A Sustainability Guide for Everyday Folk

~1 Year Edition~

Over 200 Topics and Su estions !overin "ealt#$ Food$ "y iene$ Art$ and %ore
&edistribute and Alter Freely 'ritten (ece)ber 2010 *y Sa e$ +pdated (ece)ber 2,$ 2011

*Note that this guide was originally written for a single person as a quick brain dump of my collective knowledge of sustainable living in the city, though most information applies to those living in rural areas as well. Citations and comprehensive research were neglected, thus some information may be outdated, uncertain, or incomplete. Further research should be done on any given area. The beginnings of my environmental knowledge began years ago at the website Tree ugger and many individual web searches for specific pieces of data.

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True Sustainability . /ersonal !#an es and (irect Action Transportation Free T#in s /urc#asin "y iene and !leanin Food 'aste /#ysical and %ental 'ell-*ein False Advertisin 0deolo ical Ener y Savin 'ater &elations#ips and /arentin !o))unity 3ivin 4on-"u)ans and /ets Arts and !raftin /articipatin

Table Of !ontents

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True Sustainability5 /ersonal !#an es and (irect Action

6t#e )ost i)portant part to read7
There are several reasons why a person might want to pursue a sustainable lifestyle. For the person desiring harmony with nature and knowledge of living off the land, personal changes are at the core of their needs. !eyond personal fulfillment, persons pursuing this pathway will be great teachers as changing climates and environmental catastrophe force a larger portion of humanity to adopt sustainability into their lifestyles. This "ine largely covers these personal changes. For a person striving to create a sustainable society, emphasis must be placed beyond individual habits and instead rising up for and against various institutions. The individual is not the primary blame for the environmental catastrophes which have taken place in years past. #nfortunately, a vast ma$ority of people in industriali"ed countries have grown up within an economic or cultural situation which prevents them from pursuing sustainable pathways. %hile what you buy and how you consume resources can be a powerful statement and marginally help the environment, a comple& system of governments and corporations desiring wealth and power result in the ma$ority of environmental destruction, and thus should be the target of those desiring a sustainable planet. These institutions like individuals blaming themselves because it leaves the institutions free to continue destroying. 'o not blame yourself or your peers. T#e )ost i)portant step to a sustainable future ri #t no8 is c#an in #o8 corporations and overn)ents are run rat#er t#an #o8 you act9 (ersons desiring this pathway must still be aware of the problems abound, and so ) still urge them to read this "ine, or at least the section on participating.

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Transportation

**et a conversion kit to make your car run on bio-diesel or ve ie oil. +ou can also convert a bicycle to run very efficiently on gasoline or electricity and other forms of fuel. *0ncreasin your %/G , +ou can increase your miles per gal, lon by driving certain ways. )-ve even heard people doubling their .(* rating/ Turn off the engine while going downhill. +ou can draft behind other vehicles to cut down on wind resistance. 0ehicles have speeds at which they run most efficiently which people com, monly say is 11 .( , but it changes depending on the vehicle. #sually the low end of the 2(. power band is most efficient. 3bove 45 .( you should use the fan or air condi, tioner 6if you must7 instead of having a window open to re, duce drag. The radio, cd player, and lights do not take up that much energy, but still consume some e&tra fuel. 8top an accel, erate slowly to conserve your brakes and conserve a little more fuel. Carry less in your

vehicle. *#se car rental services when you need a vehicle or a bigger vehicle instead of buying one. *'rive a smaller car 9 These generally get better fuel mileage and need less raw ma, terials to make. *!uy a used car 9 the energy and money costs of a used vehicle generally are far less than buying a new vehicle. 'o a cost comparison with gas mileage in the picture for a 1 year period. *&ide a bicycle. There are folding bicycles that can be easily transported in a car or bus too. *For transporting materials, a rack can be attached to the bi, cycle with panniers 6saddle bags7, or a bicycle trailer can be used for hauling larger things. )-ve even seen people hauling a trailer shelter for sleeping in/ *"itc##ike 9 .ake a sign with a sharpie and some cardboard and get on the highway or an off,ramp/ 2ead up on hitchhik, ing laws before going out. The west coast is one of the best places to hitchhike. *(ick up hitchhikers or offer rideshares. *&ides#are 6:istings on Craigslist and other bulletins7. This is more e&pensive than hitchhiking but much less than taking the bus. )t-s safer and less time intensive than hitch, hiking too. *2ide a motorcycle if you don-t need to transport much. They are very efficient.

*#tili"e public transportation/ Trains, buses, subways, trolleys and the like. *!arpool with people at your work or announce you-re start, ing one yourself/ *Try to avoid traveling long distances. :ocali"e your social groups and cultural interests/

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Free T#in s

*(u)pster (ivin , 'ump, sters are usually not as dirty as people will lead you to believe. ;specially in college towns after fall and spring terms, dumpsters are laden with good, ies. These include furniture, clothing, appliances, even laptops and hard drives. +ou can also find dumpsters with unblemished food behind gro, cers and bakeries. *%ake it yourself/ *enerally for very cheap or free you can build furniture, make tools, or sew together clothing. 8tudy the way native peoples use6d7 tools and ethnobotany, the way

native peoples use6d7 plants. *#se paper from recycling bins for creating a daily planner 6$ust take a bunch of sheets and fold them in half to create a booklet7, take notes on, or scribble on. *Free !ycle 6website7 9 (eople post -for free- and -wanted for free- ads in various locales. *!rai slist 6website7 9 .any different sections, including free stuff in various locales. **ackpa e 6website7 9 8imilar to Craigslist. *Free *o:es 9 3 bo& left out ne&t to the sidewalk with assor, ted goods generally means it-s a bo& full of free things. *&eally &eally Free %arkets 622F.7 9 No money, trade, or barter allowed. (eople bring<take things like services, food, clothing and appliances, but no taking or bringing is ne, cessary. *enerally there-s music and workshops and they are held in public spaces such as parks. *Food 4ot *o)bs 6FN!7 9 3 group that collects donated or dumpstered food and cooks ve, gan meals for anyone who shows up. *enerally they serve in public spaces. #nlike many free food services, the food is healthy and has no require, ments attached. +ou can look up if a FN! chapter is in your town online. *Go ca)pin ; +ou can legally set up a camp for two weeks in any national forest, and then change that location to reset the = week limit. +ou can also

camp in state forests.

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/urc#asin

*.ost things are easy to fi& 9 +ou can patch or mend old clothes, wood glue back togeth, er an instrument, cold weld metal ob$ects, etc. *!uy things used from places like Craigslist 6website7, e!ay 6website7, and thrift shops. *!uy local, think global , 8up, port local and independent businesses and avoid buying from corporations. ;ven if products are slightly more e&, pensive, more money goes to your community. Corporations have a very dynamic character, which generally speaks to mak, ing money and gaining power no matter what the social or en, vironmental costs. They will of, ten have smear campaigns to portray their actions as benefi, cial to a community or person. 2esearch, research, research. There are so many layers of propaganda in our society. 3 good starting point is to watch the documentary, The

Corporation, which can be watched online for free. *(urchase products independ, ently certified sustainable under the following names> *reen, sweatshop free labor, not tested on animals, sustainably harves, ted wood 6wood that isn-t from a clear cut or old growth forest for furniture, paper, and con, struction materials7. *8ome printer ink cartridges can be refilled, thus cutting out a lot of waste. **orro8 or rent instead of buying new. There are car rent, als, book rentals and e&, changes, e,book versions of te&t books, and tool rentals. *8top wrapping your gifts. )f you still want to wrap gifts, try paper bags with drawings over them and string to avoid the tape.

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"y iene and !leanin

'as#in Yourself5 *Sink s#o8ers 9 The primary part of your body that smells are your armpits, so $ust wash those each morning and avoid doing the rest for at least a few days, if not weeks. +ou can fill a bowl with a few cups of water then soap up and rinse down. air can also be washed in a

similar manner if you want to. *To wash your whole body, fill a container with about 1 cups of water. *et a bar of soap wet and soap up, then rinse off by cupping your hand and splash, ing the water onto your body. Try to direct splashed water back into the container so you can reuse it in consecutive splashes. Now you can use this water for a greywater toilet. *'o not use anti,bacterial or anti,microbial soaps, they may negate effects of antibiotic medications 6when you are really sick7, and normal soap is $ust as effective. *:ook into the #y iene #ypot#esis, which says so many people these days are sick be, cause they-re too clean. There is smart sanitation and over,sanit, ation, learn about what level is right for you to be optimally healthy. *Take your shower in the morn, ing instead of at night because you-ll be fresh when you actu, ally need to be. (lus it-s a good wake up alternative to stimu, lants like coffee. *8oap, shampoo, and condi, tioner can be bought from some natural food stores in bulk thus avoiding the need for buying new packaging. ?ust bring in your own bottle to fill. *@ur skin is very porous and absorbs a good deal of what we put onto it. !e very cautious with the ingredients of skin products like sunscreen lotion because many have been linked to cancer.

*%ash your hands with locally made bar soap to avoid the packaging and e&tra processing liquid soaps require. *#se something like a pen cap to gently scoop ear wa& out of your ear instead of using cotton swabs. 3lso, don-t put your fin, gers into your ears, this com, presses ear wa& which would normally fall out naturally. *2emove snot from your nose by plugging one nose channel and blowing out the other hard. Toilet5 *#se newspaper instead of toi, let paper by tearing pieces off about the si"e of toilet paper. 8ome people crinkle the news, paper to make it softer too. 'o not use large pieces as this can clog the toilet. *#se two or three sheets of toi, let paper per wipe, and fold it over the brown after each use. +ou can get 1 or A wipes out of these few sheets, and then go and get another few sheets and repeat wiping and folding. *To avoid the spread of germs and possibly the need for wash, ing your hands, open toilet seats and flush with your foot. Toot# !are5 *;at fewer simple carbo, hydrates and sweets as these deteriorate your teeth faster. *%ash teeth with a twig/ 8ome people use sticks to brush their teeth. They take a twig and chew up the end, then brush. This works so long as you are primarily eating fruits and ve, getables, versus sweets 6includ, ing honey7 and carbohydrates

6especially bread7. *2euse floss 9 .ost floss is very durable and can be used many times. *#se a toothbrush with a re, placeable head. "air5 *'rying off shaving blades will prolong the blade-s life because water o&idi"es with metal thus dulling the blade. *8top using shampoo/ :ook up No poo. 8hampoo is often harsh on our hair and causes an over,compensating effect in oil production. )n the ad$usting period use baking soda. ?ust soak hair and use natural condi, tioners. *8haved head 9 (eriodically shave your head to eliminate the constant need for hair products, water, or time man, aging it. !leanin Surfaces and !lot#in 5 *%oppin 9 8plash hot soapy water on the floor instead of filling a mop bucket. +ou really only need about = cups of water for a single room, then intermit, tent wringing out of the mop. *%ring out sponges and mops to increase their lifespan *2euse silverware and bowls that you don-t eat animal products with. !ad germs, mold, and the like most always need moisture to grow. 8o long as you-re eating all your food, then you can reuse your eating ware as much as you-d like. ) go months with $ust one bowl and spoon that ) never wash or rinse out. )-ll eat directly out of the

cooking device when it has an, imal products, or lightly spray off my dish otherwise. *!ring a reusable drinking con, tainer, bowl, and your preferred utensil with you when eating out or going to potlucks. .any cafes will let you use your own drinking container, though it-s more difficult at restaurants. )t-s $ust a matter of communicating B) don-t need silverware,C or BCould you $ust fill this up in, steadDC **akin soda and vine ar can be used to clean $ust about any, thing individually or combined together for your face, hair, sink, floors, laundry, teeth, etc. *.ost clothing can be worn for more than one day, especially if you take a sink shower in the morning. ?ust let your clothing air out over night. %ear some, thing else while engaging in physical activity. *%ash your clothes by hand while you-re taking a shower. *%ash your clothes with two buckets> @ne with soapy water, and the other with rinsing wa, ter.

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Food
*:ocal and organic or biody, namic together are the best la, bel indications of healthy and sustainably harvested food. owever, organic and free

range labels can be abused, so try to know your farmer at farm stands or on their farm and ask what sort of pesticides and fer, tili"ers they use, how their an, imals are treated, etc. *!ecome a ve etarian localvore; 3s long as you are buy, ing animal products from farm, ers you know treat their anim, als well, in almost all cases your diet will be more sustain, able than any other while get, ting all your required nutrients. @rganic free range eggs and raw goat milk are strongly sug, gested on top of fruit, veggies, nuts, and locally grown grains. 3fter farming practices are taken into account, the closer the food source, the less trans, portation it requires and the more sustainable it is. *1e anis) is usually not sus, tainable , ) have never heard of a vegan getting all their nutri, ents from local, unprocessed sources, and more often hear about health issues arising from vegan diets. !illions of people do not have the importing priv, ileges #8 3mericans do and lack an agricultural growing climate to support themselves without animals. 8ome of the messages are great such as cut, ting out the many problems as, sociated with animal agricul, ture, but there are alternatives such as hunting and gathering and free,range organic that would be better to support. Fur, thermore organic farms typic, ally rely on non,human manure for nutrients to grow their food,

and farms that don-t raise non, human animals must transport manure from other farms. %e can respectfully treat non,hu, man animals while benefiting from the nutrients they provide to the soil and our bodies. 3lso remember, unlocal and pro, cessed foods support the oil in, dustry, which is vastly cruel to all. Thus a sustainable farm in, corporates what is referred to as Banimal husbandry,C having non,human animals work with, in the practice of growing crops. *(rocessed and or packaged food is bad. They contain can, cerous preservatives, plastic that never deteriorates, and are e&pensive. 8ave your money, health and prevent pollution by eating whole foods/ *!ookin 9 Cooking requires energy, but not all food can be digested raw and cooking can sometimes help release nutri, ents. Thus a mi&ture of raw and cooked food is important.

*Sproutin and soakin seeds, grains, and nuts 9 8oaking helps a food become more di, gestible as well as increases a number of nutrients and de,

creases the time it needs to be cooked. (ut seeds, beans, grains, or nuts into a glass $ar and fill with water. :et sit for E 9 F= hours then drain the water. :et sit for another E hours be, fore rinsing. 2epeat until sprouts form. )t-s best to $ust soak nuts. 8prouting allows some foods normally requiring cooking to be eaten raw, though others are still poisonous or dif, ficult to digest. *Fer)entin foods 9 Fermen, ted foods are very easy to di, gest and the bacterial cultures help increase your ability to di, gest other foods. *Food du)psters 9 Tons of good food is thrown out each day. @nly about 15 percent of food grown for consumption is eventually eaten in North 3merica. !akeries especially throw out do"ens of loaves of day,old bread, and grocers toss things that have $ust reached their e&piration or have a small bruise but are not bad for days, weeks or even months to come. .ost food does not require an e&piration from the F'3, and some stores put an e&piration date on food themselves. )t is up to you to test food for fresh, ness. *2eplace your grass or orna, mental garden with food/ 3 F5&F5 foot area might seem small, but can grow a large amount of your food in a given season. *+rban fora in 9 8ome cities already have a host of food about like ha"elnuts, dandeli,

ons, apples, figs, etc. !e careful with pesticides and fertili"ers though and collect things like dandelions away from the road, side which deposits heavy metals on the plants. )f there aren-t any nut or fruit trees about, plant them yourself/ *(ick up road kill if it-s fresh 6within the day7, for their meat, fur, or bones. ?ust don-t be seen by authorities, it-s illegal.

*Food preservation 9 3llows you to still depend on local food when things aren-t grow, ing in your climate. 8moking, canning, free"ing, fermenting, and drying are some methods of food preservation. 8moking and drying are probably the most sustainable, though don-t work for all foods. To keep food raw while drying, thus preserving the most nutrients, get a food dehydrator with a temperature gauge that goes to F51 degrees Fahrenheit or be, low. *)f you have no yard, try vertical ardenin , such as with hanging pots, or indoor garden, ing, ne&t to a window. *'rink only water, eat everything else as a whole food. ?uices lack the fiber of fruits and veggies and come in packaging. )t also takes a lot of a given fruit or veggie to make

$uice with 6though, ) have heard they sometimes use the ones they wouldn-t sell at the mar, ket7, for instance when my friends made apple $uice, F45 pounds of apples became $ust E gallons of $uice/ )f you really want $uice, make it fresh and dry the pulp into crackers or fruit leathers. *Cans and glass bottles have an interesting ecological footprint. The ore for aluminum is mined by clear,cutting and blasting a site. )t is more energy,efficient to manufacture glass, but it is heavier 6more energy in trans, portation7 and harder to recycle. 3luminum however is very to&, ic in food. Thus, it-s a toss up of which is more sustainable. *For alcohol, drink locally brewed beer or wine. +ou can avoid the bottle and packaging by going to a bar, brewery, or home brewing. *Gardenin 9 *ardening and growing your own food works against almost every social is, sue there is, playing into saving oil and keeping you healthy with fresh clean produce, e&er, cise, sunlight, and soil bacteria. *ardening is very simple once you get the space you-re going to garden ready 6$ust remove the grass or BweedsC or cover it over with cardboard and layers of leaves for a season7 3 F5&F5 foot plot is plenty of space to be growing all of your fruits and veggies at least for the summertime, if not beyond. +ou don-t need much know, ledge or resources to start

gardening. (lants $ust need nu, trients, sunlight, and water. This translates into using some sort of fertili"er like compost, put, ting your garden in a well,lit area, and watering often. )f you want to go deeper though, ) suggest reading .asanobu Fukuoka-s @ne 8traw 2evolu, tion or any sort of permaculture guide for the most sustainable, logical, and time efficient ap, proaches to gardening and farming. 8ome people hypo, thesi"e it would only take F < 4 of an acre to be growing all the food for a family of 4. @n the #rban omestead in (asadena, C3, the residents there have grown over A555 pounds of food on F < 1 of an acre in $ust one year/ **arden pests and weeds can be dealt with without using chemicals by mulching, plant, ing a wider diversity of plants and having flowers. 0inegar can also be used to kill some weeds. *3void growing invasive spe, cies of plants because they can out,compete native species and destroy the ecosystem. *Food is a primary component of our well being. (aired with some form of e&ercise like tai chi or yoga, ) have heard nu, merous stories of people recov, ering from fatal illnesses such as cancer by changing the foods they eat. *'rip irrigation saves the most water but also is petroleum based. )rrigation can save a lot of time and water though.

*(lant drought tolerant plants to save water. *The food pyramid we were taught in school is based upon economic principles rather than scientifically based health prin, ciples, thus you should not eat according to what it says. .ost of your diet should be fruits, veggies and nuts with a smaller portion,Gof beans, grains, and animal products. *1it *12 , Nutritional yeast, semen, and raw milk are good sources of bF=. ;ggs are debat, able but may give you some !F= if not eaten with the white. 3 small amount of !F= can also be obtained from unwashed ve, getables. !F= is heat sensitive so even omnivores can miss it if they overcook their food. !F= deficiency results in per, vasive anemia, it is important to be conscious of getting enough especially if removing meat from the diet. **oat milk and cheese is healthier and easier for humans to digest than cow-s milk and cheese, so support goat farmers. *2ed meat should rarely be consumed, if at all. )t has been linked to numerous health dis, orders including cancer and arthritis. The high iron content of red meat can be obtained from other meats, liver, and poultry, or from plant sources such as nuts, green leafy veget, ables like spinach and kale, legumes like lentils and pinto beans, and from cooking in cast iron. (lant sources of iron should be eaten with a source

of vitamin C, which helps the iron digest. *)f you must eat meat, look for grass fed, free range meat or hunt it yourself. *enerally avoid cow products, as they are the least efficient convention, ally grown input to output 6about H& the amount of food has to be fed the cow than is derived after the slaughter, as well as taking thousands of pounds of water and other problems7. (rairie land is natur, ally gra"ed upon and burned though, so cows can actually help maintain a healthy ecosys, tem if bred and raised properly. *Soy , ;at soy sparingly. .ost is grown with unsustainable practices like factory farming and genetically modified seeds. )t also has a number of health risks attached. Fermented soy such as tempeh is much healthi, er, but should also be eaten sparingly again due to how soy beans are grown. *!o)postin 9 )nstead of throwing food scraps into the trash, compost it and create new nutrients for the soil/ )t is possible to compost inside of apartments without it smelling. :ook into worm bins. +ou can put up ads for free compost on, line at sites like Craigslist or in newspapers, or use it yourself in potted plants. +ou can also ask if someone with a compost pile would let you put your food scraps in theirs. *!uy into a community,sup, ported agriculture 6C837. This is a weekly bo& of food directly

from a farm of whatever is in season. )t is cheaper than buy, ing the food from the market, helps the farmer cut out a lot of costs like transportation and selling to a market, and gives you an interesting assortment of local whole food. *!uy from food co,ops. *Cook large batches of food to provide for multiple meals, thus cutting down energy consump, tion. *.ost e:piration dates do not reflect when a food actually goes bad. This is especially true for eggs and canned foods. 8igns of bad food include mold and popped or e&panded lids. %ater can be added to stale bread and baked to make it taste normal. *'o not purchase genetically modified 6*.@7 grown foods or *.@ seeds. There is debate whether or not these are safe for human consumption, but the main problem is the companies that produce them such as .onsanto. .onsanto works in, side and outside of the legal system in an attempt to stop or, ganic seed production as well as people being able grow food with seeds collected from pre, vious seasons. This is devastat, ing to small farmers. *)t is more efficient to grow food on a small scale than on a big scale, so support small farms.

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'aste

*)t is best to buy items without any packaging. ;ven things that are knowingly recyclable such as paper and plastic sometimes never get recycled even when put into the recycling bins, and it can still require a lot of en, ergy to recycle them. +ou can buy used 6and save money7 at any thrift shop or on sites such as Craigslist or e!ay, reuse bags, and buy food directly from the farmer so as to reuse milk and egg containers. 3lso many natural food stores allow for you to use your own con, tainers for purchasing price per weight items such as grains and dried fruit. *%hen you do need to buy packaged goods, check if the material is recyclable. Check with your local recycling com, pany to see what they will take, as not all are the same. For food packaging, be sure to clean it out, as unclean recyclable items, or trash mi&ed in with recyclables, can result in the re, cycling company throwing out your recycling altogether. *(lastics with a number sur,

rounded by a recycling symbol does N@T mean it-s recyclable. +ou need to check what plastics your recycling company will take. *Try to BupcycleC your waste by recycling it into useful items such as bags or art. (utting a re, cyclable item into recycling does not mean that it will be re, cycled, so it is better to do yourself. *T#in s you s#ould be able to recycle include5 paper, card, board, glass, metal, some plastic, some batteries, and light bulbs, so do not throw these things away. *)n more rural areas you can create co)postin toilets, ba, sically outhouses that are man, aged better. This allows you to recycle your nutrients. )t-s about a = year period before it-s safe to use for plants. :ook up humanure. *enerally people ur, inate in a separate container, and throw sawdust or dirt over their poop to keep the smell down. The poop is also gener, ally contained for fear of it con, taminating ground water. 8ome places compost human waste on an industrial scale and sell it as a fertili"er for landscaping. *#rine 9 #rinate on your plants to provide them with a natural source of nitrogen and other nutrients, or collect your urine in a bucket to flush it down the toilet in one go at the end of the day. #rine was<is used as a very powerful sterile medicine. Fer, mented it was also used as a bleaching agent.

*#se a tack board with paper from recycling bins for notes instead of a dry erase or chalk board. *'ying and Funerals 9 *et a green funeral with a compost, ing coffin so all your nutrients go back to the earth. Cremation and standard burials are not sustainable.

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/#ysical and %ental 'ell*ein

*+ou do not usually need west, ern medicine to fight depres, sion, illness, or bodily wounds. %estern medicine, especially the #nited 8tates- medical in, dustry, is tied into all sorts of

horrible things due to being tied to a profit,based system led by the insurance companies and pharmaceutical industry. For surgery, go to the emergency room, but for any drug there is usually a tea or plant that can do the same thing in your re, gion. 3lso changing what you eat can adversely improve your health. 2esearch naturopathic medicine, ethnobotany, and healing foods. *Consider the media and enter, tainment you voluntarily and involuntarily e&perience. Try going without media 6no music, movies, fiction books, etc7 and see what happens. @ften these can be addictions creating an avoidance of emotions and thoughts. The same goes for news. %hat do you really need to know aboutD 3re you drown, ing in the depression of global media and propaganda when you should be caring for your local communityD +ou don-t need it/ *For small wounds, scrapes and cuts, a small amount of plantago 6more commonly known as plantain, not to be confused with the North 3mer, ican banana7 can be chewed up, put directly on the wound, and left to dry. These grow all over the world, including every, where in North 3merica and of, ten found in grassy and sunny areas. )t is astringent, anti,to&, ic, antimicrobial, anti,inflam, matory, anti,histamine, as well as demulcent, e&pectorant, styptic and diuretic.

*For depression, especially dur, ing times of limited sunlight or when you-re stuck indoors most the day, try supplementing with vitamin 'I 6cholecalciferol,an, imal derived7, which is the more readily used by our bod, ies than '= 6ergocalcifer, ol,planted derived7. 'I is ab, sorbed when sunlight hits the atmosphere at a certain angle, and many of us live in areas where the sun is not situated properly to create this angle during the non,summer months. Fish oil will also have a similar benefit. *1, T(, a precursor to seroton, in 6a chemical that causes hap, piness7 derived from an 3frican plant, as well as 8t. ?ohn-s %ort, have both been shown to effectively treat depression for some people. 2ead up on these medicines before using. *.. 0accae, a soil bacteria found all over the world in soils with organic matter has been shown to effectively treat de, pression. 8imple e&posure is enough, so $ust start gardening/ * igh impact e&ercises may make your body feel good in the moment, but deteriorates the body in the long term and increases the possibility of over,straining something into a broken bone or sprained liga, ment. Calmer e&ercises such as yoga or tai chi are good altern, atives to running on hard sur, faces, high,impact martial arts, or weight lifting. *Natural !ug 2epellent 9 8afe bug repellents can be from a

variety of plant oils, but they have to be reapplied each hour or two. !oil down garlic in wa, ter and put the water into a spray bottle. @r combine a vari, ety of F part essential oils 6neem, cinnamon, eucalyptus, peppermint, citronella, rose, mary7 with F5,=5 parts carrier oils 6sunflower, olive, witch ha"el7 or an alcohol like vodka. *3voiding activities that puts your body in danger is a good way to avoid using western medicine. *!uy carpets and clothing made from organic fiber. +ou could also avoid using carpet and get rugs instead for a wood floor. .ost carpets and clothing contain to&ins which absorb into the body or off gas into the air. *#se natural paints made from mud or flour to avoid the the health problems caused by reg, ular paint off,gassing. *#se cast iron, stainless steel, wood, ceramic, and glass to cook in, drink from, and eat with. .ost all other materials leach out harmful to&ins. *lass and wood are the most sustain, able from these. *'uring the winter, get outside as much as possible. 8ickness during the winter is more pre, valent not because of the cold, but because there are more people sharing germs inside than usual and the air is not be, ing circulated with open win, dows. *)nstead of sunscreen lotion, cover up in a light layer or wear

a wide,brimmed hat. +ou can also cover your e&posed body in a thin layer of mud to protect from the sun. **row plants indoors , .ost all plants filter out air pollutants, though some better than others. This is especially important with the to&ins off,gassing from paints, carpets, and cloth, ing.

*!amboo clothing is not ecolo, gically friendly, though bamboo used in construction generally is.

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0deolo ical

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*BGreen8as#in C is quite common these days, with com, panies trying to sound environ, mentally friendly while in fact using heavy to&ins, sweatshop labor, or $ust actually making very unsustainable products. 3 number of different power sources are also made to sound green. *2esearch is necessary before the purchase of any new item. %here did it come fromD %hat is it made ofD Can you recycle itD %hat other companies does the corporation own 6e&ample , !urts !ees is owned by Cloro&7D %hat else does the company makeD %hat is its life cycle or what process does it go through to break down 6espe, cially for BbiodegradableC plastics7D *3sk yourself how whatever action or ob$ect you are taking into your life might be hurting another organism. 2esearch is key. (ut yourself into the shoes of the organisms around you. ;verything is connected. +our actions influence everything in very direct and indirect ways. )magine> +ou buy a computer, turn it on, and connect to the in, ternet. The coal used to power the servers that store informa, tion on the internet and the met, al used to make the computer have been mined. The mining process begins by clear,cutting an area, then blasting the site so as to get deep into the earth. No mammals can live here, and it will take thousands of years for

any healthy soil to develop again. %ithout plants to keep it in place, the rain carries coal and soil debris into the drinking water and into the streams that poison locals, fish, and other organisms. The burning coal makes the air unhealthy to breathe, and increases respirat, ory illnesses in people living around the coal,burning fact, ory. 3s a result, people must spend large amounts of money in hospital fees trying to get better. This is $ust one e&ample, and it goes on and on. )f you buy a shirt, a pair of earrings, if you paint, etc, there are many things to be aware of. *)t can be very difficult to be wholly sustainable and main, tain one-s cultural #erita e. +ou may have many feelings surrounding this, that although you would like to participate in the traditions you have been raised with, you know many of them are not sustainable. ?ust try to be aware of your actions. .ost traditions can be practiced more sustainably if some think, ing goes into them. *)t is very difficult to be wholly sustainable and maintain one-s ties to society. 8ome people go to remote intentional com, munities, but often neglect that while they may be wholly sus, tainable, their ability to spread awareness to others is drastic, ally decreased. 3s things stand now with so much unaware, ness, maintaining parts of an unsustainable lifestyle while spreading awareness of a sus,

tainable lifestyle is best. *;nvironmental discrimination is the systematic placement of polluting industries ne&t to poor neighborhoods. *%hat is really sustainableD .any of the ideas in this guide, while more sustainable than the mainstream, are still not sus, tainable with the number of people we have on this planet. Try not to get into guilt trips over not being sustainable enough. 3wareness is key. )t-s not you who are at fault, you have been born into a society based on unsustainable prin, ciples. Change what you can, but do not lose yourself in neg, ative emotions. *'o as much as you can at a local level, but also be aware that while the consumer does largely control how goods are produced, a comple& system between material wealth, the companies that produce goods, and the government work to, gether to maintain our current unsustainable system. 3ctions that work to change any of these systems to favor the ma, $ority rather than the richest is key. *Try not to get into ego trips over what you do sustainably that others do not. 8uggest it to others from a health or money perspective. Not everyone can relate to caring about the forests, drinking water, or the like. *enerally relating a piece of information to a person in such a way that they see how it will help themselves is best.

*(eat# is not bad or good, it is part of a cycle that allows new organisms to come to life. )t is okay to die sooner by not tak, ing medications or being hooked up to life,support ma, chinery. * ave friends that help motiv, ate your desire to be sustain, able. *2ead about et#nobotany and the lifestyles of native peoples past and present for many ideas on sustainable living.

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Ener y Savin

*'o anything to avoid using electricity e&cept when abso, lutely necessary. Coal, oil, wind, natural gas, geo,thermal, solar, and hydro,electric 9 some are better than others, but pro, duction of electricity takes a toll on the environment at some point. :ook into the life cycle of each and support the one or two that are most sustainable.

*:et your clothes air dry on a clothesline. *%ear layers of clothing or in, tegrate physical activities into your day instead of heating your house. *8ome power companies offer renewable energy options, buy into them. *.ow your lawn with a reel la8n )o8er. *Collect leaves with a rake and ask your yard maintenance company to do the same. :eaf blowers are inefficient, create noise pollution, and cause stress. *)nstall a reen roof, the plants will help keep your house bet, ter insulated, reduce storm run, off, and lengthen the life of your rooftop. They also provides space for growing food when the ground has been covered up by cement and as, phalt or is shady. *#se #u)an po8ered tools. There are human powered drills 6auger drill7, chainsaws, log splitters, blenders, $igsaws, sewing machines, and more. These are most often hand or bicycle powered. *'o work in a public space that is already heated and lit up in, stead of at your home. !ookin 5 *0nsulated cookin bo: 9 ;s, pecially if you soak your beans and grains the night before, you can get them to a boil for F5 minutes then put them into an insulated bo&. 3 cardboard bo& with blankets on all sides works well. (ut a thick blanket,

maybe a comforter, on top then close the bo& and put another blanket or couch cushion over it. )t will take the beans or grains longer to cook than keeping them on the stove, but you-ll have used a lot of less en, ergy. *!rockpots or slow cookers are probably the most efficient way to cook food with electri, city. +ou can also try insulating these with a blanket to increase the efficiency even more. *&ocket stoves are a simple yet efficient way to burn wood and cook food. *)n sunny times of the year, you can cook food using a solar cooker, which concentrates heat from the sun into a cook, ing vessel. They can be con, structed using simple materials like aluminum foil, cardboard, and glass. **enerally the slower you cook food the less energy it con, sumes. "eatin 5 *(ut blankets over doorways and windows to help seal the cracks that let cold air in. * eat smaller spaces by sec, tioning off parts of rooms with blankets. **et 8eat#er strippin for your doors and foam stripping for your windows. *3 water heating system can be created by running a long hose through hot compost with tem, peratures upwards of F55 9 F45 degrees Fahrenheit. Appliances$ Tools$ "ard8are$ Soft8are

*3 laptop<s battery lifespan decreases the more you have it plugged in for. )t is best to fully charge your laptop then let it drain until the battery is almost dead. *%hen printing decrease your margin si"e and print double sided or on paper with one side already printed on 6recycled pa, per7. 2ecycled paper is per, fectly safe to use in printers and uses much less energy to pro, duce. +ou should also look for unbleached or chlorine,free pa, per to avoid the to&ins bleach puts into the environment. *"ouse 'indo8s , #se bubble wrap or plastic sheeting to line your windows during the winter time or get curtains. *et win, dows that specifically let out less heat. Foam insulate cracks. *8et your screen saver to blank. !lack takes the least energy for screens to show. This is always true, and you can even use a black version of *oogle at Jhttp><<www.blackle.com<K. *(rint in black and white with eco,friendly inks. *)t is almost always better for the environment to continue us, ing a device until it breaks. %asher machines, cars, and light bulbs are good e&amples. The raw materials, transporta, tion, and manufacturing needed to create new devices generally costs more energy and money than $ust using your old device until they break. *Turning on and off a device will shorten its lifespan, so you must gauge this with turning it

off to conserve energy. For fluorescent light bulbs specific, ally, if you-re going to turn the light back on within F1 minutes, you should leave it on. )ncandescent bulbs should be turned off immediately since they-re so inefficient. )f you have a light that constantly goes on and off, use a :;' light bulb. *T#e 0nternet 9 The internet is very energy intensive. 3 pro, posed Facebook server site 6where they store data7 pro, posed for @regon alone would consume energy enough to power over 45,555 homes. )f you feel a need to create new data on the internet through websites or pictures on social networking sites, try to do so sparingly. The internet is an ama"ing technology and has so much knowledge and world connectivity attached to it, but data needs to be stored some, where, and the servers used to access it are always running. That said, a ma$ority of the space is taken up by porno, graphy. *(rinted versus downloaded , %ith the energy 6mostly coal in the #87 required to keep com, puters and servers on and un, sustainable practices of metal mining required to build com, puters and the internet infra, structure, ) consider using pa, per made from sustainably har, vested wood or recycled mater, ial very likely more sustainable than downloading internet doc, uments.

*.any devices while off still drain a little bit of energy when they are plugged in. ;ither un, plug devices when not in use, or get a power strip so you can $ust flip a switch to turn them off off. 3i #tin 5 *%ake and sleep with the rise and fall of the sun. *3dd more windows to your house to increase natural light, ing. *#se 3E( li #t bulbs, which can last a lifetime, don-t have heavy metals like mercury in them, and use very little energy. )f you don-t like the light they cast, put some sort of shade over it. Food Stora e and /lants5 *#se or build a top,opening chest fridge and free"er, these lose much less cold than do front opening models when opened. **et cubby drawers for your fridge so you-re only accessing and e&changing heat with one compartment at a time. *:earn about the benefits of certain BweedsC like dandelion and plantain 6plantago7 instead of removing them from your garden.

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'ater

*Gray 8ater toilets 9 #se dish, shower, or rain water to flush your toilet. +ou can put a bucket beneath your sink and remove the connecting pipe. 2ead online for specifics. =Flushing , :eave urine in the toilet until it gets smelly or you poop. *(ut a water bottle full of water or a brick in your toilet tank, this makes it use less water per flush. *)nstall water efficient heads for your faucets and shower. *)nstall a rainwater catchment system for watering your garden or flushing the toilet. *:awn 9 if you have one, stop watering and fertili"ing it.

touching. #npainted wood toys are a good bet, or toys that make a note that they are child, elations#ips and safe and use non,to&ic paint. *Children raised in a healthy environment are shown to have arentin far fewer developmental prob, lems and illnesses later on in life. 2aise a child in a colorful, *3dopt a child instead of giv, dynamic and intricate environ, ing birth to one. ment. *#se contraception or avoid it by having alternative types of -2000se& that don-t require genitals touching. *#se plants for natural contra, o))unity ivception and natural abortions, research this well and speak to in people knowledgeable on eth, nobotany and herbology. *!irth control pills can terribly screw up the body, come from pregnant horse pee, are tested on animals, and are made by the pharmaceutical industry. Natural alternatives to birth control pills should be used. *!reastfeeding is healthier for the baby and you avoid buying as much food. Cows milk is not the best thing for humans and if consumed should be drunk raw *Community living is inher, or fermented into yogurt, ently more sustainable and cheaper than living by yourself. cheese, or kefir. *;&pose your children to a (eople share resources, cook wide variety of unprocessed larger batches of food, and more people use a single light. foods *!orrow books from the library They also add a lot of security for teaching instead of buying with the number of resources computer software or buying and skills everyone collectively has. new books. *!uy to&in,free toys for chil, *!reak your individualism. dren. .any toys have been .any people are willing to help made with lead,based paints or one another, especially if you to&ic adhesives that are not safe have a good intention. %ood for mouthing on let alone working tools, wireless inter,

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&

net, yard tools, and the like can be collectively shared instead of everyone buying their own. ?ust ask/ *!reak down your fences and share a garden plot/ =Check out Jhttp><<sites., google.com<site<scawiki<K for information including policies and organi"ation of I success, ful student communities in ;u, gene, @regon. **et more people to live with you/ !uild a yurt or let someone set up a tent in your yard.

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4on-"u)ans > /ets

*Cats can be considered an in, vasive species. Leep a bell on cats to warn native birds of their presence. *No animal needs processed food to live. 'ogs, cats, rabbits, etc can live on Bhuman foodC. :ook up recipes for feeding them a balanced diet of whole foods instead of buying pack, aged, processed, and shipped foods. *8terili"e domesticated pets. *.any cities allow you to keep a specific number of egg,laying hens. Chickens eat compost, tear up grass fertili"e the soil, and their eggs are very nutri,

tious. product. *#se biodegradable poop bags. *4atural art , .ake art from *3dopt pets. nature with twigs, berries, rocks, moss, and the like. Check out 3ndy *oldsworthy, a nature artist. *2ecycled 3rt , .ake art from -21your recycling or trash/ *:et go of the idea of perman, rts and raft- ence in art. Nothing lasts forever. in *!oil fallen walnuts with their outer green,black husks in a few cups of water to make wal, nut ink.

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/articipatin
*Flour paste 9 3 simple re, placement glue, good for past, ing paper to things, can be made with 1 parts water and F part flour. !ring 4 parts water to a boil while you mi& together F part water with F part flour, breaking up all clumps. 'ump this into the boiling water and let it simmer for a = or I minutes while stirring. 2efri, gerate between uses. )t can last about a week and e&tra if salt is added. *.ost art supplies can be made at home including paints, cray, ons, stencils, etc. *8tay away from using electric machines while making art, and think about art as a form of meditation rather than as a

+our words have a lot of power at a local level. *)f your town doesn-t have a specific resource, create it/ For instance, a compost or recyc, ling center. %e need to start creating resources that would be useful now as well as in a post,industrial future. *%hen discussing sustainabil, ity with someone or advert, ising, relate the beneficial out, come directly to them and their friends- livelihoods. 3 huge problem with activists today is that many relate the beneficial outcome to the resource being e&tracted... For instance people trying to protect old growth forests say there will be no more large trees instead of say, ing the health of the people will be compromised through poorer water and air quality. Not everyone cares about forests, but almost everyone cares about their own personal well,being. Appeal to t#eir needs and e)otions; *3sk your city council to use eco,friendly products on public spaces like fertili"ers on grasses and not to use pesticides. *(articipate in direct action and grassroots campaigns.

*There are many groups fight, ing for a more sustainable fu, ture, and they need help in small and large ways. Talk to your neighbors, attend town council meetings, and vote.

MuestionsD 3dditional suggestions for sustainable livingD 8ageIAINOhotmail.com Feel free to redistribute and make alterations to this work, though please do not sell it. Thanks for reading/