Author: jennynazak

A question that popped up on my social media. Some people answered that they can’t even afford to move across town, let alone move countries.

Some people said they have a sense of caring and responsibility and not wanting to abandon their communities.

I said:

1) Plus, I’m sorry, if too many of us (esp us Boomers) move to any other country, we’re going to wreck that country’s culture and ecosystems in short order. We actually already have, a bunch of countries.

2) And yeah, how about that sense of caring and responsibility and not wanting to abandon! Let’s have some more of that. Especially us boomers and older.

3) And, if anyone moving overseas is just thinking they’re going to casually jetset back-and-forth (as opposed to probably never seeing your family again, like so many refugees), then hey, guess what, you’re obviously not actually in danger! Plus you’re obviously wealthy. So stay put and help the people who need help.

At this house, we have a top-priority mission of supporting people to achieve their dreams and goals. Be it freeing themself from a “job” and making a deeper livelihood, working on a health goal, doing some inner work, using the quiet pared-down atmosphere to recharge, or whatever.

There is no work requirement here; a person’s “job” is to move forward with their own stated goals and dreams, intentions, plans. That is what we are here to support.

That said, oftentimes people do want to help with daily chores or special projects, and it can be beneficial to the person as well as to the house. In my previous post I made a list of the most repetitive tasks around our house that anyone can do.

Here, I’m starting a list of our household tasks that require a little bit more knowledge and practice.

• The main extremely repetitive task is managing the rainbarrels and tubs. The rainwater is used in various ways around the yard, including watering plants and also putting water on concrete for evaporative cooling. In the wet season, water needs to be used steadily and deliberately in order to make room in the barrels and tubs for more rainfall. In the dry season, water needs to be stewarded carefully in order to tide us over til the rains come. In general, I like taking care of this. It’s good exercise and allows me to keep a handle on the quality and quantity of our water supplies. But there are times when help would be great.

• Another repetitive task is trimming vines and other vegetation around the perimeter of the property so as to avoid encroaching on the sidewalk.

• Setting out the solar oven, turning it to noontime sun position.

• Melting down old candle pieces and making into new candles w fresh wick.

• Repairing/replacing bamboo lattice, outdoor shower walls, and other outdoor privacy structures.

• Refilling outdoor hand-wash / foot-wash stations with fresh rainwater.

• Sweeping and mopping the house’s beautiful, easy-care white tile floors is a steady daily thing (and in winter, shaking out and airing the scatter-rugs we put down for warmth), but (other than appreciating help with keeping the entryway halls swept and entryway rugs shaken out), I like taking care of that myself because it’s good exercise and allows me to check on things in each room that might need attention.

• Keeping the books arranged neatly on the Little Free Library shelves. And helping to stock new books (books are available for free or cheap at the public library, some local bookstores, and some thrift stores).

I’ll add others as I think of them.

It can be useful, if you are in a communal living situation, to create a list of really basic simple repetitive house tasks. Not only to reduce the workload of the person “in charge,” but also because people genuinely want to help and contribute.

Now, first and foremost: At this house, we have a top-priority mission of supporting people to achieve their dreams and goals. Be it starting a business, working on a health goal, doing some inner work, or whatever. There is no work requirement here; a person’s “job” is to move forward with their own stated goals and dreams, intentions, plans. That is what we are here to support.

That said, sometimes people genuinely want to help, and it is genuinely beneficial not only to the house but also to the person. Accordingly, here’s a list of some of the most frequent repetitive tasks around our house. Most are very simple and can be done by anyone. In a later post, I’ll also be sharing a list of a more difficult tier of tasks that some residents might be willing to — or even actually want to — get involved in.

BASIC DAILY REPETITIVE TASKS at Starshine House / Trailhead 501

• Rinse out bottles for recycling bin. It should only take a couple ounces of water. Could be rainwater or well water if available. Put it in and swish it around and then turn the container upside down and let it dry in the recycling bin. Put the lid, if there is one, on top of the upside-down container. It’s particularly important to rinse out milk bottles, as they get smelly and the presence of solid matter reduces the likelihood that the container will get recycled. In the case of juice bottles and soda cans, turning them upside down in the bin is usually enough; the ants will find them and clean them out.

• For cans and jars that have sticky matter such as peanut butter residue, beans, etc., turn them upside down in the designated organic cleaning area and let the ants and other friends clean them out. This happens surprisingly quickly, like within 24 hours a lot of the time. Once they are clean, stick them in the recycling bin. I also remove the paper labels and put those in the area of the garden where we put paper trash.

• Keep the well-pump primed. Usually this happens naturally if somebody uses well water at least once every 24 hours, but that doesn’t always happen so we need to check it. If you test the pump and it’s not pumping, pour some water into the pump – it should only take a few ounces – and then try again. It should suction properly and dispense water without much difficulty.

• Paper and cardboard trash (pizza boxes etc.): Tear into smaller pieces and put it into the designated area of the garden where we put paper trash. Usually this is a large planter container.

• On extra hot sunny days in summer, draw the shades on the patio to avoid allowing sun into the house. Usually around eight or 830 is a good time. Once the sun has passed, usually around 10:30 or 10:45, open the shades again.

• Toilet: minimal maintenance is required, as we do not put toilet paper into the toilet unless we are immediately flushing it down.

• Bathroom sink: If people are using it for shaving, periodic maintenance may be necessary. (Pouring hot water down the drain every few weeks; cleaning the gunk out of the drain trap with a square of TP and putting it in the trash, etc.) Otherwise not much water is going down that drain other than when we wash our hands.

• Kitchen sink: This is used only for refilling water bottles and kettles, adding water to a cookpot, etc. And sometimes a quick wash of the hands. Since we don’t do dishes indoors, minimal water goes down the drain. Very occasional maintenance may be required. The sponge in the sink is there for scrubbing the sink and keeping it clean, dry, and not attractive to bugs. For doing dishes, there is a dishpan and water sources outdoors. Use your sponge, brush, or other cleaning implement of choice. Dishwater is dumped in designated areas of the garden.

• Mail: Check mail — It usually comes in the afternoon.

• Refrigerator: When the cloth used to absorb water drips gets saturated, swap it out for a dry one. You’ll find the dry cloth either on the line, or already dried and folded up on top of the fridge. Hang the wet cloth outside on the line. Sometimes water pools below the vegetable crisping area. Use rags to soak it up, then dry them on the line.

• Keeping entryways clean: Take entryway mats outside and shake them out. Sweep up any sand, leaves, or other debris from the entry area, and empty the dustpan outside or into one of the little indoor trash cans.

As you can tell, none of these tasks are urgent (except maybe rinsing out the milk bottles, because of the smell and spoilage); they are simply constant and repetitive. However, they are a great contribution to reducing the workload, and any willingness to help is much appreciated. Performing these routine tasks on a daily basis reduces the likelihood that urgent situations will occur.

Construction noise yay!!
No actually I really mean that! Not being sarcastic! This is good construction. It’s a house being built on the lot next to me — A lot that has been vacant for a long time.

I live in a dense historic neighborhood of a city. 1/10-acre lots. Every time I see a vacant lot, my thought is the same: This vacant lot needs to be a house, an apartment building, a public fruit forest, or a stormwater sponge / wildflower meadow.

For some years now, I have been hating the noise of loud lawn appliances of city contractors hired to keep the grass buzzcut on that empty lot. What a waste of resources. Plus compromising heat mitigation and stormwater sponge capacity.

By the way, the construction noise is loud, as one expects construction noise to be. They’re cutting into concrete for utilities and such. Interestingly enough, it’s NOT louder than those industrial edgers and ride-on mowers and leaf-blowers. That should really give us pause, when our landscaping is that noisy (and fume-producing).

It’s really ironic that respectability politics nudged cottage businesses out of neighborhoods because they were “too noisy” or whatever. (Or maybe not so ironic.) And meanwhile we have these giant tanklike machines rolling around the neighborhood like a grascist brigade, conscripted to stamp out nature’s life and color. Together with their equally noisy (or more noisy) little helpers the edgers and blowers. It’s actually painful to the central nervous system. And the fumes!

And meanwhile we need another flood study … NOT!!

So anyway — YAY construction noise! Actually doing something, pun intended, constructive!

Every empty lot that gets filled in an old dense urban area makes it more likely that we will see growth of a healthy shopping street nearby. Our Main Street is showing signs of trying to revitalize, with year-round businesses as opposed to just itinerant festival vendors, and I am all about it!

(And yeah, I am not a fan of construction when it involves flattening forests and leveling wetlands for suburban sprawl.)

On a related note, several families with children have bought houses in the neighborhood in the past couple of years. That’s always a healthy sign. I was able to introduce some of the families to each other earlier this summer. It was totally the highlight of my week.

In my first Permaculture Design Certificate class, back in 2005, we were presented with a classification of “basic human needs.” And the Permaculture design principles and ethics introduced in class offer us a way to meet these needs sustainably and equitably.

The categories presented to us were food; water; shelter; transportation; energy; and community.

Not coincidentally, these six areas are also major categories of household expenses.

In my experience, the key to living a lifestyle of creative and occupational freedom is to radically reduce at least one of these expense categories. Ideally several or all of them.

It’s also the key for slowing down the trashing of the planet. Possibly buying ourselves a little more time to get our act together. Note, traditional and indigenous cultures already have their act together for the most part; we “rich worlders” need to get ourselves in order so we stop hogging all the resources and trashing ecosystems.

Now that more and more everyday households in the white entitled rich world are falling into financial precarity, it becomes more worthwhile to cut these expenses whether or not one is trying to cut eco-footprint.

And, there’s an additional motive for looking into our relationship with each of these essential categories of our needs. And that is that being overly dependent on large, impersonal, distant entities to meet our basic needs makes us extremely vulnerable. Unacceptably vulnerable! Particularly in times of weather disaster and other disasters. It makes our households brittle, and our communities brittle.

I’ve written and spoken extensively about how to reduce our dependency on such distant and impersonal entities, be it government or corporations or whatever.

Here I’ll just give a quick little overview of each category and some really basic things we can all do to make our households and communities more resilient. And, not coincidentally, less financially vulnerable. Stand by, I’ll be back a little later to finish this.

FOOD. Learn at least 3 to 5 wild plants in your area that are edible. Develop a relationship with them. (Look up your local native plant society or permaculture guild for guidance.) That means learn what their various phases and seasons are, and start foraging and using them well before you’re facing some kind of emergency. BTW always harvest in moderation. Never take the first one or the last one. Err on the side of LESS. Also, to the extent that you are able, cultivate something edible even if it’s just a little pot of greens or mint or something. Greens go a long way to maintain health. And, they are some of the hardest things to transport long distance because of their perishability. By growing them in your own neighborhood you’re doing yourself a favor as well as working for the greater good. And, to the extent that you can afford to and have access, buy direct from your local farmers. Learn to eat in seasons; wean yourself off of exotic produce from far away.

WATER. Calculate your household’s basic water needs. Start collecting water off your roof. Even one little barrel or tub is a good start and it’ll get you rolling. Additionally encourage your neighbors to start doing the same. If you live in an apartment building, ask management to let you set up a rainwater barrel. Fun fact: For every 1-inch rain, a 1000 square-foot roof can collect over 600 gallons of water. Most water demand is from outdoor use. Therefore you can vastly reduce your water needs by not irrigating outdoors. Choose plants that grow well naturally with the available rainfall.

SHELTER. If you have room in your home and are able, invite people to live with you for cheap or free. Many people are willing to barter chores and so on. If you don’t have a stable roof, do what it takes to go in with people and get that huge cost down. Sometimes the miraculous key to getting along with people is that we simply need to. Part of why we haven’t found it easy to get along with people is that a lot of us in cushy times and places haven’t needed to. On a related note, if you see people getting harassed by neighborhood busybodies or government for “having too many people in their house,” speak up and defend your neighbors. Because that nonsense is classist and racist.

TRANSPORTATION. If you can share a car, or do without a car entirely, do it by all means! This is a huge category of expense and worry. House-sharing can help with this. One great housemate who lived here for almost 3 years had a car and was very generous about sharing it when people needed.

ENERGY. The biggest energy users are air cooling, water heater, clothes-dryer, and air heating. Try to focus on cooling the people rather than the air. Same with heat. A very simple energy saver is the humble clothesline! If you live in an HOA or apartment or something that does not allow clothes lines, please push for that to be changed. It’s very important. Important for many reasons. One thing people don’t always think of is that sunlight is a natural disinfectant and reduces our dependency on detergents, many of which contain toxic ingredients, or simply cause skin problems in people with sensitivities. (Ask me how I know this – wink.)

COMMUNITY. Community is probably the most basic need, but it’s the one that gets ignored in our materialistically focused culture. Lack of community is very expensive. The person who won’t talk to their neighbor ends up going out and buying some yard appliance they’ll only use once a year, instead of being able to borrow from a friendly neighbor. Same with everyone burning gasoline and driving to the store instead of checking to see if a neighbor wants you to pick up anything. Or you might not hear about a job opening and you’re looking for a job. Or, you assume that your neighbors aren’t worth knowing, so you’re always running around to other cities and even other countries to try to find enjoyment and interesting company. Such examples abound. Along with providing the most essential thing that people need — the company of other people (and yes, this applies to us introverts as well) community also allows us to meet our material needs much less expensively. And not coincidentally, with much less drain on planetary resources and ecosystems.

There’s lots more to all of this, but the main thing I want everyone to recognize is how our self-interest in CONSUMING LESS is stronger than ever.

PS. For every point I made, it’s desirable and even necessary to extend your care to neighbors and others in your community regarding that resource. And don’t give up. For example, If you give a rainwater presentation and it’s not well-attended, try doing it on zoom. If that doesn’t work, post a simple little “getting started” flyer on your neighborhood app, or bring a flyers to your neighborhood meeting or city commission meeting. And you shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel; many free pamphlets and other resources exist. In fact, your local government’s own public works department or other related department might already publish (for example) free info resources related to collecting rainwater. And your local native plant society probably already has a handout flyer showing a few of your main local wild edibles.

PPS. Even if you do nothing else on the above list, you and I and all of us really need to build community with neighbors. Do what it takes. Even if you can’t share housing, you can make a little pod with three or four neighbors and alternate food prep, cooking, maybe as things get tighter (which they will), start sharing a fridge or a car among multiple household. Any initial inconvenience or extra time investment you find objectionable, be aware that it will more than pay for itself in terms of reducing your vulnerability to these large distant entities that basically have all of us held hostage. Seriously it’s priceless to disentangle from that vulnerability.

If you would like a zoom for your neighborhood or other group to ask questions about these issues and get some pointers for getting started, drop me a line and we’ll arrange it.

A while back we had a pretty big storm, and someone posted in one of the local groups that they had gotten locked out of the garage when a power failure rendered the electric garage door inoperative. The garage where they had unfortunately been keeping the emergency lanterns. In a separate location from where they had been keeping the batteries.

Hey, this kind of thing happens to everyone.

A big part of our problem is that we take electricity so much for granted that we don’t even think about ensuring redundancy. Such a very basic thing and we don’t even think about it.

I do, and I know a lot of you do also, but I’m talking us as a collective. So called modern society. It’s a little bit too “modern” in my opinion when a person cannot open their garage door (or operate a water pump, or any number of other actions) when the electricity is out!

Yes, some advance planning in this case would’ve been helpful — such as bringing the lanterns into the house, not storing them in a separate location from the batteries, etc. But the fundamental problem starts further upstream!

I like to keep candles and lanterns in the garage and in every area of the house. But also the garage door is operated manually.

Story from a hurricane a couple years back: We woke up in the morning, first day of power outage, and I produced coffee. Didn’t even have to break out the twig stove. Or wait till the sun was high enough that we could heat up water in the solar oven.

Magic? No — The night before, I just figured there might be a power outage coming so I boiled up some water and put it in the thermos. Voilà morning coffee! It was great seeing the smile on a housemate’s face.

Do you know what also creeps me out? Car keys that need batteries.

I mean, what???? Really???

(Last time I owned a car, the car keys were still just regular keys. I never got used to the new thing even though sometimes I rent a car that has one of those.)

When I mentioned that on my page, someone told me that there’s actually a little tiny physical key tucked inside of the battery-powered key fob. Well that’s a relief! Except if the person doesn’t know that there’s a key in there, which apparently happens.

And along the same lines, I never did get over the loss of hand-cranked car windows.

(Question received via comments in the non-consumerist group, where people are sharing how they save electricity by using a clothesline and in some cases doing without AC.)

We don’t stay cool. It’s summer in Florida.

But we stay pretty comfortable with various basics such as window shades, awnings, knowing which rooms are the coolest part of the house at different times of day, etc.

And at some times of the day, outdoors is more comfortable than in.

And, here and there at different times of day, even in summer in FL, it is possible to actually feel cool with the help of a breeze, an outdoor shower or wash-up etc.