Transition Towns

"NHS LifeCheck is an online health service that will help people assess and manage their own health"

"LocalPower is an easy way to find community groups providing practical responses to climate change, peak oil and environmental crises"

WORKING FOR TRANSITION FROM CONSUMER SOCIETY TO A SIMPLER, MORE COOPERATIVE, JUST AND ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY.

WORKING FOR TRANSITION FROM CONSUMER SOCIETY TO A SIMPLER, MORE COOPERATIVE, JUST AND ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY.

Abundance groups don't steal fruit, they simply ask the people who own trees if they can pick it. As a local group becomes well known, tree owners will often come forward offering access to their unwanted apples or pears

Abundance groups don't steal fruit, they simply ask the people who own trees if they can pick it. As a local group becomes well known, tree owners will often come forward offering access to their unwanted apples or pears

Gaiaeducation Design for Sustainability online course

In this ground-breaking book, leading sustainability educators are joined by literary critics, permaculturalists, ecologists, artists, journalists, engineers, mathematicians and philosophers in a deep reflection on the skills people need to survive and thrive in the challenging conditions of the 21st century.

"Who Says You Can't Change the World" is a groundbreaking new report from Other Worlds that introduces nine grassroots alternatives to the current economic and environmental (dis)order, and gives examples of real communities and movements who are living those alternatives every day. The report touches on alternative education, water struggles, the right to health care, environmental justice, and solidarity economies, among other topics

The Development Trusts Association is the leading network of community enterprise practitioners dedicated to helping people set up development trusts and helping existing development trusts learn from each other and work effectively.

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

When storing food it is necessary to verify how we are going to manage the shelf life of our food. Looking for the right conditions is essential to keep it in edible conditions so we stay healthy also during the time we consume this food.

When choosing your food for storage make sure that is in good quality conditions. When choosing the place you should follow the following steps, so your food last longer:

1) Quality of Food - Be sure that you are buying or storing fresh food or food that is in good conditions

2) Rotate: Food that was stored first should be the food consumed first (First In First Out) or the one the one that expire first

3) Low Temperature: Try to low the temperature as much as you can in the area of storage since every increase of 18 degrees F cut by half the live of the food. Try to store in an area above 32 deg F and below 72 deg F.

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

Food storage can be used for long and short term planning. Having the right amount of food stored can provide us with enough supply in case that for some reason we are temporarily away from our regular food supply.

You can buy the food already prepared for long term storing or you can do it by yourself by drying fruits, appropriate food canning, etc.

Before obtaining the food that you are going to store (it does not matter if you are going to buy it already prepared for storing or are going to do it by yourself) you should follow some basic guidelines so you can have a successful plan

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

Soil improvementis necessary to get better crops when you obtain an acidic or alkaline result from a test. You may need to rise or lower the PH level depending on the results obtained from the test.

Following are some techniques to adjust the soil to a neutral PH depending on the test results:

1) For both alkaline an acidic: Regularly add mulch, compost, organic fertilizers and other organic material.

2) For acidic soils: The usual way to correct acidity is to use Lime. The safest material is ground up limestone rock (agricultural lime). Also ash from wood fire can be used, crushed seashells ans dolomite.

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

If we want a healthy soilit is good to know itsPH. PH is refers to the indication of alkalinity or acidity of a solution. A soil with good condition has a neutral PH, if it is acidic the nutrients will quickly leach out of the soil, and if it is alkaline it will be difficult for the plant to absorb nutrients.

Most of the food crops prefer a neutral PH, but other prefers an acidic or an alkaline soil.

To obtain healthy plants we need healthy soil . Since there are different types of soil we can improve it according its type.

The techniques are the following:

1) Organic compost: Provides nutrients.

2) Mulch: Good for earthworms which change humus into nutrients. Protect from direct sunlight, provides nutrients, and increase soil biota.

3) Dry and liquid compost: The same benefits as mulching.

When we are planning to plant it is good to know which type of soilwe have in order to know which improvements we need to perform. Understanding soil is very important if we want to produce healthy fruits and vegetables.

The techniques shown here is simple and can utilize inexpensive materials.

Soil is the basis of our food production. If we want to grow healthy plants it is good to know the benefits of soil improvement.

There are various types of soil like clay, loam, and sand. The one that is generally preferred is loam. To get better results from our soil we need to make some improvements, even if it is loam, it can be improved to make it better.

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

A LETS system is a non - profit locally initiated exchange network backed by good and services and there is no need of coins, paper money or tokens of any kind. Transactions are recorded in a local central location and open to all members.

Good and services can include the following: food, health services, clothing, repairs, housing, transport, legal services, equipment, business services, entertainment etc., through the operation of a credit economy that is community based and the use of dollars are reduced or not used.

The LETS system work in the following manner:

1) Community people set up an organization
2) Anyone on the community can join the organization
3) Good and services are set by a directory of members
4) The transactions are kept on record and updated regularly
5) Services or good are paid by a note or cheque for an agreed amount of LETS units.

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

Choosing the right technology helps to protect our environment, and at the same time makes our work easier, this type of technology is called appropriate technology. It is designed taking into consideration the ethical, community, economical, and cultural aspects from where it is going to be used.

There are some characteristics that describe this technology like the reduction of electric use, reduction of labor, uses renewable energy and materials that are friendly for the environment, etc.

Following are some example of this technology with a brief description:

1) Solar cookers

a) Use heat from the sun and cooks slow
b) There are several designs:
1) Heat trap boxes
2) Curve concentrators (parabolic)
3) Panel cookers

2) Solar dryers

a) Can be used to dry vegetables and fruits
b) Some designs are:
1) Plastic dryers: made of wood frame and wrapped with a clear plastic
2) Wood and glass dryers: uses air flow

By: NaturalFreeChoice.com

We can help the environment and at the same time reduce costs. Some of the ways to start is being aware of the waste produced in our home, also what resources could be used in a more efficient way so that we can save water and other resources, therefore reducing the associated costs. Following are some ideas for water management:

1) Reuse water to feed the plant - the water can come from several ways:
a) Dishwashing water - Use buckets for washing, for example two buckets can be used for one bucket for soap and water and other with only water to rinse the dishes. Use biodegradable soap for dishwashing so you can reuse it.
b) Compost Shower - Use biodegradable soap
c) Kitchen water - Water used from other kitchen uses, like water from boiled potatoes.
d) Dish drying racks - You can build a rack over an area where you are growing plants, then clean water drips into the ground this way watering the plants.