California Dreaming

May 2, 2008

...o fall into the gloomy, apocalyptic trap of some of the other folks in the urban homesteading movement. After a enjoyable evening last night at a fundraiser for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, my dark mood lifted as I was reminded that good things are happening out there. Change comes slowly, one step at a time, requiring great patience. Like gardening, bread baking and home brewing there will be mistakes and setbacks. But there will als...

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Saturday Linkages: Let’s Make Chickens Legal in Pasadena!

Mr. Homegrown

February 2, 2013

Saturday Linkages

5 Comments

...dkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/2013/01/bikesailing.html#.UQckcMq9Xa8.twitter … Build your own junk bagpipes out of PVC and duct tape: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-your-own-Smallpipes-for-a-few-bucks-Membra/?ALLSTEPS … 2-In-1 iPotty with Activity Seat for iPad: http://boingboing.net/2013/02/01/2-in-1-ipotty-with-activity-se.html … Your Biggest Carbon Sin May Be Air Travel http://nyti.ms/VesXDI For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Tw...

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Bubble Wrap Your Windows

Mr. Homegrown

December 16, 2006

Domesticus

Photo by Nick Lowe From the remarkable folks at Build It Solar comes this heating conservation tip – bubble wrap your windows. Simply cut sheets of bubble wrap to fit your windows, apply some water with a spray bottle and before it dries stick the bubble wrap on the glass. While you can buy special bubble wrap designed for greenhouses, according to Build It Solar, regular bubble wrap will probably work just as well. If you number the pieces you u...

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Dome Building

Mr. Homegrown

May 6, 2007

Design

2 Comments

...e some basic problems with domes. The primary one is that, like it or not, building materials tend to come in 4 by 8 foot dimensions or some even numbered and square shaped variation. This makes Buckminster Fuller’s complex geodesic shapes very impractical to build, at least if you care about cost and wasted materials. The other problem is that people, especially Westerners are square. We sit, stand and lay down–for the most part all 90º activitie...

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How to Make a Simple Paint Can Rocket Stove

Mr. Homegrown

February 24, 2016

Appropriate Technology, Rocket Stove, Water and Power

4 Comments

Update: Root Simple reader Ruben questions whether it is possible to build a true rocket stove out of metal. Ruben sent me to a Facebook post by Benjamin Rosen who says, speaking of another metal rocket stove, “Actually, you can say that this is not a rocket stove. A rocket stove gives great heat from a small amount of fuel because it burns very efficiently at high temperatures. This is achieved by having a ceramic lining in the combustion chambe...

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