How does an apartment dweller make the world a better place?

This is a fun list!

I started a thread quite some time ago asking a related question but didn't get nearly this much action! I also dropped the ball on my reports back after I got rather discouraged when my growie experiments were destroyed by squirrels, repeatedly.

I live in a major city as I slowly develop the eventual 'stead site a days drive away. I've had a very difficult time finding a spot in the community garden space/allotment deal. I've been on a waiting list for close to 2 years I reckon. There is wasted space around but much of it is old rail yard, or park. My hood doesn't much of any private yards to speak of.

However....

There are luckily a lot of other cool projects to lend labour to! communal bee hives, an urban orchard, green laneways, group gardens.

Find a good local CSA or produce basket.

Up here in the great white north plastic on the windows is a must in my old building - Reuse it year after year. I bought one roll years ago. Still going strong.

Heavy curtains in the winter too - very helpful. Sit them on the window sills, especially if you have baseboards underneath. Keep the cold from falling to the floor and the heat form rising up behind the curtain.

Blanket bits on the floors between lesser used double doors (to the balcony in my case)

I like to put my kombucha, juice cider and ferments on top of the fridge or the water heater in order to keep them at a steady temp despite the room temp. This allows the kitchen to be cooler at night and not affect the pace of fermentation action too much

Definitely function stack when cooking - we often roast multiple things at once. Make the stock anytime your in the kitchen for the warmth and the whole apartment loves the humidity in the winter - never need a humidifier at our place.

Might sound obvious but if you have vestibule type door (outside door/ interior space/ inner door) take care to open one at a time. The space between mine is actually quite small - its not easy to close one and open the next while standing in it but its worth the extra effort to keep from losing all that heat.

I'm lucky enough to have a small spare bedroom at the back of my apartment. In the summer it stays cooler than the rest of the apartment so its a nice place to 'chill out' a bit, but in the winter it doesn't get heated. We use it as a cold room and keep all our canned goods, pickles, dry goods, garlic, potatoes etc. in there. Its a useful space, and we only turn on the heat slightly if someone visits. Even then, barely - its for sleeping - lots of blankets! \

In the summer the temperature differential between the fron and the back of the apartment is such that we can always get a great cross-breeze going in the evening to cool things down. No AC, ever despite the heat.

We have a chest freezer - there's no space in the apartment so it lives in our (attached) back shed. It doesn't have to work much through winter I don't imagine and doesn't heat our living space in the summer.

This may sound counter intuitive but depending on transportation options and travel needs buying an older smaller vehicle for special trips can be a great choice. In my case a small japanese car that gets better mpg's than many if not most modern vehicles (which are seemingly huge by comparison in north america) for trips outside the city. This allows me to buy pastured pork from a ways away. It allows me hit up kijiji and craigslist for other deals and intercept stuff on the way to the trash heap that's too far to carry. Maybe best of all, it gives me a way to travel further that doesn't involve planes. In my case I was able to buy something cheap (1000$) and am committed to keeping it on the road for as long as possible. So far its been much cheaper than a newer vehicle, and I can actually do basic work on it myself. In the city I commute via subway, bike, and foot for the most part. The car is for getting out of town and utility..who wants to drive in the city anyway?

This falls in with the above and what many other have said but, make do and mend. Fix your stuff instead of buying more. Extend this concept to vehicles and electronics. Computers are surprisingly easy to keep going for a long time if you make intelligent purchases. Buy things you can fix. Do your research before you buy and make sure its the case. Use ifixit, and instructables if you don't know how.

Cities are great for scavenging great stuff. Snatch it up before it goes to the dump. My friends have a cabin that has been largely finished with old flooring, molding, tongue and groove etc found in the back alleys of Montreal. I've been stocking up a stash of the same for the future small cabin on the 'stead. Likewise if there's something I no longer need, I put it on the curb on a nice day that is NOT garbage day. It inevitably disappears within a few hours.

there are community compost bins nearby us - before that we tried worm bins with varying degrees of success. maybe you have some nearby you don't even know about!

I love my 15watt incandescent desk lamp - keeps my mouse hand warm even on the coldest of work-at-home days.

I know everyone in my building of 6 units (or did until a couple went on a 6 month van lyfe style road trip and sublet their place). It feels good to know your neighbors and we can actually borrow that cup of sugar, or pasta press or whatever it is we might need. We eat together and have BBQ's in the summers. We have copies of one an-others keys and can look after each others places when someone is out of town.

Its not a 'stead - but it beats NOT doing all that stuff !

paul wheaton wrote:Dry our clothes with a drying rack. It saves an incredible amount of energy and your clothes last about 10 times longer.

A few bars running perpendicular between the shower rod and the window/wall make an excellent rack with coat hangers hanging from each other.

Drips into the tub and no lost floor space.

Buy as much as possible second hand ;)

find your value/sense-of-self-worth in other stuff than in material things

try to borrow things that you need, but will not need all the time

take other people`s dogs for a walk

sit other people`s children ... and educate them about permaculture stuff

use the brines of your ferments to clean the toilet bowl ... especially important if you do not flush the yellow

Becky Proske wrote:Start a worm bin for your kitchen scraps. Share or sell the worm castings.

A worm bin is a good way to recycle paper towels. I recommended it to a massage clinic and it worked well.

consider what footprint a holiday/travelling would have. consider lower impact options like camping, hiking etc.

raise, grow and sow more plants than you would need ... and give them away to people
you could guerilla farm tree seedling/cutting and bushes

paul wheaton wrote:

I am hoping that each item on this list is not a long item just a few words. No more than a sentence or two.

And I hope people will give a thumbs up or apple or pie for their favorites.

Me again, just trying to make sure the "rules of the game" appear on every page!

Beverly Temmer wrote:Paul wrote "Explore City repair".

What does that mean? Is there a thread?

try www.cityrepair.org - there are a bunch of offshoots, some more practical street-safety or plaza-building or community garden oriented, some more community-party oriented.

Tobias Ber wrote:try to borrow things that you need, but will not need all the time

Connect with neighbors, see if they need to borrow things.

Offer rides.

Plan parties, cook together.

[edited to break up into separate posts]

Use some of the time and money savings from not needing to drive everywhere, and volunteer somewhere you like.

If dirt is a goal, consider volunteering on a park, church, day-care, or school that is interested in chemical-free landscaping (water-wise, xeriscape, natives, etc) but needs help.

If you're craving something else, volunteer where it happens.

Make friends with your neighbors, interest and fascinate them with permie/eco stuff, and as a group find an undervalued enclosed space nearby (garage, under stairs...) where you can share stuff. And agree on smart, easy rules of the road for sharing, reserving, maintaining and replacing what you share. 1 or 2 powerdrills is more than enough for 20 or 40 families! Is there a roof where you could set up a greenhouse together? Etc. Or if you like being less organized, as Tobias said, be generous and lend and borrow things to/from each other a lot.

Get out in the park to touch dirt once in a while. Find the wildest park you can bike to, and go there once in a while just to sit and eat lunch.

Find out what animals are endangered in your area, and see if you can create habitat for them on the windowsill (bat/bird boxes, specific bugs?).
Make sure not to disturb their habitat in the park.

If you see a cougar or coyote, don't complain to people who might panic. They are capable of co-existing... are we?

Find out where the city keeps its chestnuts, cherry-plums, figs, or other edible forestry.
Ask owners for permission to pick, and offer help to clean the sidewalks or hulls if needed.

learn about herbal medicine. give herbs away to people. talk to them ... be aware of the legal restrictions concerning giving medical advice to other people

BE NICE! ... and see where that might lead to

try to help people on the forums of permies.com . especially be welcoming and encouraging to new people.

Get rid of every chemical under your sink that doesn't list its ingredients, or whose ingredients you can't pronounce.
Get the MSDS for the others (material safety data sheet) and keep cutting back until you use nothing more toxic than salt.

Anything that goes "fsssht" (air fresheners, spray cans, etc), claims to dissolve everything, or exists only to create smells that mask other smells, might be first on my list for the MSDS check.

ask people around you good questions.... like:

what are your favorite ways to save energy?

where are you in your life in terms of sustainability?

what are you planning to grow in your garden?

what are your favorite places in nature in this city?

do you know a free source for XYZ (used pallets, coffee grounds etc.)

use these small towels/cloth-pieces to wash yourself

wash your hair in the sink

Erica Wisner wrote:Get rid of every chemical under your sink that doesn't list its ingredients, or whose ingredients you can't pronounce.
Get the MSDS for the others (material safety data sheet) and keep cutting back until you use nothing more toxic than salt.

Anything that goes "fsssht" (air fresheners, spray cans, etc), claims to dissolve everything, or exists only to create smells that mask other smells, might be first on my list for the MSDS check.

This goes for everything else too, including food. Produce sprouts & stuff in pots, join/start a community garden, buy direct from producers, and learn how to cook! Ask a friend who cooks well to teach you! Never buy anything with ingredients. Or maybe [organic ingredient] + water + salt, max. Every ingredient in everything you eat should be something you can pronounce, and would buy and have in your kitchen.

Tobias Ber wrote:use these small towels/cloth-pieces to wash yourself

We call this a "washcloth"

Dave de Basque wrote:

Tobias Ber wrote:use these small towels/cloth-pieces to wash yourself

We call this a "washcloth"

I think he means to recycle your old towels into washcloths

both ... i meant the using of cloth to wash yourself. saves lots of water compared to showering/bathing.

but i do recylce clothes into pieces of cloth for cleaning/washing etc. especially socks make good washing-cloths (we call them "wasch-lappen", which might sound funny when an english speaking person would pronounce it).

Find where to recycle dead batteries. Bag and recycle any you find on the street (way easier for pedestrians and cyclists than for car people).

(Batteries are like 1% of domestic waste, but 90% of domestic toxic waste.)

Rick Valley wrote: ... Bottom Line: in urban situations, if you want change, form a non-profit, church, gang, corporation, whatever, to accomplish what you want to do. ....

That's what I wanted to say too. Form a permaculture community garden group.

Deb Rebel wrote:Need to add, batch your cooking. If you turn the oven on fill it or do serial baking/roasting, and do it in colder hours or on cold days. Buy a few Nokero lights and put them in a window for the day. (rechargeable portable alternatives to lanterns, good for task lighting). Put all your energy vampires (printers, etc) on a power strip so you can turn them OFF easily when not needed. Learn to knit or crochet-if you are in a waiting room or in-line (like DMV) you can do something that will make you warm with that wasted time. (DMV lines, I have completed a scarf or hat while waiting. Tote over my shoulder feeding the yarn...)

Hi Deb

I haven't had my knitting out in a couple of years. I will start up again. Some time ago I made knitted washcloths for Christmas presents and I had my knitting bag with me all the time, on the bus, at work, a the coffee shop. It amazed me how many conversations started because a guy was knitting in permies. I thought I was obsessed with mt new hobby. I was doing permaculture by accident.

Thanks for the reminder.
Ron

Ron Clerk wrote:

Deb Rebel wrote:. Learn to knit or crochet-if you are in a waiting room or in-line (like DMV) you can do something that will make you warm with that wasted time. (DMV lines, I have completed a scarf or hat while waiting. Tote over my shoulder feeding the yarn...)

Hi Deb

I haven't had my knitting out in a couple of years. I will start up again. Some time ago I made knitted washcloths for Christmas presents and I had my knitting bag with me all the time, on the bus, at work, a the coffee shop. It amazed me how many conversations started because a guy was knitting in permies. I thought I was obsessed with mt new hobby. I was doing permaculture by accident.

Thanks for the reminder.
Ron

Nothing at all wrong with playing with yarn in permies. How very permie of you to make artisanal personally crafted gifts for others. I tell my spouse that it's a socially permitted form of fidgeting that get you something for the effort. Also in waiting rooms it's more hygienic than fingering the magazines everyone else has fingered.

Share the space with as many people as the place can hold. I've done this while living part time at various jobs. The truck contained most of what was needed, but it's handy to have a bed and shower available.

Odors are indicators of things that need to be cleaned. Throw away the Febreze. Clean the dirty things.

Start a front lobby drop box, for unwanted items. It must be someone's job to take unclaimed things to a thrift store after a few days in the free pile.

Make a spot for organic materials collection.

Try to become the grounds keeper. This will allow you to manage the landscape in a sensible manner. Food could be part of the mix.

Some buildings can accommodate a roof top garden. The best time to consider this, is when the roof is in need of replacement.

Arrange for convenient, safe bike storage. Residents are more likely to bike, if main floor storage is available. Bike use goes down if they must be stored in the apartment, especially if it involves an elevator ride.

Work on making your building smoke free. This will save money on utilities and cleaning costs, will lower insurance costs, will promote better health and comfort.

Even seemingly unrelated things like late night noise and spousal abuse, are less common in smoke free buildings.

disable your ad-blocker-software on permies.com to bring more money into the empire ... check your settings now.

explore if there are any options to divert and use the gray water. maybe small scale with buckets or canisters for watering plants, soaking dirty stuff or flushing the toilet. maybe a system could be installed to water the garden with grey-water. it could be as easy as a bit of piping/hose

clean up in nature. collect trash, that people throw into nature ... sqatting down to pick up stuff makes great fitness-training.

you might even find ressources for your projects or just nice things ... keep looking, keep watching