We have made some big changes and some little changes. I am pretty happy with the level of conviction, determination, and effort I am seeing out of us. I am on day 26 of paper towel withdrawal. Balls of sliced up flannel sheets are all over the house, waiting to to be discovered and washed, not thrown into the recycling crate. By making several different sizes, there is a rag for every job waiting in the repurposed cloth bag that the sheets came in years ago, hanging from my baker's rack. I still find myself reaching for my roll for certain things. Pork fat and cloth just don't sound like they play well together, so I used a recycled unbleached coffee filter to drain the bacon for BLT's. It worked well.
Taking my car of the road out of financial need is turning into a challenge of sorts. If I can make it through the move without a car...do I really need one? Can I find a local in bike or walking distance job and give up my personal chef's life? If I'm not commuting anywhere for work, just what does a second car mean for a family of 2? I don't know. It's going to take some time before I have these answers, but these questions are really burning in me. I laughed really hard at my friends sarcasm when I told her my car is off the road..."Yeah, take the grease powered car off the road. That's an eco friendly change." I'm thinking Want VS Need, is a topic she may want to consider reflecting upon, which is what I replied in due sarcasm. Yes, I want my car. Need my car? That remains to be seen once the move is made.
Another issue swarming the move and the changes are the building supply chain stores, which we do not like to support. The days of the Mom and Pop hardware store is almost over. There are one or two, but they do cost so much more than a Home Depot or Lowes. I started looking through the free listings on our local share program and found a few things we needed. A little bell went off as I remember the Habitat For Humanity leftovers store. We are going next week to look for paints and shelving, and hopefully, a stall for our plumbing disaster of a shower in the new place. With the landlord open to us doing whatever needs to be done (in exchange for part of the deposit), I am building a frame out of discounted trim wood to staple shower curtains on, to place in the dense bamboo grove with a solar shower bag as a temporary shower. It's really hot through the end of October. Making an outdoor shower is an option for us, so we are. This will take some pressure off of what needs to be done, now, and what can wait until we are done with the actual move.
There's also a water lesson we will learn through using a 5 gallon shower bag...how much water is wasted in a normal shower. The current goal is 5 gallons a day for showers for 2 people, and using the bathroom sink for my hair washing (the Guy shaved his head for the Summer). An older shower head runs at about 5 gallons per minute. A new one, about 2.8 per minute. With only 5 gallons for TWO showers, we are saving 100's of gallons of water a day, and watering our bamboo grove at the same time. I think the bamboo will get a kick out of the Dr. Bronner's I infused with herbs, too.
Speaking of water. Our homemade laundry detergent is filled with naturally occurring salts. In our current greywater set up, this is not a problem, as it waters landscaping, not food. The new place may pose a problem, as that greywater does run into the fruit trees, including the fig tree, which was heavily damaged by wind last week and deserves no extra salt in it's damaged roots. Our soil here in the Inferno has a high salt content anyway, from the prehistoric ocean it once was. I'm wondering if anyone knows a plant friendly, budget friendly homemade detergent recipe for hard water, not made with borax or washing soda? The preferred natural brand of detergent for greywater is called, Oasis. It's pretty pricey and not very good at removing stains, to be honest. I use Dr. Bronner's for 100 other things, but don't care for as a laundry soap. I feel it leaves a residue and yellows my whites over time due to inefficiency in our hard water. The current idea and budget killing option is the Oasis w/distilled vinegar presoaks. More research, shall ensue...
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