Living solarpunk right the fuck now. There are other great blogs for theory and aesthetic. This blog is all about the practical. What can we do now and in the near future to live and make the world more solarpunk?
Speaking about alternative ways of growing things, have you seen the bottle tower gardens invented by Willem Van Cotthem? His youtube videos are a bit amateurish but the plant results look amazing. I prefer straight up recycling plastic bottles but that IS a neat upcycling idea and it's a water-efficient and space-efficent way of gardening 8D
Oh nice, I hadn’t seen these before, but they look ingenious!
A great way to repurpose waste plastic too, especially as not everywhere has plastic recycling facilities. The water efficient part is appealing too. Solutions like this would be helpful for people living in more arid climates!
Most plants can be grown from cuttings meaning that, if you know what you’re doing, they’re a great way to rapidly grow a whole garden full of plants. Or a whole house full, if you’d prefer.
The simplest type are stem cuttings, but many plants can be regrown from other parts like leaves or roots too. As long as there are stem cells in the cutting it’s possible to, with some care, regrow a full plant. In practice, how easy this is depends on the specific plant – but it never hurts to try!
So here are a bunch of how-to resources for anyone who wants to know more.
Here are some random ideas of things to do with cuttings…
Buy a rose bush. The good ones like damask roses can be expensive, but that’s ok. Prune it extensively and plant the stems as cuttings. You’ll soon have a whole host of rose bushes! The same thing goes for any other bush or tree. Plant yourself an apple orchard or a raspberry grove!
Buy fresh herbs. Cook with the leaves. Save aside the stems. Grow them as cuttings. Create a herb garden in your windowsill.
Going out for a walk? Carry a small jar in your bag with some damp tissue in the bottom, and a small pair of study scissors. If you see any wild plants or trees you like the look of, snip off a small stem (from somewhere discrete!) and keep it in the jar. Grow it as a cutting when you get home. (Note: I’d advise against doing this in gardens, parks, or other privately owned areas. Technically, that’s theft.)
When you buy potatoes, check them for sprouts. Sprouting potatoes can be cut up into pieces, so each piece has at least one sprout or eye. Leave them overnight to dry off a little, then plant them. Soon you’ll have a whole potato patch. Just like Mark Watney.
If a friend has an interesting plant in their garden/home/office/wherever, ask them if you can take a small cutting. Most people won’t mind.
If there are trees or shrubs in your garden, you’ll probably need to prune them occasionally. Grow the pruned stems and branches as hardwood cuttings. If you don’t have space for more trees in your garden, they make good gifts once they’re established.
depending on how ur dorm is set up you might be able to have a compost initiative or something as well (mine does, we collect and then hand it over to a commercial composter)
Another excellent suggestion! Even if your dorm/student housing doesn’t have something like this, check if your city/local area does - you might be able to get administration on board and start something yourself.
Hi! I was scrolling through your blog and saw someone ask about dorm tips. Would heavily reccomend that anyone at university/college have a look at the societies! There's likely to be all sorts of societies based on sustainable skills. You often get given resources and taught to do things in return for a very small membershup fee! I'm joining a beekeeping society and a sewing society :)
That is an excellent idea! Now I’m wishing I’d thought of that when I was in college :)
It's sweltering, and the power keeps going out where I am at. Do you have any tricks or tips for dipping my toes into the solar power pool?
My household is mostly broke and we desperately want a fan or some sort of air circulation?
Last year we pulled our resources together and bought a flashlight/fan combo, but they broke within the week. We're willing to spend some money, but we have NO clue how or where to start. . .are you able to help with some resources?
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about solar - I’ve found it one of the more involved solarpunk topics to get into and just haven’t had the time and spoons to devote to learning it. I’ll answer with what I know, and any followers with more solar info/resources please feel free to jump in!
My personal experience with solar is a simple setup for charging my phone/tablet. I got a personal solar panel (I know Amazon sells them and so do some hiking sites, they’re often advertised for hikers and backpackers to put on their backpacks and charge their phones as they hike) and a couple power banks that I can charge from the solar panel and then switch out as needed to recharge my devices. They make power banks with AC outlets that you could plug a fan into, but from what I can see those tend to be a bit expensive (in the $100 range).
As far as resources, I haven’t tried them personally but I’ve heard really good things about the solar classes on Instructables. I love the permies.com forums and they have one entirely devoted to solar. This would also be a great place to ask this question and get advice from people who have a lot of experience with solar.
That’s pretty much all I have for the moment, unfortunately. Any followers have advice or experience to share?
There is! So there’s a couple of different things that can help your farm but I’m going to explain how to make aluminum pop cans into roof tiles. This requires a few tools, but I found it to be simple. If you don’t have the tools right now, you can always prepare the cans as shown in the first step, and then use them all when you get the tools needed.
A lot of Northerners were very kind during the freeze in Texas this winter with tips on how to stay warm for people who had lost heat. This is an attempt to repay that favor for people in the Pacific Northwest and other northerly locations who are facing dangerous heatwaves without built-in A/C. My qualifications to give this advice are that I was a summer camp attendee and counselor with no A/C for many summers in humid-ass central Texas with highs over 100F basically every day. Hopefully some of it will be of use to somebody who isn’t used to the heat.
1) PUT ICE WATER IN YOUR BODY. Ice water is your best friend and the #1 way to drop your body temp. Drink more than you think you need (like, at least a half-gallon a day and closer to a gallon or more if you have to be outside doing manual work all day) to cool your insides down and stay hydrated. Have some bananas, trail mix, or a sports drink to help replace the electrolytes you’re sweating out and keep you from getting cramps, but try to have most of your fluid intake be water. I used to take a giant water bottle, fill it part way with water, and freeze it on its side so the ice would slowly melt over the course of the day and my water would stay cold longer.
2) PUT ICE WATER ON YOUR BODY. Cold water, ice, or a damp rag on your head and neck, the backs of your knees, the insides of your elbows, and under your armpits will help you cool down the best, because your blood runs close to the surface in those places. Cold packs designed for injuries or lunchboxes, bags of frozen vegetables, etc. can substitute for ice water as well. Even room-temp water will pull heat away from your body better than body-temp sweat will, especially if it’s humid, so if you don’t have enough ice, the sink, bathtub, or hose will do fine. Dipping your feet into cool water helps a ton as well if you have to sit and work and don’t want your clothes to be wet.
3) WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GET SO MUCH ICE?Â
To make sure you have enough ice to last you the weekend, especially through a potential power failure, I recommend getting a cooler (even one of the cheap styrofoam ones is fine in a pinch) and ~10lbs of ice from the big coolers at most gas stations, drug stores, or grocery stores. Try to do this now, before anybody loses power, and store as much in your freezer as you have space for to keep it from melting. You can use it for drinking or to keep your food cold in a power failure. You can use it for a party later if you don’t end up needing it during the heat wave, but you will probably be very happy you had it.
4) AIR FLOW. Being inside a room with the windows closed is the worst possible place to be if you don’t have A/C, because glass windows create a greenhouse effect and the hot air can’t escape. If at all possible, find a shaded place outside where you can catch any possible breeze. If not, open all your windows and, if it’s safe, doors so you can get a cross-breeze. Hopefully you have window screens to keep pets and kids in and bugs out. If not, you’re gonna have to do your own risk assessment. Fans of all sizes and descriptions are your friend; ceiling fans should be set to spin counterclockwise in summer. Even if you have A/C, finding or making a handheld fan will be worthwhile for when you have to venture outside. If you aren’t in a situation where you need to conserve ice, blowing air over a cooler full of ice will give you a makeshift A/C.Â
5) SHADE. You will probably immediately notice that direct sunlight is a miserable place to be when it’s super hot. Find or make a shaded location, and don’t be afraid to move around to avoid the sun as the day goes on. Stay on the shady side of the sidewalk whenever you walk someplace. Try to shade your windows as best you can without obstructing airflow using blinds, curtains, shutters, etc. especially if they’re directly in the path of the sun.
Do not be a jerk to your neighbors if their shade solutions are ugly.
If you can get a shade for your car windshield, I highly recommend it, as the steering wheel, dashboard, seatbelts, and even seats can quickly become too hot to touch in a sealed car and will hold that heat for a long time.
6) CLOTHING. Light-colored, loose clothing that is as close to 100% cotton or linen as you can find is your friend. It doesn’t necessarily have to be short as long as it’s breathable. You will sweat through anything you wear, so I personally prefer only wearing machine-washable stuff. Sun hats, sunscreen, sunglasses, aloe gel for sunburns, mosquito repellent, anti-chafing supplies, etc are all worth looking into if you aren’t used to spending time in the heat.
7) TIMING. Try to stay out of the sun and avoid doing anything strenuous in the middle of the day when the heat is the worst. If you have a choice, plan to be more active early in the morning and late at night when the temperature is more bearable, and take a break in the middle of the afternoon.
Here’s a graphic from the CDC about how to recognize heat-related illnesses and what to do about them. I will add to this that if it’s hot and you stop sweating, you are getting to a dangerous level of dehydration and need to drink something BEFORE you start having more serious problems.
Tip from an EMT: the big difference between Heat Exhaustion and a Heat Stroke is confusion. If someone seems overheated and in distress, but can still hold a conversation and answer questions appropriately, they still need help but not as drastically. Most of the time it can still be reversed by simply getting them into a cool environment and giving them cool water to sip on. Electrolyte replacement will be a must.
If they seem overheated and are slurring their words, unable to answer your questions appropriately, or unable to talk at all, those are key indicators that they may be having a heat stroke and need medical attention ASAP.
an abaya is your friend, the looser the better. it’ll allow airflow and keep you cooler
wear the fabrics designed for the middle eastern heat, like nidha
if you don’t have nidha, stick to light, organic fabrics like cotton or linen - no polyester!
buy a neck cooler and wear it under your hijab or just around the house - these are a life saver and can easily be refrozen quickly
wear a hijab style that doesn’t wrap in multiple layers or hug your head and neck too tightly
sprinkle some water on top of your hijab, looks silly but works wonders at cooling your head down
i know we hijabis like to layer but layering is not your friend in the heat
do it like they do in the gulf countries - become a night owl, snack on a lot of fruits, freeze fruits to snack on, and stay indoors or nap in the hottest parts of the day
also unrelated but coffee and tea are diuretics so it’s best to cut down consumption when it’s super hot
Call 911 right away - heat stroke is a medical emergency
Move the person to a cooler place
Help lower the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath
Do not give the person anything to drink
Heat Exhaustion
What to look for:
Heavy sweating
Cold, pale, and clammy skin
Fast, weak pulse
Nausea or vomiting
Muscle cramps
Tiredness or weakness
Dizziness
Headache
Fainting (passing out
What to do:
Move to a cool place
Loosen your clothes
Put cool, wet clothes on your body or take a cool bath
Sip water
Get medical help right away if:
You are throwing up
Your symptoms get worse
Your symptoms last longer than 1 hour
Heat Cramps
What to look for:
Heavy sweating during intense exercise
Muscle pains or spasms
What to do:
Stop physical activity and move to a cool place
Drink water or a sports drink
Wait for cramps to go away before you do any more physical activity
Get medical help right away if:
Cramps last longer than 1 hour
You’re on a low-sodium diet
You have heart problems
Sunburn
What to look for:
Painful, red, and warm skin
Blisters on the skin
What to do:
Stay out of the sun until your sunburn heals
Put cool cloths on sunburned areas or take a cool bath
Put moisturizing lotion on sunburned areas
Do not break blisters
Heat rash
What to look for:
Red clusters of small blisters that look like pimples on the skin (usually on the neck, chest, groin, or in elbow creases)
What to do:
Stay in a cool, dry place
Keep the rash dry
Use powder (like baby powder) to soothe the rash
Infographic provided by the CDC
[End ID]
If anyone wants to chime in with ways to recognize sunburn on darker skin, that’d be much appreciated!
In the mean time, here’s three links I have to homemade air cooling systems; they’re not a perfect solution, especially since two of the three need electricity, and the fourth one makes me boggle a little, but they still might help! (Note: The second one is basically outlined above by OP!)
How to Make an Easy Homemade Air Conditioner from a Fan and Water Bottles (these require some electricity and a freezer to make, as well as a standing fan (not hanging fan), but also seem like the easiest to make; there are two options at this one, and you really don’t need to poke holes in the bottles for the second option)
Hey, so I was born in the desert and have lived for the last couple of decades on the southern US Atlantic coast, and this post is a goddamn gold mine of info.
For hydration, water is the best, but ANYTHING that isn’t alcoholic is better than not drinking. And don’t drink ice-cold liquids when you’re really hot; lukewarm to cool until your body has cooled off a bit. (Basically, your body is already struggling because of the heat, so please don’t add to its workload. Give it some room-temperature water at first.)
Oh hey, that’s a good bookend to “Don’t put a person who’s too cold or hypothermic in a hot bath”; doing so can be a major shock to their system. I know that with metal pots and pans, going from hot to cold or cold to hot too quickly can warp the metal quite badly; doing so with glass can outright shatter it. Doing that with a human body won’t have exactly those results, but it can still be pretty bad! Play it safe instead, and work up/down to more desirable temperatures.
Oh, also no salt water. Don’t drink from the ocean if you’re looking to hydrate.
Also, I debated with myself about this, but I want to make an exception to the note (under the advice to hijabis) that layers are bad.
IF your garments are made of natural textiles, very lightweight, and draped loosely around your body, your clothes sort of make your own personal cooling system. Several layers of loose, super-light, natural fabrics create airflow around your body: basically a Classical Greek aesthetic. You want fabric that is so lightweight a single layer of it is translucent; when you drape three or four layers of it, the cumulative effect is opaque, so your body is well covered.
Example for modern clothing items: a pair of ankle-length trousers, with a long skirt on the lower body, and then a loosely cut tank/vest top under a long-sleeved shirt/blouse, and a shawl draped over the head/neck/shoulders, all of super-light, natural-fiber fabrics will keep you covered AND cool.
Say no to anything heavy, tight, or synthetic, and layers can be your friend.
It’s the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere! This is the time when gardens are really getting going, when summer fruits are abundant in the wild, and everything is still green and new. I’ve been taking my niblings out berry picking, teaching them the best spots to look for wild black raspberries and how to tell when red raspberries and blueberries are ripe. I’ve harvested and dried rosemary and oregano, and pulled all the garlic to cure before braiding for storage. I’ve also been giving away extra tomato and pepper plants to literally everyone I know and then some, because I miscalculated and then panicked and ended up started more than double what I can actually plant!
[photo id: a yellow colander with a mix of black raspberries, red raspberries, and blueberries.]
[photo id: a round outdoor table covered in garlic plants, freshly pulled with dirt still clinging to the bulbs.]
[photo id: a towel laid flat on a black cooktop, with rosemary branches heaped on it.]
What have you all been up to recently? What solarpunk projects have you been working on? Please share!
A message for anyone receiving or thinking about utilizing free resources: never feel guilty for using community resources offered to you!
I recently began working at a non-profit that provides free food to community members. Some of the food we get wholesale, some is donated, and we also collect fresh produce and bakery items from supermarkets and restaurants in the area that they would otherwise throw out. We also recieve money from donors and that amount isbased on how many people we serve. Many resources are set up in a similar way, including things like libraries! We want more people to come because then we can get more funding.
Yes, we have a high demand for food right now and we serve a lot of people! But at my non-profit we also have a LOT of food. Yesterday we distributed over 70 full bags of fresh produce and bread for free and we STILL had food left over. I felt guilty taking home produce for my household from the leftovers, even though we have no fresh food in a 4 person apartment. But literally every person I talked to encouraged me to take some if we could use it, since otherwise it would just become compost.
If you are afraid you're not poor enough, not desperate enough, or don't deserve help compared to other people, get that little voice out of your head and reach out to your local organizations. Any group worth their salt will know how much they can provide to each person and we can tell you what resources you could recieve. We may also point you towards other resources that may fit your specific needs. We are here to help.
The Ticks are coming/are here!!! Are there any proven ways to keep them off your skin?
Someone said peppermint oil, but this also comes from the buddy who thinks cryptocurrency is God, so I need someone trusty 👾
I have heard that peppermint oil repels ticks, but since I haven’t tried it myself it’s all anecdotal evidence. I do trust several of the people who have told me that, but having never tried it I can’t give it an unequivocal endorsement.
All the sources I see say that essential oil repellants need to be reapplied about every two hours, so be aware of that if you decide to try them.
In my experience, the best way to keep ticks off your skin is to not give them any skin to get onto. Whenever you’re going anywhere that might have ticks (especially places with long grass), wear long pants, socks, close-toed shoes, long sleeves, and if your pants aren’t fitted around the ankles I highly recommend tucking them into your socks. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective.
