Your home can provide you with many different opportunities, and if you want to become more self-sustainable, your home can be instrumental in helping you do just that.
self-sufficient
adjective
- needing no outside help in satisfying one’s basic needs, especially with regard to the production of food.
- “I don’t think the country could ever be self-sufficient in food.”
- emotionally and intellectually independent.
- “Their son was a little bit of a loner and very self-sufficient.”
As per the Oxford Dictionary, it is the act of making your own food, so you don’t need to rely on other sites to supply the food for you. While many people are on their way from being totally self-sufficient, there are some things you can put in place to join this growing movement; at present, over 180,000 people are living off the grid and are self-sufficient in the US.
Grow Your Own Vegetables
Simple right? You can cultivate a herb garden on your kitchen window ledge; you can create a vegetable garden from the leftovers of food oy have bought or the seeds from produce you have so you rely less on the supermarkets and farmers to provide this food source for you.
You grow all kinds of herbs at home easily enough, and veggies such as potatoes, carrots, aubergines, tomatoes, mushroom cultivation, and more can be easily grown in the right clients or via using a greenhouse to help you create this. Start small with one type at first, then see how this group grows, then once you become more proficient and experienced, you can grow pretty much anything in your garden, from strawberries to avocados, citrus fruits, apples, and more.
Water Collection
With water bills on the rise, being able to substitute or completely generate your own water supply can be a great way of removing your reliance on the city’s water system.
You can use water butts to harvest rainwater for things like washing cars, watering plants and vegetable gardens, and even flushing toilets. However, using a water filtration system to collect and then filter and purify rainwater can help you use it for more things, such as cleaning the house, baths, showers, and even drinking water.
Solar Panels
Contrary to popular belief, solar panels don’t need direct sunlight all year round; they are aboard the sunlight, meaning that even on cloudy days, they can still absorb power to convert it into electricity. From here, you can generate enough energy for yourself, meaning your usage, and reduce your energy bills or cover all of your uses and make an agreement to sell some back to the utility board, making you money year on year. On average, it can take anywhere from 6-10 years for solar panels to pay off, depending on the hours of sunlight you get per year, the kilowatt of the angels, and your usage overall.
Composting
If you are serious about becoming self-sufficient and growing your own food, then you need to ensure you are compositing too. Compost is decayed organic matter, and there are many items you can compost. You can use leftover fruit and vegetables to make nutrient-rich compost, use animal excrement, coffee beans, cut flowers, lemon and banana skins, egg shells, and plain paper (not glossy) to make your compost, and use this to grow your crops.
Wood Burners
Wood burners are an alternative to modern heating systems that can heat your whole home. They are also stoves, meaning you can cook on them, reducing your energy usage and lowering your bill without compromising warmth and comfort.
Wood-burning stoves can cost from $1,500 to $5,000 to install, and you burn wood you can find locally or have on your property to keep it heated.
Recycle
Upcycling items you have around the home can reduce your need to go out and buy new products. For example, gas jars can be cleaned and used for storage or drinking out of; old clothing can be sewn together to make blankets or adapted for new clothing items; wood can be used to create unique pieces of furniture; and your old boots can make excellent planters in our garden for a quirky look. Pretty much everything can be upcycled and turned into something new, and if you apply this to everything in your home, you can find alternative uses for many items reducing the need to purchase or send them to landfill.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t become 100% self-sufficient; making small constant changes can be just as beneficial for you as going entirely off the grid and relying only on yourself for everything you need.
