The Story of Stuff

I've come across an inspirational, though slightly cheesy, website call The Story of Stuff. They have provided a video about the life-cycle of the products we buy and just how unsustainable and damaging it can be.

I'm sure many of us already understood the basics, but perhaps not the full extent. Below is the video. Please watch, enjoy, and contribute.

We are NOT Consumers

I came across an amazing article that hit a nerve. The article is called "we are not consumers" by Leo Babauta, Author of mnmlist.com. The blog post is as follows:

There’s a tendency, even among those who are trying to buy less stuff, to call everyone “consumers”. The company needs to please its consumers … we consumers need to vote with our dollars … we need watchdogs to protect consumers … consumers are buying less during the recession.

Let’s stop that. We are not consumers.

We’re people.

When we allow ourselves to be branded with these types of corporate terms, we’ve given in to the consumerist mindset. We’ve allowed the debate to be framed around buying: should we buy organic or local? How can we protect consumers? Do consumers have rights? What’s the best way to spend our money on products? How can we be savvy consumers? How can we affect change in society by making ethical or conscious buying choices?

What about the question of whether we should be buying or not? That gets thrown out the window, because it’s already assumed in the term: we’re consumers. Of course we buy. It’s just a matter of how, how much, where, from whom, how often.

But if we stop thinking of ourselves as consumers, and start calling ourselves “people”, then we open up the question. Should we even buy in the first place? Is it possible to live a life without buying?

We talked a bit about that in society, reimagined … that we can grow our own food, make and trade and share everything we need. It’s possible — of course it’s possible! Human beings (not consumers) did it for hundreds of thousands of years, and at least 10,000 years in civilized society: we lived and worked and played and loved, without buying. We did it in tribes, of course, but also in larger societies that weren’t based around the basic unit of corporation -> consumer.

I’m not advocating a return to tribalism. I’m saying we need to change the debate. We need to stop calling ourselves consumers. We need to open up our minds, so that a different way is possible.

What's interesting about his topic is the fact that we all have been shackled by our society and the underlying cause is in our own consumerism. Our society had put this ridiculous thought in our heads making us feel like we need everything that is shown to us. With this mind set we will be unable to become independent. And, Independence is what Self-Sustainability is all about.

Monolithic Dome Structures

The Monolithic Dome is possibly one of my absolute favorites. This could be because it was the first structure I researched that got me interested in sustainable living.

In order to develop self-sustainability, one must take special care in the thought of which structure fits their needs. What is nice about the monolithic dome is that it can be adapted to fit any lifestyle, especially a self-sustainable one. 

Energy Efficient -

The monolithic dome has no seams. This aids wonderfully in keeping the heat in or keeping the heat out. The circular shape of the structure helps even out the distribution of the heated or cooled air, which allows for a more comfortable experience.  The monolithic dome's construction consists of a layer of concrete (shot-crete), a layer of foam insulation, a layer of shot-crete with rebar and lastly the outside air-form. All this combined makes the monolithic dome use approximately 25% the energy for heating and cooling compared to traditional housing.

Strength -

The strength of domes are phenomenal. The monolithic dome can withstand hurricane, earthquake, fire and lightning. The circular shape disperses the energy of a destructive force throughout the rest of the dome. Fire will simply brush up against it without causing any damage. If lightning were to strike the building, the rebar infrastructure would diffuse and ground it. These monolithic domes have met FEMA's standards for near-absolute protection.

Green -
The monolithic dome has the ability to be the greenest of all building, all you need is a bucket of paint...
But really, the potential available to monolithic domes is astonishing. "With your powers combined I am Captan Planet!!!" Please excuse my random thoughts. 


The monolithic dome is energy efficient, is cost efficient and can last for centuries. With these qualities, who could ask for more? Me. I could ask for more. I don't just want a green structure. I want a structure that has the ability to provide for my every need. Luckily these domes can be modified to collect rain water, become a greenhouse, be earthed, etc... This is why it is my favorite. The possibilities are endless.

Please do your own research. Hopefully you'll become as excited as I am. Monolithic

Kjellgren Kaminsky - The Swedish Passive House Concept

The lovely Swedish community has done it again. The Kjellgren Kaminsky has developed the passive house concept as a new building technology and has built one for the Nyberg family.

This structure, along with others like it, have surpassed all expectations in energy efficiency. We all know in order to have energy efficiency we must eliminate the outside world from affecting our inside environment.

This new structure has extraordinary insulating capabilities. Every window, every door, every imaginable crevice is airtight. The walls are approximately 30cm/1ft thick with a high insulation rating. The structure gathers its heat from the internal equipment, body heat and passive solar heat. Keep in mind this heat generation is extremely low, but due to the extreme insulation the heat will be easily contained.

I propose this model as a great "transition" home. Although it doesn't quite provide for a fully self-sustainable life-style, it would be great step in the right direction and can be adjusted to accommodate to rain harvesting, water recycling, etc...

Aside from the amazing energy efficiency of this structure, the design of this "Villa Nyberg" is remarkable. The structure was designed from the Nyberg Family's life style. Check it out below.
Please take a look at their website and explore their architecture: Kjellgren Kaminsky

Greetings - An Introduction to My Self-Sustainable Living Blog

"Hello World!"

I'm glad to see you all are interested in changing your lifestyle and your livelihood.

I have developed this blog in hopes to bring to you new ideas and inspiration. You have already taken a big step as you are beginning to research what it means to be self-sustainable. As this blog progresses, you'll begin to realize the true potential for building and living in your own self-sustainable environment.

I'm going to cover ever aspect needed, and eventually imaginable, to begin constructing your vision of independence and self-sustainability. The 10 topics, in alphabetical order, I'll cover in this blog are:

1. Automation - Technology has bought us to a great age where we don't have to work nearly as hard as our forefathers. I'm going to cover different techniques in different areas of life in which you will easily be able to automation in order to free up time spent on these activities. One example of this would be a simple sprinkler system. Sprinkler systems are on timers connected to pumps. This way you have no need to spend wasted time and energy thinking about such simple tasks.
2. Cooling - I will cover various ways to cool your home to a comfortable level while maintaining efficiency in time, money and energy.
3. Electricity - Because of our "no other choice" situation we've trapped ourselves in, I will cover the many ways to implement power generation on your own property under your own management. This will help you free your dependency one the current infrastructure, which is robbing us of our freedom.
4. Food - Due to the fact that we all are nearly 100% dependent on other people to grow and produce the food we consume, I'm going to cover various techniques to take control of this situation.
5. Garbage - We all know that the garbage we produce in our country is truly ridiculous. It's my goal to show you the many ways to minimize and recycle the garbage we produce.
6. General - This section will cover interviews, general discussion, and possible inspirational posts, which apply to all topics or no topic in particular.  
7. Heating - I will cover the various ways to heat your home to a comfortable level while maintaining efficiency in time, money and energy. Sound familiar? Heating and Cooling go hand in hand. However, depending on location, emphasis may differ.
8. Sewage - Along with garbage, the sewage created by us filthy humans have taken a toll on our environment and our lives. I will show you how to employ different techniques (other than our current norm) to sanitize/dispose/reuse our sewage.
9. Structures - I will show you the amazing advances being developed and options when building new energy efficient and functionally efficient structures.
10. Water - Lastly, I'll cover our true life essence. How to collect, purify, manage, recycle our most valuable commodity, Water. Water in the another resource we have grown to be fully dependent on the system to obtain. This too will change.

How does this sound? 

How would it be to build yourself out of the shackles our society has placed on us? 

It's time to change the way things work. It's time to show our leaders we mean to brake free from the bonds of dependancy and develop a Self-Sustainable Homestead for the future of ourselves and our children.

We can do it!!!