It’s true; after 6 months of using the same razor blade (by applying the ancient Immortal Razor Technique), it is time to lay the ol’ blade to rest. Faithfully it has served me, but in the last week or so, I could feel some dullness.
By cleaning mess out of my razor and drying it every time I used it, I stretched its life to half a year, a lot longer than the average razor!
If you haven’t tried it, I heartily suggest you try cleaning out your razor blade and drying it (with a towel or what have you) after each time you use it. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be reusing some good ol’ resources by putting forth only the slightest of effort. ‘Tis a win-win situation, ’tis.
P.S. It turns out my razor came with two blades, so I didn’t have to buy a new razor at all, just put in the new blade and bah-bam, new razor.
Last Saturday, me n’ Tiff went on the Henside the Beltline: Tour d’Coop around Raleigh. All’s we had to do was turn in two cans of food, get a map of the 20 urban chicken coop locations, and we were off on a journey of knowledge and wonder.
The Tour d’Coop turned out to be really cool. When people think of raising chickens, you think of a farm out in hickville, but it turns out a lot of people in Raleigh raise chickens. Each house we went to was in a “normal” neighborhood. Most of the houses had really nice backyards, with little vegetable gardens, water cisterns, homemade chicken coops, and rain barrels.
There were probably around 10 visitors at each stop, and the yellow-t-shirt-clad owners were happy to dish out folksy nuggets o’ chicken-raising wisdom.
Fun Facts about Raising Your Own Chickens
I learned these here chicken facts during the amazing Tour D’Coop.
Heat is more dangerous to chickens than cold (most can survive outside in winter)
Make sure the chicken fence goes at least a foot into the ground to keep out burrowing predators
Protect chickens from hawks, raccoons, dogs, cats (some dogs and cats can get along with them)
At night, the hens get sort of “dumb” and slow, so make sure they’re safe
Chicken poo is a good fertilizer
Basically an egg a day per chicken!
Easy to take care of, “like an aquarium”
No rooster needed, so you won’t be waking neighbors up at the crack o’ dawn
Orange yolk instead of yellow, because of more beta carotene
After all that learning, I think I’d like to raise me some chickens in my backyard one day. All the eggs I can eat (and give away), plus I get to watch chickens run around. It’s a win-win situation, I tell you! On that note, I will leave you with some pictures of the homemade chicken coops that I laid my eyes upon that fine day.
There you stand, in the grocery store, wishing that you had enough money to get you some of those crazy expensive protein bars. Sadly, you turn away, lamenting your puny muscles, wishing that there was some way to get protein bars without all the extra packaging and high prices. Well pay attention, for here is how to…
Make Your Own Protein Bars
Thanks to Krista’s protein bar recipe, I was able to make some protein bars of my own. Follow along with this picture essay, and you will learn the secrets of how to make some cheap, homemade protein bars.Here are the ingredients. If you want to use some eco-friendly protein powder, or organic bananas, or what have you, then by all means do. I opted for the cheapest ingredients for this demonstration.
Since me n’ Tiff bought and moved into our bodacious townhome last summer, we’ve changed a lot about it. A big thing we changed was the kitchen; with the help of Leon, Bil-lay, and 10, we took out a lot of old and put in a lot of used (new for us) things. I saved a lot of what we took out (nails, wood, etc.), and have reused those materials to make some new things.
For Valentines’ Day, I made Tiff a kitchen island with these saved materials. I started with not much, but with a lil’ gumption and elbow grease, the kitchen island was completed. Here is its story…
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. With this handy advice in my noggin, I drew out the plans for the island. I wanted to make it the same height as our counters, and also make sure that there was enough room for our trash can to fit in it. Before I show you my plans, please remember that they are copyrighted, so if you copy them I’ll sue your pants off.
Far too often, when people hear the terms “eco-friendly” or “green“, they think of “tree-hugging liberals”. Even in the news, environmental ideas are touted (or degraded) because of perceived connections with “the far left”. This is bad logic, to think that only Starbucks-drinking, Mac-blogging, futuristic-glasses-wearing eco-hipsters (and hippies) care about the environment. Why must people be lumped into either Conservatives or Liberals? I guarantee you that the vast majority of people, whether they know it or not, have a mix of opinions that have elements of liberalism, conservatism, and perhaps even joeism.
Makes our country stronger. USA #1!!!! By investing in research in alternative energy (solar, wind, tidal), the good ol’ U.S.A. can help supply its growing energy-needs while cutting energy costs. Plus, we won’t be sending a bajillion dollars to such repressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia and Mr. Chavez.
Leave the world in good shape for the future. Everyone wants their kids (and grandkids) to live in a t-riffic world. By conserving wetlands, forests, and nature in general, we can bequeath a pristine Earth for future generations.
Since most of y’all probably stopped reading awhile ago, I’ll cut this short and stop here. Let me know if you think of other non-political reasons for gettin’ green.
Earthships are houses made with discarded tires, bottles, and cans, put together with lots of dirt. Many of them are self-sufficient, creating their own energy, and capturing their own rain-water. Since they’re made from reused/free materials, and supply their own electricity, heating, and water, they help conserve natural resources while also saving chunks of money. I’m down for anything that helps the environment AND saves me some dinero.
But I digress. I now present to you, courtesy of Earthship.net, “Earthships 101″.
Amory Lovins, who won a MacArthur Genius grant back in 1993 (and an Eco-Hero Award just right now), has been living in a house he built since 1983. It looks like a very nice and comfy house, especially when you consider that, despite living 7,000 feet up in the Rocky Mountains (where it gets pretty dang cold), he pays $0 a year on his heating. Not only that, but his house actually generates more electricity than he needs — so he sells the surplus energy to the power company for some extra cash. Here are three ways to cut your electric bill like crazy.
His secret (one of them) is that he designed his house to be very well insulated. His walls are 16 inches thick, and his large super-insulated windows (made with special glass that insulates as well as 14 normal panes of glass) mean that his house can retain heat quite well.
Passive and Active Solar Heating
Lovins’ house is heated in two main ways: both from sun-rays passing through his many windows, or by means of Amory’s solar panels, which supply his house with more energy than it even uses.
Energy-Efficient Appliances
Much of Lovins’ house is naturally lit by the sun. Besides that, motion-detector lights and energy-efficient bulbs help to cut down on electricity use. His fridge is thickly-insulated, which reduces its energy consumption by quite a lot. His dryer is solar powered, and looks like it uses no electricity at all (watch the video to see how).
Amory Lovins’ home took some extra thought to design and build. It also cost a little bit extra ($6,000). But by cutting his power bill to zero, the extra planning and money spent were easily worth it. If more and more contractors start building this way, you could kiss our “oil prices” and “energy crisis” problems good-bye.
It’s true; after 6 months of using the same razor blade (by applying the ancient Immortal Razor Technique), it is time to lay the ol’ blade to rest. Faithfully it has served me, but in the last week or so, I could feel some dullness.
