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(Week 1, level 2)
by mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
Wagon clipart link … https://clipart-library.com/clipart/713877.htm
Welcome back to our ‘Circling the Wagons’ class!
(For those just popping in, this is an imaginary scenario that's part of a class we are doing and not real life.)
If you're just joining us, welcome! If you were here for level one, I hope you were able to complete the things you wanted to get done during our class break or at least work on them. I worked on the list I compiled as a result of level one and was able to mark off the following …
My disaster guide notebook is up-to-date and ready to add too …
We added a solar lantern to our preparedness items …
And I’ve taken some specific steps to further my herbal
knowledge.
There are several other things on my list to do/purchase, but I will have to work on them as time, money, and ability allow.
Starting with this entry, we’re going to take the class to the
next level where things get a little more serious.
Before we do that though let’s talk about the length and
timing of this level …
It will last 2 – 3 weeks as level 1 did …
We’ll take a Christmas holiday break and then start the last
level in early January.
Okay, is everybody ready, let’s do this … let’s delve into week 1 of level 2 and take ourselves back to our imaginary scenario ...
Reminder: your weather and location in our imaginary scenario are your real-life
weather and location!
It’s day 37 in our grid down scenario and no one is any closer to having answers than they were at the beginning of the power loss. There have been no more ‘hour of power’ events and things are getting more serious with every passing day.
People are hungry, their tempers are flaring and looting,
robbing and sneaky tactics are becoming the norm instead of a rare occurrence.
In addition to the above, there is a serious problem in the
making, one that can be a health hazard.
The garbage/rubbish is piling up. Garbage pick-up has become more infrequent and cannot be relied upon. If the garbage has been bagged and left on the streets or piled up in your backyard, it has become a
sanitary issue. Stray animals and hungry people are pilfering through its contents for
food and or anything that might be useful. Rats have been spotted in your
neighborhood and or area and the flies seem to multiply hourly.
Another thing that is concerning is that people who are
rummaging through the trash are getting a good representation of your
supplies! Empty food cans and packaging
will be screaming that you have food!
What are you going to do?
How are you going to handle this?
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
You might be interested in my other blogs ...
Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine ... (we're going to be doing 'Blogmas here this year instead of on A Working Pantry.)
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I’ve been wondering when this issue would come up. I live in a semi rural area. I’m on a septic system so that part of things could be dealt with. I’ve thought that being frugal with meals and finding ways to recycle my trash as much as possible will be necessary. Using paper/ cardboard in a rocket stove etc. I’m old enough to remember preparing for “Y2K”. We were told back then to dig a hole, put our”waste” in a trash bag and bury it until it could be dealt with later. The ground will be freezing here soon and digging a hole may not be possible. I’ll be trying to limit my trash for sure. At this point there are neighbors and church members that will be doing things together. I’ve envisioned starting a soup kitchen of sorts at church should the need arise. Mel in Co.
ReplyDeleteMel, I'm old enough to remember preparing for Y2K as well and yes digging a hole, bagging your trash and burying will work in areas where it's possible to dig. Recycling as much of your trash as possible is an excellent idea!
DeleteWe have 2.5 acres and the back part is woods so we could hide our trash back there. We go about two weeks to fill our small outside trashcan and we have extra cans in the shed so we would bring those out and put our garbage in them deep in the woods. Thankfully we don't have many strangers coming to the back part of our neighborhood where we live. We would still have plenty of food but variety would be lacking as we go along.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't have power for long, we would also not have water. So toileting could also be a huge challenge. I've mentioned in the fb group that I have two in nappies/ diapers and one dependant on bottles. So water is very precious. We found a composting toilet so that would help some with that issue but there's still the disposal...
ReplyDeleteour daughters formula is also very challenging to get because it's higher concentration than toddler formula.
I've rinsed/ washed empty juice bottles and refilled and stored them. Having a stash of water would be good. We've researched but haven't obtained a rain water tank yet.
My husband has been researching radios. Those can be such a challenge because of needing a licence and who would listen in etc. We just purchased some meshtastic cards that work with a phone but use radio waves to send text messages. They'd be encrypted so others can't read what you send.
We also recently purchased a car jump starter battery so if a car needed starting this would do it and not need jumper cables and another vehicle. It also charges usb cable devices.
He works an hour away so we've often talked about what to do if travel or communication is stopped. Not really something I like to think about. Laundry and pretty much everything will be a challenge. I think if we'd be without power this long we'd be burning cardboard and such for cooking on the campfire as our source of cooking. We'd also probably be out of all the convenience things.
Things like tin cans and rinsed out packaging could go under the house in the crawl space to hide what we're discarding.
We homeschool and I have a lot of craft supplies so we'd probably be creating a lot of things with the kids. And we also have a lot of books we'd be reading together.
It's Christmas coming, we'd probably get the solar lights going for some cheerful colours. But need to be careful on how it's seen....I buy ahead so we'd have some pressies for the kids on hand. Or I'd make something like a crocheted stuffed animal. But missing family overseas would be mentally challenging and really affect me.
Thank you, Patsi, for this exercise. For this current problem, perhaps our history might help others contemplate options: We live semi-rurally also and have for 52+ years. We have been ‘self-haulers’ of our trash for all of that time. My husband developed a system that has really worked: We compost organic scraps,, and sort recyclables into designated barrels in our basement. That leaves very minimal ‘trash’ for which we make a dump run about four times a year, paying the dump fees of $27/trip. Much of the recyclables get redeemed for cash. We started this system to save money on garbage pick up, and to avoid the hassle of driving our trash cans to the main road, a quarter of a mile away. It soon became our lifestyle and is second nature. (Our county decided last year that ‘self haulers’ need to pay an annual fee but that is, though punitive, minimal.).
ReplyDeleteI guess living ‘prepared’ has benefits now and later!