Self-Sufficiency

DIY: Homemade Toothpaste, Deodorant, Shampoo, Conditioner and Lip Balm

by Almira May 23, 2011

Homemade hygiene. After researching natural allergy remedies, I thought it only fitting to list some all-natural *recipes for homemade whitening toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo & conditioner, and lip balm—they also happen to be really cheap to make! Homemade Toothpaste (Whitening):   Tutorials: Passionate Homemaking, Frugal Granola, Naturally Knocked Up Revised recipe ingredients from Gorgeously Green: 2 [...]

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Water Series: Buying a Home Water Filtering System

by Almira May 20, 2011

Upon waking each morning, the first thing I reach for is a tall glass of clean, delectable water. That luxury has become more apparent as of late. Within the past month, the husband and I purchased some poor-quality “reverse osmosis” water from 2 different water suppliers. The brands: Culligan and Cuzn. We’re not sure if [...]

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A Fashion Fast

by Almira February 9, 2011

In an effort to curb fast fashion and promote eco-fashion Kristy Powell began a her year-long commitment to a One Dress Protest. Yep, she will be wearing the same dress everyday for an entire year. She’s only on

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The Monsanto Wars

by Almira February 4, 2011

Upon watching Food, Inc. and David Versus Monsanto (see full version here), I was introduced to the farming world in the U.S and got a sneak peak of some of the struggles farmers face daily. The likes of Monsanto and their industry of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are wreaking some terrible havoc, “If you are contaminated, against your wishes, by Monsanto’s GMOs, you no longer own your seeds or plants. They become the ownership of a corporation, in this case, Monsanto,” says Percy Schmeiser, a canola farmer from Saskatchewan, Canada. He claims his fields were contaminated with the Roundup Ready Canola genes, ruining 50 years of work on his 1400 acre farm in breeding saved seeds. The lawsuit lasted 3 years, and ended in favor of Percy and his wife, Louise.

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Chicken Tractors

by Almira February 3, 2011

Though your fowl darlings won’t actually be pulling a plow down each row as the chicken tractor might suggest (I can’t imagine them keeping to straight lines anyway), they will do something even better. Here’s how a chicken tractor works:

Move the chicken tractor along your garden rows or yard every so often for excellent fertilizer, while giving your chickens premium worms and bugs to munch on, and allowing them to do some weeding for you. No clean-up required, just refill their water and food, shut their “bedroom” door at night, and collect the eggs!

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No Money Man

by Almira February 2, 2011

A Year Without Spending Money… For those of you who haven’t yet heard of Mark Boyle, aka No Money Man, feast upon the crazy experiment of a British man who refused to spend any money for an entire year. His daily regime includes dumpster diving, solar showers, and teeth brushing with bone meal and fennel [...]

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How To Dye Your Clothes With All-Natural Dye

by Almira January 31, 2011

How To Dye Your Clothes With All-Natural Dye

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World’s Tallest Roses Are Also Sustainable: VeriFlora

by Almira August 13, 2010

VeriFlora is a sustainable farm that grows fair trade, certified organic roses in the mountains of Ecuador, with blooming stems that can reach the heights of 5-6 feet tall. The workers are compensated fairly and their children are provided with daycare and meals during the workday. We should have companies doing that here in the U.S.!

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King Corn

by Almira August 10, 2010

This Month’s Film Review: King Corn, Directed by Aaron Woolf, with co-producers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis {Available on Netflix and Amazon On-Demand} On a scale of 1 (gouge my eyes out) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, from Boston, MA, became best friends at Yale, [...]

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Big Ideas For A Small Planet (Season 3)

by Almira July 14, 2010

On a scale of 1 (gouge my eyes out) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS 13 episodes (Games doesn’t work on Netflix, so no-go on that one, but each episode is 25 minutes—so many nuggets of great information rolled into such a small amount of time! I realize this list is [...]

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The Backyard Homestead

by Almira July 13, 2010

This Month’s book review comes from The Backyard Homestead, edited by Carleen Madigan. On a scale of 1 (major qualms) to 5 (enjoyed every moment), I rate it: FIVE STARS Madigan claims that you can “Produce all the food you need in just a quarter of an acre!” and although I haven’t had the opportunity [...]

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Introducing: The Media Club

by Almira July 7, 2010

Though it’s quite mid-summer, I thought I’d start start a little Media Club for those breezy hot days under a tree cuddled up with a nice read, as well as for those lovely nights watching an informative and inspiring documentaries.
SUMMER 2010 READING & VIEWING LIST:

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Introducing: The Healthy Republic Little Shop

by Almira July 7, 2010

From the gardening and homesteading to holistic healing, nutrition and fitness, you can find many of the Healthy Republic recommended reads at the Healthy Republic A-Store. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Since Amazon doesn’t carry everything—try The Little Green Book.
BOOK CATEGORIES:

Media Club: Summer Reading

Nutrition & Healing

Gardening

Fitness

Documentaries

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A Thrifters Love Affair

by Almira July 2, 2010

Inspired by the movie Julia & Julia, with Meryl Streep,—which I absolutely LOVED—Marisa decides to get inspired. Instead of cooking through the Julia Child Cookbook, she opted to combine something that she enjoys (shopping) with frugality in a year-long challenge: $365, 365 days, 365 dresses.

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Land, It’s The Only Thing That Lasts

by Almira June 30, 2010

There’s something magical about owning your own little plot of land that brings this quote particularly to life. In my case, it’s a relatively small sized back yard, but I’m not complaining, at 1,740 sq. ft., it’s much bigger than my previous small concrete slab condo patio! I’ve certainly been waiting for years to be able to do a little more than grow sprouts from my condo window. Now that a somewhat self-sufficient lifestyle is possible, I’m absolutely overwhelmed—yet excited.

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