These are valuable skills to have regardless of the extremity of the changes that may occur on our planet. Either way, the goal is to move towards a life of greater sustainability and self sufficiency. This list may feel overwhelming at first, but if you and your household or community focus on a few tasks a day, you will find your confidence and preparedness increasing…
Lifestyle Changes: Consider
where you can move or how you can convert your home to be as off the
grid as possible. Consider who your community is, or how you can expand
your community. Consider co-operative living, with friends, with
family, or in an already existing eco-village, co-housing community or
intentional community. Small rural towns more often then not, function
with greater co-operation. An example of an eco-village in North
America, is Dancing Rabbit, located in Northeastern Missouri, that is
creating and en-visioning a self-sustaining off the grid village of
500-1000 people. Another example is Earth haven, in North Carolina. See links below...
Wildcrafting: Learn what foods and herbs you can safely forage in your local environment. Look around you and see how much grows wild; fruits, berries, nuts, medicinal plants, wild edibles, mushrooms, start acclimating to nature’s supermarket. Learn how to prepare herbal tinctures and medicines, how to can, properly dry and/or store wild foods. Also how to make soaps and homemade salves etc…
Energy sources: Household Solar Power, Household Windmill, Hydroelectric Power, Backup generator (solar, propane, gas, or biodiesel). Try to prioritize alternatives to burning wood, as an increase in wood burning will greatly harm the air quality and human health. Consider Rocket Stoves or adding a catalytic converter to your woodstove, as both of these will cause significantly less harm to the air and therefore, everyone's lungs.
Organic Gardening: Grow your own organic garden. Grow foods that you and your family like to eat and learn what grows in abundance in your ecosystem. Grow herbs you use often for teas, medicines, and cooking. Save organic seeds. Build a greenhouse to make sure you can grow food in harsher climate conditions and during winter weather. Consider an Aquaponic Greenhouse, where you can grow your own fish while nourishing your greenhouse plants. This will provide you with a regular supply of fish and essential protein, that you know is clean and safe to eat.
Water: Prepare your own well, know where clean local water sources are, how to purify water as naturally as possible, how to create your own grey-water system, how to collect water thru rain water catchment. Invest in a solar backup for your well, in case the grid goes down and your electric pump loses power.
Canning/Pickling/Fermentating/Dehydrate: Can your harvest, pickle your harvest, ferment your harvest, dehydrate/(dry) your harvest. Be like a squirrel and save for later.
Special Needs: If you are disabled or chronically ill…what do you need to sustain yourself? Have extras on hand, or know your sources of getting what you need.
Educate yourself:
learn about natural medicine, herbs, and detoxification. Learn who the
natural healers are in your community. Learn to sew/ save fabric.
Meat: Acquire or make, and learn how to use hunting tools, bow and arrow, fishing pole/ spear, gun if you must. Get backyard chickens for eggs and meat, a couple goats or cows for milk and cheese, raise fish in your greenhouse. Learn how to make milk and cheese and other desired animal products such as jerky.
Transportation: Get a bike, a biodiesel car, or yes…a horse. Car share with your family and neighbors. Find places to buy or trade needed items close to home.
Manage Stress: Take Rescue remedy, practice acupressure, meditation, yoga, chi gung, drink herbal teas. Some good herbs for stress are Chamomile, Lemon Balm, Valerian Root, Passion Flower, Motherwort, and Catnip. Make sure to get plenty of exercise, hike, spend time in nature. Pray in nature.
Communication: Buy a battery or solar powered emergency radio/flashlight/cellphone charger. Yes the solar powered ones exist. Have a corded landline on hand and a cell phone.
Evacuation: Have a good tent ready, a warm blanket or sleeping bag and warm and cold weather clothes. If you have a trailer, or RV, stock it with food, water, and all of the above. Learn where the Ecovillages and the sustainable education centers are near you. Visit them and learn what you can, including how to build natural structures with cob and straw and other natural materials. Bring that information back to your community. Know where your friends and family are and how you will get to them, potentially, without access to much gas or airplanes.
Click here to read the post: Evacuation and Refugee Preparedness. And for Emergency at home preparation please see: Emergency Preparedness
Take Care of Yourself: Pray, laugh, sing, cry, dance, scream (but not at each other)…Whatever helps you get through the feelings about what is happening in the world. Choose this over denial and you will feel more settled and prepared. Try to stay open and present to what is really happening around you. Trust your gut feelings. Practice trusting you inner knowing and intuition.
Listen: Turn off your TV, IPhone, computer and radio and go outside. Sit and listen, breathe, communicate with your natural environment and see what you experience, feel and hear.
Financial: To the best of your ability pay off your credit card debt, (suggested by a Mayan Elder). Have cash on hand. Sell what you no longer need and start saving. Barter and trade for goods and services when you can. Start getting used to this. Know what your trade skills are and develop trade skills.
More Self Care: Take care of your heart, your soul, and your body. Know your community. Take time to be with your family and the people you love. Learn deep breathing and relaxation techniques. Focus on to staying calm and centered, but do not neglect appropriate action.
Prioritize and Plan: Make these things a priority in your life. Expect things to continue to be chaotic weather wise and economically for quite some time. Expect that our social structure will continue to change dramatically and that the ways you may have perceived daily life or the future to be, will change greatly. Plan for these changes and take appropriate action, but also tend to your daily life and do things that nourish and comfort you.
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In the Spirit of Peace and Change
~Earth Changes Network
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