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The SKIP (Skills to Inherit Property) program, designed to connect aspiring homesteaders ("Skippers") with landowners seeking successors ("Otisies"), centers around the completion of practical projects called "Badge Bits" (BBs). To join, create a free account on permies.com and choose BBs from the PEP (Permaculture Experience according to Paul) curriculum. These BBs, encompassing skills like gardening and natural building, are documented through photos and videos, which are then reviewed by the permies.com community. As Skippers complete BBs, they earn progressively advanced badges — Sand, Straw, Wood, and Iron — showcasing their skills to potential Otisies. While the program is free, attending the annual SKIP event at Wheaton Labs, where BBs are taught, costs $2,250. The permies.com forums also play a vital role, providing a platform for Skippers to connect and share experiences.
"Pooless," a popular concept within the permaculture community, involves eliminating commercial shampoos and soaps for a more natural approach to personal hygiene. While the initial transition can be challenging, user feedback reveals a range of positive outcomes. Many individuals, like the user in source, report that after an adjustment period, their hair reaches a natural balance, becoming less oily and requiring less frequent washing. Some, like the user in source, note improvements in hair texture, with increased body and curl, despite occasional waxiness or static. The user in source highlights the importance of the vinegar rinse after a baking soda wash to smooth the hair cuticle and prevent tangles. Source describes the psychological shift required to embrace the absence of the "slimy/silky" feeling associated with commercial conditioners. Furthermore, source suggests a potential link between reduced scrub-downs and fewer allergic reactions and illnesses, possibly due to the preservation of beneficial probiotics on the skin. Overall, user feedback suggests that "poolessness," though requiring an adjustment period, can lead to healthier hair and skin, aligning with permaculture principles of minimizing chemical use and embracing natural processes.
HUSP, an acronym for "Horticulture of the United States of Pocahontas," represents an advanced, nature-centric agricultural system envisioned by Paul Wheaton. It goes beyond contemporary permaculture, envisioning a future where food production systems have undergone centuries of optimization, inspired by traditional Indigenous practices that existed before European colonization. HUSP posits a hypothetical United States of Pocahontas (USP), where agriculture prioritizes harmony with nature, rejecting environmentally harmful practices like plowing and the use of petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. This system would not only produce abundant, nutritious food, but also lead to improved human health and a thriving health tourism industry within the USP. Achieving HUSP in the real world necessitates collaborative experimentation and knowledge exchange between permaculture, biodynamic farming, and native plant cultivation practitioners. This would involve a 2,000-acre plot divided into smaller sections, where experts can develop and refine HUSP principles, fostering innovation and leading to a future where food production systems are deeply integrated with natural ecosystems. Crucially, this project requires a supportive environment with minimal government regulation to encourage creativity and accelerate progress toward a truly sustainable agricultural future.
WOFATI, which stands for Woodland Oehler Freaky-cheap Annualized Thermal Inertia, represents a sustainable building solution that merges affordability and energy efficiency. Developed by Paul Wheaton, WOFATI draws inspiration from Mike Oehler's earth-sheltered designs, enhancing them with cost-saving strategies and a focus on harmonizing with the surrounding environment. This innovative approach prioritizes using locally sourced natural materials like wood and earth, thereby minimizing reliance on manufactured products and lessening the building's ecological impact. The concept of Annualized Thermal Inertia is central to WOFATI design, harnessing the surrounding earth as a thermal mass to regulate temperature fluctuations throughout the year. This natural heating and cooling system stores summer heat for winter warmth and retains winter's coolness to moderate summer temperatures, significantly reducing energy consumption. WOFATI buildings typically feature large windows strategically placed on the uphill side to maximize passive solar gain, further enhancing energy efficiency. As the name suggests, WOFATI structures are ideally situated on or near a woodland, emphasizing a symbiotic relationship with nature. Examples of WOFATI buildings, including Allerton Abbey and Wofati 0.8, can be found at Wheaton Labs in Montana