8 Completely Awesome DIY Home Energy Projects | Ecoble Small-scale renewable energy is a must for a sustainable home – but converting your home to clean energy options can carry a huge initial price tag. We’ve scoured the web for some of the most innovative examples of homemade energy solutions to compile a collective list of DIY projects to make your home greener and more energy efficient without costing you a fortune. From solar water heaters and gadget chargers to homemade super-efficient refrigerators, you’ll find links (with instructions) to some of the best projects you can make at home… Homemade Energy-Save Fridge The ‘Ambient Air Fridge’ isn’t quite a year-round green appliance but when things cool down in the winter, this homemade fridge will definitely shave a few dollars off the electric bill! DIY Electric Lawn Mower A small DC motor, two 12-volt batteries, a circuit breaker, and wiring can transform your polluting, fossil-fuel dependent lawn mower into a clean, green, grass mowing machine! Make Your Own Wind Turbine DIY Hydro Power
An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual, 9923-2823-MTDC, Getting the Hang of It (continued) Sharpening "Putting your nose to the grindstone" implies tedious, repetitious, and unending work. You will find that sharpening a dull or abused ax is indeed tedious and repetitious, but to do it right you have to do it slowly (Figure 62). Along the way, you'll learn the value of patience, and appreciate the differences in steel tempering and ax quality as you sharpen different axes. Best of all, you will appreciate the usefulness of a razor-sharp ax, and the importance of doing everything you can to keep it sharp. Figure 62-The right way and wrong way to use a grinding wheel (drawings by Frederic H. Never use an electric high-speed dry bench grinder to sharpen your ax. If you don't have a pedal grindstone, your options are limited to a file and whetstone. Fit your file with a guard to protect your hands (Figure 64). Figure 64--File guards help keep your fingers away from the sharpened ax blade. Clamp the ax to the bench at a comfortable height (Figure 65).
Country Living Grain Mill Review Rating: 6.8/ 10 (33 votes cast) Country Living Hand Grain Mill is one of the must have appliances for hand grain milling. Buy Country Living Hand Grain Mill on Amazon.com If you are looking for a short-term mill, the Countr Living Grain Mill shouldn’t be your choice because it has been designed to last a lifetime. It is a grain mill that can be passed down from one generation to another in near-perfect condition as if it was bought directly from the manufacturer. It features double industrial sealed bearings, carbon steel grinding plates, stainless steel shaft, and has a solid I-beam construction made of cast aircraft aluminum. The Countr Living Grain mill, a well made rugged mill, is manufactured specifically for those looking for the best available speed, durability, grind quality, and very long life in a simple and very easy-to-use mill that is cost efficient as it doesn’t rely on electricity. Some of the Notable features include:
DIY: How to Make Endless Hot Water Without Electricity Using some recycled parts and a small rocket stove you can heat and pump all the hot water you will ever need without power. This ingenious technique utilizes thermal siphon pumping to move the freshly heated water into the reservoir. Image:YouTube hot waterOff Gridsustainabilityvideo Related Posts « Subterranean Ant Cities are Far More Complex than Anyone Thought Possible Teacher Crosses The Line with “Urgent Notice” Sent Home to Parents »
How To Make Homemade Dishwasher Detergent Cubes | Make It Or Fix It Yourself!Make It Or Fix It Yourself! I definitely enjoyed trying this! How neat! I must say that this is one of my How-To favorites. Why? So, I came across ways (most of them the same with a few minor differences) to make the dishwasher detergent and was definitely intrigued with making it into cubes. Ingredients 2 cups of Borax (purchased at Walmart for $3.13)2 cups of Baking Soda (or Washing Soap)2 packets of unsweetened lemonade (or Essential Oils)1/2 cup of Kosher Salt1/2 cup of vinegarice cube trays (I used mask shaped trays from Everything’s A Dollar $1 each and regular trays that I already had at home.)wax paper (optional) Directions: Pour Borax into a mixing bowl. Add in the baking soda or washing soda. Pour the kosher salt into the bowl with other ingredients. I used 2 packets of the lemonade. Stir to blend the ingredients. This is the fun part! Your mixture should look somewhat like this. I used regular trays and the mask-shape trays. After they have hardened, remove from the trays. Google+
Global Village Construction Set The Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) is a modular, DIY, low-cost set of blueprints that enables fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts. The name, GVCS, has been coined for the first time in 2008 - at a lecture at the University of Missouri, Columbia - see UM Presentation. The above paragraph is a brief summary, but the goals of the GVCS are much larger. In 2019, our Vision has been reframed to collaborative design for a transparent and inclusive economy of abundance. The GVCS remains at the center of that. However, one cannot build sound technology without building sound people. Currently there are several, outstanding, unconscionable aspects of civilization: continuing ecocide, war, consumerism, poverty, poor distribution of wealth or access, ignorance - see Pressing World Issues. With great power comes great responsibility. Can't see the video below? Want to know more? Want to contribute?
Quick & Easy Homestead Uses For Plastic Bottles (PET) In the not too distant past, you would buy milk, sodas, etc. in glass bottles which you would return to the store to be sterilized and used again. Now, with our disposable culture, plastic bottles have replaced this system and have consequently become one of the many banes of the landfills. We need to rectify this wasteful and eco-nomically expensive practice. The current popular solution to the problem is recycling. That said, here are 10 simple ideas on how to reuse plastic bottles around the homestead.
The Self Sufficient Blog The Self Sufficient Blog is my mini-journal about self sufficent farm living. It... -- keeps you up-to-date on new information and what others are doing to become more self sufficient. ---New methods and creative approaches to farm living. -- keeps you up-to-date with other postings or news about self sufficient farm living --Join my blog and become more self sufficent by clicking on the orange button to subscribe. Self Sufficient Living There is nothing like the feeling of self sufficient living. Continue reading "Self Sufficient Living" The "Ah ha" Moment Here I am, 54 years old. Continue reading "The "Ah ha" Moment" Aquaponics Systems Aquaponics systems, simply put, is an agriculture ecosystem where plants and animals co-habitat in a cultivated water environment. Continue reading "Aquaponics Systems" Homemade Solar Panels People are successfully making homemade solar panels that perform and look better than manufactured panels. Continue reading "Homemade Solar Panels" Farms R Us
Homemade Beeswax Candles Beeswax candles are our newest obsession! Not only is pure beeswax a beautiful golden color, it has a cleansing effect on the air in your home. Beeswax is naturally scented. I love the scent. It's fresh and pretty, but not overpowering... a little bit like honey! 1. I am so excited to enjoy these natural candles in my new home. Here's the drill: You can use it as a chisel initially and cut a square hole the width of the tip, remove that, then tap and turn, tap and turn. I used a branch to hit the top with. You don't want to POUND it into the wood as the tool may not break but will be hard to turn. Be patient, periodically work it out of the wood while turning and remove some of the chips. Incidentally, as you may notice this is actually a exposed root (on a guava tree- fairly hard wood) but for some reason, I couldn't get some of the pictures to stay oriented correctly so it looks like a branch or trunk...which I guess is Ok because it may have more uses going into a vertical surface.... The root is about 4" thick but I was able to make it through in less than 5 minutes. If you don't need to go through but just want to sink it into a trunk to use it as a hanger or lifting point, that would work too.