Adventures in Sustainable Living

An amazing thing happens when you truly focus on zero food waste. Creativity and ingenuity takes over when you focus on using every little thing.  You start making new dishes, trying new sauces and creating flavors you never thought possible.

It is unfortunate that more often than not we throw away certain food items as a matter of habit, never realizing we may have been able to repurpose it into something else. By doing so, we are ...

The challenges we face in our world today are truly unnerving. All we hear about is one bad news story after another. Big governments and big business are still arguing about climate change instead of focusing on actions needed  to build a greener future. All the while, the average person sits back day to day and feels as if our future is uncertain and is completely out of our control. 

Younger generations in our society also feel t...

Chores, chores, chores. Some days on the homestead it seems as if the chores will never end. At times I get discouraged and ask myself if it would not be easier just to skip this whole process. Sometimes simplicity seems difficult. 

Would it not be easier to do what most other people do and just take full advantage of our modern conveniences and live a life of ease. 

But in many respects this is exactly the attitude that most people ...

There was a time whenever someone mentioned vegetarian or vegan diet that I would just roll my eyes and walk away. But now that seems to have transitioned into something else we hear more frequently and that is “plant-based diet.” 

For most of us we may think of this as a boring diet with few options and perhaps it even conjures up visions of eating a salad every night. While this is far from the truth, a plant based diet is certain...

The internet is truly a powerful tool. We have access to thousands of years of information in a matter of seconds. In combination with digital technology this has literally changed how we live and function. It saves us time, work, money, gasoline, and in many ways reduces our impact on the environment. 

While this all sounds wonderful, what most people do not know is that using the internet actually have a significant impact on the ...

New things, the unexpected, circumstances out of our control and any sort of change are all things than can make us a bit uneasy. Perhaps it is nothing more than fear of the unknown. We feel as if we will lose something or maybe we will lose our present lifestyle all together. 

One thing is certain. Change is always scary. World politics, the climate, price of energy, price of food are all things that change constantly. Advances in ...

When we sit in a beautiful, quiet place to watch the sunrise most people are taking in the beauty and perhaps having a meditative moment and appreciating nature. Then we go about our day never really thinking much about the power of the sun. Maybe we’re just thankful it comes up everyday. 

What we never stop to realize is that the sun provides a constant steady stream of energy that is not likely to burn out for the next 5 billion y...

In today’s world most people want everything fast and convenient. That includes the food we eat and especially how we prepare it. Such a desire for convenience is exactly what gave rise to prepackaged and microwave foods. Unfortunately, most of these foods are highly processed and not exactly healthy. 

However there are multiple healthy homemade alternatives for all of the convenience foods we so frequently consume. With a little pr...

More and more frequently these days we are reaching for ways to reduce and reverse the effects of climate change. Perhaps this is because talks of climate change are becoming increasingly serious. Although we have known about this for over 100 years, the inevitable is finally getting our attention. 

As citizen action becomes more frequent, I start to question whether or not we are actually focusing on the right things. While recycli...

Certainly most of us have looked back on specific accomplishments in our lives and asked the question “If I had to do this all over again, how would I do it differently?, or Knowing what I know today, how would I have done this differently?

Having the personality that I do, I am always questioning everything even if I keep it all to myself? But that is my process of re-evaluation, meaning checking in with myself to make sure I am on...

Self sufficiency, tiny homes, sustainability, renewable energy, or simple self reliance, are all things we hear about more and more these days. Personally I am happy to see this level of interest in self reliant living because it is the focus of so much of my life. 

While its exciting to talk about theses things, for so many people that is exactly where it stops. Nearly 80% of our population now lives in urban areas, and that percen...

Certainly we all remember the time in our lives when we were kids and told our parents how we couldn’t wait until we were all grown up. We thought all about being independent, making our own decisions, going where we wanted when we wanted. We just couldn’t wait to be independent, self reliant, and make our own decisions.  

But at that time we were not old enough to even know what we didn’t know. And once we were “all grown up” it do...

Given the world we live in today, you may be having thoughts of living in some remote place to get away from it all. But as romantic as it may sound, running off into the wilderness and living off the land may not be the best option. You simply may not be able to sustain yourself long-term unless you are extremely creative.  

But, if that is not an option where could you live and do the same thing? As it turns out, you could actuall...

How and where we live are some of the biggest and most important choices that we all have to make in our adult lives. When choosing a place to live we have to consider availability of amenities, how far we have to travel for work and school, entertainment options and even the availability of medical care. 

While location is important for many reasons we also have to consider the impact of our choices on the environment and the plane...

Skipping the plastic straw may make you feel good about yourself, but its not enough. While every small change we make is truly a contribution to the big picture, we need to make substantial changes in how we live and what we do if we are going to truly reduce our personal impact on the planet. 

While our individual choices for how and where we live is a deeply personal thing, we often take for granted the environmental impact our l...

There is no doubt that we often find ourselves swimming in a sea of information about the questionable future of our planet. Big business and big government, while suppling us with most of our basic resources, continue to destroy the planet. More and more people want to live sustainably but we are too often at a loss for ways to help the planet that are both meaningful and impactful. 

At this point it should be no surprise that plas...

Public opinion swings back and forth like a pendulum. That is why I never pay attention to it. But occasionally I see something that gets my attention because I get curious as to why people are suddenly so concerned about that one particular thing. This is the case with the plastic straw. 

Depending on which study you look at, humanity produces approximately 350 to 430 million metric tons of plastic waste annually. Plastic straws on...

The only chips I purchase on a regular basis is tortilla chips. It is because I make my own salsa. But when I go to the supermarket, there are literally 15 different brands of tortilla chips. But the same is true with so many other things that we deal with everyday.  From supermarket food choices, to menu options, to the clothes we wear, to what insurance to purchase, and even our health care options. There is always an over abunda...

Like it or not our lives are now a product of globalization. The cost of our fuel, the food on our tables, the clothes we wear, and even our household gadgets are subject to the conditions of the world market. It is now possible for a drought, a natural disaster, a financial crisis or even a conflict in some small country on the other side of the planet to affect our daily lives. 

While globalization has its obvious benefits, there ...