by Katie LaFond

Step 11: Get Crafty

• Learn to cook, sew, knit, spin, make soap, make detergent, make candles, keep bees, can food, make cheese
• Slow cookers and pressure cookers simplify a lot of home cooking and
  

  Photo by Tabatha Alcina, used under a Creative Commons license

  allow you to make your own “convenience food.”

• Keep your meat bones and use them to make broth. You can keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to make broth. Also consider keeping onion skins, carrot tops, and other food waste that can add complexity and nutrition to your broth
• Keep in mind that in any area where you know how to make your own, you’re a more informed consumer
• Split the work up and share your responsibility with your housemates or family
• Create reminders for yourself so you can keep up on periodic tasks: google calendar alerts, sticky notes…
• Organize your house to make it easy to do all these things: keep baskets of rags in your kitchen and a couple of recycling buckets handy so you can sort as you go.  Hanging them vertically on the wall with hooks can be super handy.

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This is part twelve in Katie’s thirteen-part series in walking lightly on the Earth.  Read more:  introduction, step 1 (recycle), step 2 (reuse), step 3 (reduce), step 4 (compost), step 5 (drive less), step 6 (local food), step 7 (buy local), step 8 (garden), step 9 (environmentally-friendly products), step 10 (reduce energy consumption).