Back in early April, my local group got together to talk about what we thought might be going to happen in the future, and how we might need to support ourselves and each other. I’ve already posted some of what we’ve discussed at later meetings, but here’s a bit of an index page with some overview topics, and links to more detailed info. Energy Solutions The topics from our power brainstorming session: Whole house power […]

I’ve been told that when I’m too busy, overwhelmed and exhausted, my tendency is to do more and think of more things that need doing. Maybe that’s true, as today in the shower, I started writing this post in my head, and it wasn’t even on my already overcrowded To Do list. Oh well, better get those thoughts recorded before they disappear, or keep me awake at night. Maybe later I’ll add more pictures, and […]

In part 1, we looked at some possibilities for smaller water collection tanks that may fit into an urban or suburban space. In part 2, we look at what we do with the water to make it safe to use. Storing Water You may have collected water by: Collecting rainwater Storing mains water in a tank or in plastic bottles If you’re not able to have a rainwater tank, look for some larger water storage […]

I may have mentioned that we live in Wellington, capital city of New Zealand. NZ is on a fault line, and Wellington particularly is vulnerable to earthquakes. Periodically those in “power” tell us what we need to do to prepare for that eventuality. The industrious and responsible among us will have had an emergency kit ready for years. The more lacksadaisical and procrastinating types probably haven’t got round to it yet. The one thing we […]

Last part of our power brainstorming session. The topics again: Whole house power Heating and cooling Food preservation and preparation Lighting, communications and devices Washing and hygiene Last but not least. Important, but not necessarily in a power saving way. Although we started talking about how being without power might affect us, there are a lot of other aspects we considered as well. Heating water Something to think about even if there end up being […]

Part 4 of our power brainstorming session. The topics again: Whole house power Heating and cooling Food preservation and preparation Lighting, communications and devices Washing and hygiene If you’re wedded to your phone, you may think we had our priorities all wrong, with devices coming in at number 4. But trust me, once you’re warm and fed, you’ll be glad we sorted those out first. Lighting Before thinking about emergency lighting, let’s have a look […]

Part 3 of our power brainstorming session. You’ll recall our topics were: Whole house power Heating and cooling Food preservation and preparation Lighting, communications and devices Washing and hygiene So, yes, you’ve got it, we’re up to what to do with our food. Preservation Fridges and freezers: These are a priority if there’s not much power If power fails, and the outage is expected to be short, don’t open them and things will keep cold […]

More on our power brainstorming session. Our topics were: Whole house power Heating and cooling Food preservation and preparation Lighting, communications and devices Washing and hygiene So let’s look at heating and cooling. As we’re headed into winter, we mostly discussed ways to keep ourselves warm. Some of these ideas seem obvious, especially to those of us who were around before heat pumps and central heating, but we decided no idea was too silly or […]

We live in interesting times, and they could get a whole lot more interesting. I’ve heard some say they will get dire, but I prefer to think of it as difficult or challenging. We don’t want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything has gone back to normal, but we don’t need to panic either. Planning for all eventualities, however, seems like a good idea. So I got together with a group […]