Preparing for Frakenstorm

With Hurricane Sandy on the way and a massive cold storm front moving in from the west the entire east coast is about to get slammed hard. It is predicted that there could be 1 billion dollars of damage. Millions are expected to loose power for at least a couple of days. Many staples and things like D batteries and flats of water have disappeared from store shelves.

Fortunately our cupboards are already full and we have several flats of water.
We are currently in the process of freezing ice cubes and blocks of ice in plastic cups. Before bed tonight I plan on filling all free space with water bottles to increase the thermal mass.

I pulled as much of my garden inside as I could and harvested most of what was left outside. So half of our kitchen is currently filled with plants. Even if the rest doesn't fare well, even though I think it will, it is at least near the end of the season so it is not like I will lose all that much.

Common Sense Incarnate

The other day I saw an article in time about a book written by a sustainable farmer. That evening I found the first chapter available for download in iBooks. I started reading it and I cannot stop. The book is called Folks, This Ain't Normal. It is all about practices that have become common place that even 50 years ago would be considered completely absurd. From the way that we get food at the store to the way that we prepare food at home. From the way children are allowed to basically run free to the way that half the things that kids have done for hundreds of years are now considered unsafe.

He discusses many different topics but he does not just point fingers saying that everything is wrong. He also proposes solutions that could easily be adopted, that would also have a great impact. His overall goal is for people to adopt a more sustainable and responsible way of eating. Less corporate agriculture, more gardens at home. Less waste, more proper use of the waste that is unavoidable. The best thing that I think I like about his book is that his suggestions are not only for people that have a large amount of land that they can farm and raise their own livestock. He gives ideas for urbanites that are in a high rise. He gives ideas that could be applied in most families if we were willing to spend a little less time with the TV and a little more doing something more productive.

If you took the time to read all of this you have to check out the book. Go to http://www.amazon.com/Folks-This-Aint-Normal-Healthier/dp/0892968192 and read the first chapter that is posted for free. I am not even saying that you have to buy the book. You could pick it up at the library instead (which would also satisfy my need for people to relearn to love the library). Just check it out.

Water Water Everywhere

During a particularly nasty typhoon, on my mission, we lost power. Now that really is not all that big of a problem. We ate the food in the fridge (which we never kept all that much) and just had to suffer the humidity without the comfort of electric fans. However like most places in the world our water came from a water tower. No power = no water in the tower. Since the typhoon was so bad that it knocked out the power for a week we had the interesting experience of not having running water for 5 days. Fortunately we were able to buy 6 gallons before the shelves of the local store were cleared. We expected the water to be out for a day at most. So by day 3 our measly 1.5 gallons per person were running rather low. This made for some very thirsty and very dehydrated elders.

Now many of you may think that because we do not live in a developing country that we will not have problems like this. We feel safe here. However it would not take that much for us to loose access to water. An extended blackout like the NE faced a few years back could do it. A break in a water main locally could do it. An earthquake (which can happen anywhere) could take out power and water for a huge area for a couple of days or more. There are plenty of things that could happen that could impair your ability to have access to water.

The solution is simple. Store a supply of water. The goal should be 1 gallon per day per person for 2 weeks or 14 gallons per person. You can do that through getting several flats of water bottles and putting them under a bed. You could store water in clean soda bottles. You could buy the large 2.5 gallon disposable jugs that have the spouts. If you use a water crock, make sure you always have a few extra jugs filled at all times. Or if you have a large family and room in a garage or somewhere else you could buy a couple of 50 gallon barrels. Although it would probably be wise to have some of your water supply in a more portable format like flats of water bottles.

You do not have to do this all at once. Start with a simple goal of having 1 gallon per person stored and add an additional 1 gallon per person per week. In three months you will have a full supply and not have to suffer like I did when we ran out of water.