Tree Worshipper

I read a story the other day about a man who gave up all of his commercial trappings to live homeless and outside the modern monetary system.  While I have to admire his chutzpah, I am fairly certain I could never do something similar.  Our society does not allow for someone to live so far outside its bounds, at least not without a major struggle.

Daniel Suelo has been living this way for more than 10 years, and has done a remarkable job of it, setting up camp in a national park, moving to new sites as needed to avoid trouble.  He did receive a ticket one time for violating the 14-day camping limit, but was able to negotiate with an understanding judge to do community service instead.

While his story is impressive, it is also impractical and frankly, that lifestyle is not something that would appeal to many people.  We all want to do our part to conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprints, but this is a little over the top.  It is also not sustainable. What happens when he is in his 80s and still trying to live off the land?  At some point, some money will be needed and he is setting himself or the government up for a major expense down the road.

The question is, how far should we go in our efforts to slow the progression of damage we are causing.  How far would anyone want to go?  I think our family does a pretty good job at consuming less than the average American household, but that isn’t enough.  Living homeless and penniless, no matter how romanticized it is, is still homeless and penniless.

A couple of years ago, we received a magnetic shopping list pad for Christmas.  We still have it, because we so rarely write paper lists.  The thought of using an entire sheet of paper to keep track of something for a brief time, and then tossing it in the trash, is horrific to me and I cringe every time we do it.  Instead of using something disposable, dry erase boards are a perfect way to keep track of things to do around the house, menu plans, and other lists that do not need to be portable.

For our grocery lists, we usually use the list feature on a cell phone, because it is much easier to carry with and results in zero waste.  The only trouble is that it is difficult to remember to add items sometimes, unless we just happen to have a phone nearby while cooking.  So, grocery lists can start out on a dry erase board in the kitchen and be easily transferred to a phone when it is time to go shopping.

Dry erase boards can keep track of long term goals, shopping lists for future purchases like Christmas wish lists, and many other things.  If you have children, use a dry erase board for chore lists and you don’t have to keep writing the same chores down every week.

Dry erase boards are great for keeping things organized without creating a lot of waste.  You can use them for years.  In fact, we still have a functioning dry erase board in the kitchen that was put there 20 plus years ago.
 

Getting rid of bottled water is probably the first step anyone going green takes.  There is little as destructive to the environment as the flood of plastic our recent fascination with spring water has caused.  There are a lot of ways to still get clean water, and many people opt for a water filtration system.  We recently bought a Berkey system, and I wanted to write about our experience.

I have wanted a Berkey for a couple of years, but haven’t been able to justify the price tag, which is currently about $235 for a basic four-filter system.  Last week though, our well flooded and the water was tainted.  It was sewer brown and not safe to drink, so we needed something we could count on to get it clean.

The Berkey filter filters out just about everything, except for heavy metals.  We put that brown water into the Berkey, and while I knew it would come out safe to drink, I expected it to still be brown.  Wrong!  The water that came out after it filtered was crystal clear, like you would expect from bottled water.

The filter rate is slow and we are having trouble with the spout leaking, but I love the way the water tastes and the fact that I can feel completely confident when I drink the water or give it to my kids.  We are using it for everything and replenishing our supply of stored water.

Overall, I like the Berkey but wish it was a little faster.  The price seems steep for the quality of the housing, but I am glad we bought one and I look forward to many years of clean water with it.

We heat with wood heat, and get our wood from fallen, dead trees.  It is a very inexpensive way to heat and doesn’t require the harvesting of valuable resources.  Because of that, we don’t worry as much about having an airtight home.  If you have ever been in a home heated with wood, you know just how cozy it can be – sometimes too cozy.  So we have a pet door that inserts into the patio door frame, and never noticed just how much cold it let in, until we took it out the other day.

The first night after removing the pet door, we couldn’t sleep because it was so hot in the house.  The next day, we burned way less wood.  As it turns out, that little pet door was letting a lot of cold air in the house, and now that it’s out, we are staying warmer with much less wood.

I couldn’t find specific information about how much it costs in terms of energy to have a pet door, but judging by the staggering difference – about 10 degrees for us – in temperature by removing a pet door, I would say it could add up to a substantial amount of money in extra heating bills.

So if you have a pet door or are considering installing one, think carefully about whether or not the benefits are worth the extra expense.  Our dogs are just fine being let in and out, and we don’t mind the extra effort, because the house is less drafty and we have less hassle with policing what goes in and out.