Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN
2161-5543
Applause, mingled with boos and hisses, is about all that the average
voter is able or willing to contribute to public life. (Quote by - Elmer Davis)
From The Smiling Dog Saloon Files
In
This Issue:
1.
DIY Composting toilet plans
2.
Medicinal properties of honey
3.
The Basil Box
4.
Gardening for survival, Pet Preparedness
5.
What does it mean to be ‘middle class’ in
the US anymore?
The DIY Composting Toilet
If you’re living off-grid, or want to, you’re probably already a do-it-yourselfer… so why not build your own toilet? You can find a number of easy-to-follow plans with just a few clicks of your mouse. A few resources about composting toilets for off grid homes include:
- The Humanure Toilet: The Humanure Handbook has become a classic among off-griders, and this plan, complete with images, shows why: all you need is some lumber and a toilet seat.
- The Green and Recycled Materials Toilet: Wikihow has a fantastic plan (with photos) showing how to build a composting toilets out of mud, plastic bottles, an oil drum, and bamboo.
- The 55-Gallon Drum Toilet: The National Water Center’s DIY plan is a little more intricate, but also very thorough.
Composting
Toilets for Purchase
Not quite ready to take on the challenge of building your own toilet? No problem: a wide range of composting toilets are available for sale. They can be a bit pricey, and often require some energy use, but you’ll likely encounter fewer issues with odors. Among the brands available:
- The Biolet Composting Toilet: Biolet‘s been in business for about 20 years, and makes a range of electric and non-electric toilets. A non-electric model can run you $1400; electric models will run at a least a few hundred dollars higher. The company itself has a collection of testimonials; some reviewers have criticized non-electric models for odor (which is common), and electric models for fan noise.
- The Sun-Mar Composting Toilet: Sun-Mar‘s been around for almost 40 years, and features a product range of 22 toilets. The prices ranges are comparable to Biolet’s. The company’s engineers have focused on odor reduction, and Sun-Mar has received certification from the National Sanitation Foundation International for “liquid containment, odors, and solid end products.”
- The Clivus Multrum Composting Toilet: BuildingGreen.com described Clivus as “the pioneer in composting toilets”; at the same time, it notes that its technical innovation hasn’t always matched that of its competitors. It’s focused on commercial and institutional sales more than residential, though the latter category makes up about 10% of sales. The system uses gravity to move wastes, so it’s necessary to have (or be able to create) a large space below the toilet’s location.
- The Envirolet Composting Toilet:Looking for a composting toilet that’s not radically different from a flush toilet? Envirolet’s “Flushsmart” toilet (which is pricey — over $3000) closely mimics the traditional toilet, while using considerably less water. Envirolet’s FlushSmart toilet is a vacuum flush and composting toilet system combined.
Amazon.com usually has the best deals on composting toilets since so many manufacturers and distributors are competing with each other in the same marketplace. It’s also a good source for composting toilet reviews.
DIY Composting
Toilet Plans-Free from the Poor Man Survival crew!
·
Human
Manure Handbook
·
Baja Box
Toilet
·
55-Gal
Drum Compost Plans
PM’s
Roundup of Useful Resources…
Nurse Amy (from
DoomAndBloom.net) discusses the medicinal properties of honey and why it
behooves you to have plenty of it around, not just as a sweetener but as a
bonafide alternative medicine too……
Continue reading Honey Is Medicine
(video)
|
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Life
Reimagined for Work, our social-network based jobs program, helps experienced
workers like you connect to the contacts, information, and inspiration you
need to succeed in today's ever-changing workplace.
Learn more. |
10 Ways To Make Income While You're Idle
http://www.savvysugar.com/Ways-Make-Passive-Income-24015170
http://www.savvysugar.com/Ways-Make-Passive-Income-24015170
10 Ways Craigslist Will Make Your Party Unforgettable
"...the economy's current state, people don't want to
(or can't) spend money on expensive food and decorations
just to be part of a legendary memory.
"...the economy's current state, people don't want to
(or can't) spend money on expensive food and decorations
just to be part of a legendary memory.
So, what's a bargain-hunting host do to? Turn to Craigslist,
your top source for all things cheap, weird and free..."
your top source for all things cheap, weird and free..."
The Basil Box -
Compact and Affordable Hydroponic Deep Water Cultivation
Last year I followed this Instructable to build a hydroponic garden and it turned out really
nice. I used it to grow lettuce, basil, and tomatoes. After a couple months,
the lettuce started bolting and flowering and the tomatoes outgrew the setup.
In the end, I used the setup to grow three basil plants for about six months.
It took up a whole lot of space, required a large amount of water and nutrients
in the reservoir, and got dirty very quick. I started to pack it all up for a
move but it was so slimy, moldy, and gross I decided to salvage the valuable
parts and trash the rest. I missed the bunches of fresh basil (hence the code
name "The Basil Box") so I decided to draw up a design for a setup
that would take up less space and could be cleaned/maintained easier. The
objectives I took into consideration for this design were:
·
Reasonably
Priced
·
Easy to
Maintain (adding nutrients and adjusting lights)
·
Easy to
Clean
·
Easy to
Break Down and Pack Away When Not in Use
·
Small
Form Factor (Final dimensions were about 1.25 ft x 1.25 ft x 2.5 ft)
Any self-respecting prepper should be attempting some
form of gardening, be it a simple backyard garden, a greenhouse, in grow
buckets, as hydroponics, or whatever “floats your boat” these days. Here’s…
Continue reading Gardening For Long Term Survival (link)
Preparedness for your
pets
Many of us have a
disaster plan for the family but have we included our pets? Make sure your
animals stay safe and remain a loving part of your family by taking the
steps below:
- Get a Rescue Alert Sticker—The Rescue
Alert Sticker
will notify people that pets are inside your home. Place the sticker in a
visible spot for a rescue worker to see. Include the types and number of
pets in the home, the name of your veterinarian and your veterinarian’s
phone number. If you have evacuated, write “EVACUATED” across the sticker.
- Find a Place for your Pet— Never
evacuate without your pets. Make sure you have a predetermined place you
and your pets can go in the case of an evacuation because not all Red
Cross Facilities allow pets.
- Pet Emergency Kit— Along with an
emergency preparedness kit for your household, it is also a good idea to
create one for your pets. Some items to include are: a pet first-aid kit,
enough food and water to last 3-7 days and toys to keep your pet occupied.
The Nanny State-We love our government
You no longer
live in America…
The
Parting Thought – Not to worry in the land of the free!
Ask yourself this: What
does it mean to be middle class in America?
It’s
quite the existential question gnawing at our country’s collective soul today.
The middle class, once the epitome of American life, the dream to which the
rest of the world once aspired, is such an increasingly rare species in modern
America that President Obama is now running around telling the nation that he
will dedicate the rest of his term to revitalizing it. (Never mind that the
pro-union, regulatory-heavy and wealth-redistributive policies he supports are
precisely the wrong prescription.)
The American Dream Has
Disappeared
These statistics point to a reality in America that is hidden in plain view: We live in a deeply bifurcated country. There are, in effect, two Americas … and they won’t coexist peacefully for very long.
Most of us in the Sovereign world live in an America that, for the most part, still looks vaguely like the America we’ve always known. Opportunities still exist. We can afford our lives. And despite the myriad of personal and financial freedoms the Congress has revoked in the last decade or so, our America still sort of works, generally speaking.
But for a different set of Americans, this country has become a massive disappointment.
For them, few opportunities exist. The American dream is a Hollywood lie. They live on the margin, with 80% of them, in one recent national survey, struggling with joblessness and straddling a very fine line between poverty and barely keeping their heads above water. They are increasingly angry, agitated and depressed. They feel cheated.
That America has been short-changed by Washington’s ill-designed intrusions into corporate life (like, for instance, the knee-jerk and onerous Dodd-Frank legislation and Obamacare), D.C.’s regulatory blitzkrieg of the last 20-plus years, and the dramatic expansion of a welfare system that has removed the incentive to work. All have undermined job creation in America. The rise of technological innovation hasn’t helped, of course, but government’s clumsy and heavy-handed attempt to regulate too many aspects of free enterprise has stifled America’s entrepreneurial spirit. The “start-up job rate” in our country – the number of jobs in newly created American companies – has fallen during the Obama administration to 7.8 per 1,000 people, a 31% decline from the first President Bush.
Riots and government oppression – it can’t happen
here…watch the video.
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