Sustainable Living - Page 9

[darkstar]

This too is my dream. We are dying to get out of the city and live a more simple life. Land is expensive, although we are looking into buying "young mans land" This is the land that is up in the mountains and not that easy to get to . Therefore ot is much less expensive. We have been pricing land in Northern colorado for about 90,000 for 30-40 acres. In reality this is ALOT of land. If we did this we would split it with our closest freinds, they too have a young dd. Building 2 small earth friendly earthship type homes. Also, we are looking into earthship communities, I have found a few that are about 600 acres in total. Good luck to you all, in your quest for land, gardening and solar living

[farmer mama]

It seems tricky to find cheap land that is nice and have it be near enough to jobs that can sustain families. Our ideal would be to be able to actually "live off the land" completely, but we still have a ways to go as my husband still has to work to provide our income

Any Puget Sound moms out there? Some of us have set a date, time and place to meet up for a picnic. PM me if you want the info.

[hnybee]

this thread has made me kinda sad. i was raised very close to this. my mom sewed, baked her own bread, we had farm animals and so much more. my childhood is full of these memories and i am smiling as i write them.

i am sad because i long to get back to that kind of life, but it is so hard! we live in the suburbs and DH said that the only way we could ever afford to live that way is to wait until he retires!

My girlfriends and i dream of moving to oregon and setting up our own communal living. we would share everything: the car, the garden, the sewing. we as mamas would encourage each other and take turns homeschooling our children. we would cook together and share meals. This is what I want my life to look like, but i fear that it is a very long way off, if ever.

[mblendley]

I am so jealous of you ladies. I want to be just like you but my hubby is more mainstream and doesn't like to be "different"
He is all up for the farming and animals and things but I can't seem to convince him about other things. :
We live in a very small community and just moved in to a house with a little less than an acre yard but my mil an fil own land about 15 min. away so we have a horse and some cows out there that the kids can be around. I plan to have a small garden here and then get some things from my inlaws.
We are hoping that we can move back out to the country soon and be more self sufficient. I'd like to see some of your house plan ideas and tips on becoming more self suficient.
Any help you could give me I'd love. I'm really just getting into all this GREAT stuff. Hoping I can turn dh more like me.

Thanks for such a Wonderful thread

Brandy

[Saralee Sky]

Sustainable Living

Hello everyone,

Interesting post! In 1974 I was 25, a college graduate and hippie living in SF, CA. Get the picture?

I got a small inheritance and bought 40 acres in northern CA near the town of Cazadero. My land was part of a 2000 acre ranch that was being subdivided. Everyone owned their own 40+ acres plus over a 100 acres of common land, common roads and the original ranch house with running water and electricity.

We had our own government and assessed ourselves dues to pay for the ranch house expenses plus grading the common roads - all dirt. I lived up a 2 mile dirt road about 7 miles from the nearest 'town' (post office, general store, lumber mill).

We hauled our water for the first few years, never had any electricity. Used a propane refrigerator, wood cook stove. I had one of my babies on the land in a cabin we built. I washed my diapers using a hand agitator and hand wringer.

In many ways it was a truly idyllic lifestyle. In many others it was just plain hard. Our cars broke down, our road washed out and the every day chores of living - cooking, washing, staying warm and clean - took up most of our time. We also survived an 8000 acre wild fire that burned up our house and everything we owned!

I wouldn't trade those 9 years for the world, but I also appreciate the electricity and running water of my current life style.

[PapaJon]

Hey mblendley you may want to suggest to your dh ECOnomical alternatives. Radiant floor heating, straw bale construction, cistern w/ rain catchments system (great for watering gardens and non-drinking supply). Two way inventor and a couple of solar panels possibly hydro or wind that way no need for batteries you use grid power and your gathered power is applied to what you draw from the grid. All of these save money, though initial cost to set up may be greater the savings are GREAT. My dw and 2 boys Eli (4) and Ivan the wonderful (15 mo) are in the process of trying to get a dept of agriculture loan in order to build our straw bale with above mentioned and including a composting toilet. A great program to actually see and plan for the construction which we have used is 3d architect (check you’re library). I have 9 plans based upon topographical layouts. With the composting toilet we may still have to install a septic system due to conditions of our loan. If your husband needs or wants any info please have him email me this is one of my passions. I also am a PROUD baby slinging, cloth diapering, soap making, patchwork sewing, sahd/wahd un-schooling (spearheading a campaign to start an Athens area home schooling co-op) dad. My Dready goddess works at a local worker owned restaurant. We grow or try to grow all our own produce and medicinal herbs. We are also vegetarian borderline vegan (Healthy as I know it is not all that easy for some) both our children were born at home and have never been (or will be) immunized. Sorry for getting off topic. You may also want to make any suggestions as a money saving opportunity that just happens to be good for the environment. Good luck.

[Indigo73]

PapaJon, welcome aboard.

I was wondering if in all your research you have tumbled across any decent sources on retro-fitting. Dh & I are interested in starting a long term urban homesteader experiment along the lines of http://users.easystreet.com/ersson just in New England instead of Oregon.

We have been having fun seeking out green builders who may be able to help us make our 19th Century home more self-sustaining.

[PapaJon]

Hello,
Indigo73 :
If you give me specifics I'd be glad to help. I use to be a roofer exterior trim carpenter plumber, basic electrician, excavator finish carpenter blah blah blah. (Jack of all trades and decent at most if I may say so) also here in Athens there are quite a number of my friends who wouldn't be caught dead at a MDC form but would love to convey any help needed in green construction or green rehab.

[zanelee]

Can anyone suggest any type of alternate building ideas for the deep south? It's soooooo humid and blazing hot here in the summer, that I just don't think hay bales are an option....
I've done some reading on other things, but thought someone new might be able to shed some light for me.

Also-can someone tell me which thread we're doing the book reading on?
Thanks!

[Indigo73]

I was going to PM you but decided to share with the thread the realities of urban sustainablity.

OH isn't too far from CT.

We own a mid 1800's Post House in an historic neighborhood - the Post Hill section of town.

The last occupant (so 2 owners ago) made a lot of weird changes to the first floor so that he could live on the first floor in his old age. Our full bath is on the 1st floor not the second and it is by no means code.

We are planning on ripping off the nasty aluminum siding and removing a poorly built addition (kitchen with no foundation).

So our juggling act is to maintain it's historical integrity but renovate it to be much greener. My folks think I am nuts to want to recycle my fixtures (I love my sink) and such when new "replicas" are so inexpensive.

We actually want to reduce the footprint of the house to enlarge our .1 (yes a 10th) acre lot by making more of the rooms multi-functional. As well as eliminating a detached garage.

I am specifically interested in sunlighting, compost toilets in an urban setting and siding/window options.

[Indigo73]

The book discussion is at http://www.mothering.com/discussions...hreadid=125871

[MamaMonica]

One of my issues with working towards a more sustainable lifestyle is transportation. This has been my issue for years, and I'm falling off the wagon now.

When I was young, just married in my twenties, I walked, rode the bus or carpooled everywhere. The bus for work, haircuts, karate class, dentist- and we were in the suburbs so the bus was not convenient but we chose to live this way.

Dh walked or carpooled to work until last year. They cancelled a lot of buslines in our area and I find myself driving a lot, which bothers me. Dh has a hybrid car that gets 48 mpg and we live near his work- but our reliance on vehicles is bothering me.

What sustainable transportation solutions have you found? I wish we could get into a town with decent mass transit options.

[Indigo73]

We are sorta in the same situation.

As much as the urge comes to buy a second car we have been firm - keeping to one car. Although I think I am going to bend a bit and let dh rebuild a motorcycle which he can use seasonally.

The public transportation in this area stinks. It used to be great when I was a kid. I could go anywhere in the system on the half hour from right out side my folks front door for 50 cents. Then it got cut back to 45 mins, then you couldn't transfer except at specific spots. Now fewer buses run every 90 mins and they get pulled at certain times to do the area employers' runs.

I usually just end up walking, it will take just as long as a bus ride - even with a 2 year old switching from stroller to walking to carrying in the hip hammock.

The good thing about the location of our house is we are very close to a revitalizing downtown and we can walk to many neat places in less than a half hour. And our gas bill is pretty much covered by dh's car-poolers. We work opposite sifts.

[MamaMonica]

Indigo, that's great that you can walk to a revitalized downtown. It's terrible about how mass transit has gone downhill. Dh's commute to work is 20 minutes on back roads. To take the bus (he got a plan from the Community Transit site) would take 4 hours and 10 minutes and he'd have to transfer twice. We use to have a bus that took 40 minutes to his work only half mile walk away- now that's gone.

His carpool melted down after 10 years and now he drives the hybrid. The only thing we can walk easily to is the park, so I drag the kid's bikes up there every nice day. I can also walk a couple of miles to the commuity college- used to do that. The grocery is not far but across busy major road.

The suburbs are a transportation nightmare here. The major cause of pollution in this area is mobile sources- automobiles and our county is ranked in the dirtiest 10 percent in the US.

[PapaJon]

Transportation. Where we live it is a necessity as our roads in the county and VERY not pedestrian or bicycle friendly. I would like to get a diesel truck and convert it to run on used filtered restaurant grease as one of our local residents has.

[momto l&a]

PapaJon mentioned something I would love and hope to have one day, radiant floor heat!

I just wish the initial outlay wasn’t so pricey, some $4,000 approximately just for the supplies for our size of house. Plus the time it would take for me to install.

The house we are buying would be so easy to install as there is a nice sized crawl space and root cellar under the house.


Ah to dream…

[PapaJon]

How many square feet? we are planning around 1500 sf and if I lay materials and insulation I'm looking at $1100 in material above the cost of the foundation pour(which I'd have to do anyway). And the labor (myself approx (dig / form / insulate) 2 .5 days well worth the extra investment. any questions, feel free.(hard to do sometimes with Bush as press, feeling free that is).

[mountain mom]

Hey Papa Jon welcome aboard!!

My dh is currently setting up a retrofit company specializing in solar energy converts. He is an electrician by trade. If anyone has queries regarding that please do so!!

As far as the transportation thing....what about carsharing? There is an organization here that does that and it is very economical, easy to use and environmental.

Is there anything like that out there in your communities?

Have a excellent day
Colleen

[momto l&a]

Its about 1,000 square feet. I had in that price an Bock oil heater.

[MamaMonica]

mountain mom, they do have a form of car sharing here- it's called Flex Car, but it's just in Seattle, not in our area. There is Flex Car at the ferry that comes across from Bainbridge Island so you can borrow a car on this side, as well as many sites around the city.

We need more programs like that. Our area is very behind on mass transit- in the late 80s there were no carpool lanes and my bus (and everyone else's) was always stopped in rush hour traffic- then someone who worked dowtown petitioned for a car pool lane and they told her no funds, couldn't do it- but people signed the petitions and soon they were marking the shoulder lane as an HOV lane! Citizen action at work.

Now there are quite a few HOV lanes. It's still not enough.