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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 …
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.
ReplyDeleteLana, I think the food variety would be an issue for many of us as gardening and or access to fresh foods would be very local.
DeleteIf 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.
Anonymous, I really like how you think! I like your summation that 'laundry and pretty much everything would be a challenge.' In this scenario knowing and accepting that would be crucial.
DeleteThank 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!
Anonymous, experience is such a wonderful thing when it's shared to help others! Thank you, I am adding everything you said to my disaster guide notebook. Lots of tried and true wisdom there! Thank you again!
DeleteWe don’t have garbage service here as I live very remotely. Because we mostly eat what we grow, I have little trash. We have a Hardy wood stove for heat and hot water, so we can burn most rubbish, including bones, in our stove. Due to the recent hurricane, we have plenty of wood to burn. Our “neighborhood” gas station most likely would run their generators certain times of the week so we can still get some gas for our chain saws, if need be, just as they recently did. Our local schools and fire departments continue to open as a food kitchen and neighborhood hub. And I am incredibly productive with the greenhouse vegs I planted a few weeks ago. I am sleeping like the dead from all the activity! I just hope I’ve lost some more weight from all the activity!
ReplyDeleteMatty, didn't realize you could burn bones in the stove! Going to add that to my notes!
DeleteWe live in dense suburbia, so this is a real issue for us. Currently we don’t produce much garbage as we cook from scratch and compost our food waste in locking compost containers to keep rats away. However, we’re still going to have some garbage. Digging deeply enough to bury waste will be difficult because our yard is full of tree roots. We do have areas of green belts tho and I would likely try to bury my garbage and waste there and cover it with branches if possible. Of course, with no power for so long, it’s likely people would have already confiscated the branches, and even trees for fireplace fuel. We have a porta-loo with plenty of plastic bags, but disposing of human waste gets icky and dangerous. Might have to get out the pick axe and allocate one of our garden beds for this purpose. Tough decisions.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, these are some tough decisions, aren't they? Sounds like you're thinking them through though!
DeleteWe are lucky in that we have a woodstove, so all cardboard and paper packaging which we would normally recycle could be burnt to help heat the house and make our supplies of wood go further. We have two compost bins, so any waste food could go into those. We don't have a lot of scraps at the best of times and in a situation such as this I think that there would be hardly any. Our rubbish bins are big and sturdy, so no fear of animals tearing open sacks. They are stored behind a locked gate, which would definitely be an obstacle to anyone wanting to check out what was in there. Since the rubbish collection is now unreliable we would be flattening tin cans etc in order to get as much into the bins as possible. I once read about washing and taking both ends off tin cans and then tightly stuffing the cylinder with dry twigs etc to make a sort of faggot, which could be burnt on a fire and last much longer than if the small twigs themselves were added on their own. When the twigs had burnt away the hot tin would continue to give out heat and once cold could be fished out of the ashes and used again. I would definitely be giving that a go to keep some tins out of the bin and to try and make my supplies of fuel go further.
ReplyDeleteTracy, that's good info on the tin cans ... I had never thought of or heard about recycling them in such a way. I'm adding that to my notes!
DeleteWe also try to recycle our waste. As we are in the country we are able to burn quite a bit. Also I have been saving tin cans as we empty them to use for different things such as starting plants and for target practice (my sons-in-law like that one!). Punch holes in the sides and they can be strung together and placed between areas such as trees, gates, etc., serving as pretty good security around your residence, warning as poachers or "invaders" come on to your property. I recently turned empty Spam cans into holders for a pair of salt and pepper shakers, mod-podging pretty fabrics to the container sides. They can also be spray painted, decoupaged, etc. I made several for stocking stuffers and additions to food baskets.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, more great ways to recycle cans and keep them out of the garbage! More notes going in my notebook!
DeleteA few more things we do. I always save and use empty food jars for storing a variety of things besides edibles. The larger ones I fill with water and place them on window seals. If anyone tries to come in one of those windows we will be warned by the sound of breaking bottles. It serves a double purpose as a way to store up water. Many of the bottles are colored or have nice shapes and looking from the outside in, people just think they are for decoration. Hmm. My decorating style has become rather "eclectic" lately. I've also started growing cactus plants underneath the windows which would be another deterrent to intruders. Cactus is so easy to grow here and requires little to no water or care.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I love it!!!
DeleteI live in a suburban metropolitan area, in a townhome community. I am a single person household and, under HOA rules, we are required to keep our refuse containers (trash + recycling) inside our garages -- though some units do not follow this rule. We are now in the winter months and I will be able to use my deck as a refrigerator / freezer. If we have snowfall, I'll remove items from a garage storage bin and fill it with snow, bring it inside and let the snow melt. I'll use this bin strictly to rinse cans and other food containers, and will use packaging in a rocket stove. That stove will be used to heat snow, and boil the water to purify it for drinking. Flies at this time of year would not be an issue, and with no food source, rodents would not be patronizing my unit. Empty cleaned cans and bottles would go into my recycling bin. It would take probably 2 months or more to fill that bin with cans and bottles only. We do recycle cardboard and paper, but I'd be using that in my stove for cooking and/or heating snow for water. As far as the neighbors, I'd work to help educate them about ways to keep warm and heat food, and I'm hopeful that we'd work together regarding safety in our neighborhood. Through conversations with neighbors, I think we could ascertain who is hurting, when it comes to food supply and, I'd like to think that some community-type meals would occur for their benefit.
ReplyDeleteLori, you've shared some really good ideas, I especially like educating others in your area and working together to benefit each other.
Delete