“Rekenen,” Dutch: to count Gasoline: doing much better at 16% Between us we consumed 20.3 gallons. That’s 6.77 gallons/person, that’s: 16% of the US national average. I have this great deal with another mom from Amie’s preschool: in lieu of my watching her kids for four hours a week, she watches Amie for two hours …
Category Archives: reduce reuse recycle
Poll: Why Do/Don’t You Simplify/Prepare in the face of Peak Oil/Global Warming?
{This is a second attempt at this poll. I deleted the first one: the polling service wasn’t working properly. My apologies to those who already voted; please vote again.} I am curious about how my readers think about Peak Oil / Global Warming. Do you think the threat is real? What do we hope/fear for …
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Water Bottles in the Freezer / Fridge
This is a neat idea to save energy on your fridge and freezer. It was suggested in the Riot 4 Austerity discussion group. I’m happy to have found it because our inherited fridge-freezer is an old one and we could definitely use some KWH savings there. It makes sense that it takes a lot of …
Riot for Austerity Month 3: An Average Winter Month
Gasoline: 25% After our road trip splurge last month, we did better this month: we used 31.1 gallons between the three of us, which makes for 25% of the US national average, but more than our first month Rioting (19%). The reason was the schedule changes that necessitated DH to take the car into school …
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*We* are The Economy
I had a great discussion with a friend about David Orr’s essay, “Loving Children: a Design Problem“. She concluded that the breakdown of education is one of the many results of an unfettered capitalistic economic system. It sounded like the end of our conversation, because, you know, The Economy: what can I do about that? …
Riot Fatigue: I Feel Like I’m Slacking
This is only our third Riot month and I feel like I’m slacking already. I realized this when last week I volunteered to drive Amie and a preschool buddy to their field trip. This was legitimate, I think: the preschool needed volunteers. On the way back – just Amie and I – I decided to …
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
A new law will be coming into effect on 10 February, called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It demands that all products for children aged 12 and younger be tested for lead and phthalates, and that those that haven’t been tested yet are considered hazardous and may not be sold. It’s about time …
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She’s My Little Sample
A while ago I was telling an older acquaintance about how few clothes we need to buy for Amie. We have several generous friends who have daughters a year or so older than Amie and who gladly pass on some clothing. – I love hand-me-downs, I said. To which my acquaintance whispered: – Ssshh, you …
Chicken Wire Compost Bin Accomplished
It’s warm! 50 F in the shade at 9 am and now, at 11:30: 60 F! This weather is unbelievable… But I believed it and immediately went out to set up that compost bin I talked about earlier. The only problem with the plan was that it was impossible to get the 4 stakes that …
Ocean Diorama for Homemade Christmas
I’m pretty sure that our Tia Tata doesn’t read this blog, so I think we’re fine, but IN CASE YOU’RE TIA TATA, LOOK AWAY IMMEDIATELY! Okay, that said, all the rest of you can get a preview of one of our homemade Christmas presents. It’s a diorama for our friend Tia Tata, who is a …