul 2008, 08:38:30
Worldwide, scalable solutions to depleting fossil fuels don't exist in my opinion. Small, individual solutions are the only answers I can see. We are adopting these:
Smaller used area of our existing home, by installing doors so close off areas, plus super insulation to cut energy use.
Summer kitchen/greenhouse with solar heat gain.
Passive solar window box heaters, with woodstove backup that provides cooking heat in winter.
Clotheslines, indoors and out.
Bicycles with trailers. I will add a 49cc 4 cycle motor to one for town trips.
Home business means no commute.
Garden, orchard, and misc. perennials instead of a lawn, and fenced for chickens. Small livestock are used for food as needed, saving refrigeration or freezing/canning.
Root cellar, food drying, and canning.
Cisterns for home and garden water, plus a septic system means no water/sewer bills.
Paid mortgage reduces cash outlays.
We chose an area with low property tax rates. It is farm country, where we have access to farm products by local trade.
My wife sews some of our clothes, I own a machine shop that does most all our own repairs and do our own building construction of local lumber. (Minimal).
We eat seasonally, mostly from our own produce and local foods. We grind our own flour and bake bread. We make soap from fat saved from the kitchen.
In the words of a Quaker Friend, when asked about his philosophy, "Live as the best example you can be. Clean up your own backyard first, before preaching to others. Do that, and you'll be pretty busy." A fine man that I miss a lot since he's gone, but I remember him well.
Local fix-it guy..