What I Found Interesting This Week 1/12/13

Here’s the first resilience round-up for 2013.

It’s going to be an amazing year… particularly for those of us building a human~scale future.  A future that makes sense.

Here’s a simple efficiency hack.  Bubble wrap insulation for windows.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Cut the bubble wrap to the size of the window pane with scissors.
2. Spray a film of water on the window using a spray bottle.
3. Apply the bubble wrap while the window is still wet and press it into place. The bubble side goes toward the glass.

It can cut the heat loss from a window in half while letting ambient light in…

More: http://bit.ly/VbUlCx

Here’s some plans for a semi-permanent DIY Chicken coop using cattle panels.   This is ambitious, but the result is pretty impressive for a chicken coop.

 

Irrigation a raised bed garden?  Here’s some DIY plans for adding irrigation to a raised bed garden.  I think it would be simpler if they just used micro-porous drip irrigation hose and laid it down in S curves.

 

Here’s an adjustable grow light that I’m thinking about putting into my garage.

A fire-pit can be lots of fun, particularly if you have some friends over and you talk late into the evening.  But how do you build one?

I’ve found two great options.  Here’s DIY plans for building a fire-pit and seating area using Earthbags   You might now choose this color, but it’s an interesting building approach.

 

Here’s standard plans to DIY fire-pit construction.

This DIY miniature ecosystem is called a Paludarium (a container that includes both terrestrial and aquatic elements).  Nice hobby.  It’s also a great way to teach kids (and adults) about ecosystems — there should be a kit on Kickstarter for something like this.

 

Pickle anything.  This looks like fun.  Very simple to do.  Inexpensive to purchase or replicate at home.  Here’s a kit on Etsy.

 Finally, here’s a DIY aquaponics system built with IKEA products (from Japan Aquaponics).

2013 is going to be a year full of amazing developments.

It’s the year we truly start to lay the groundwork for a way of life that’s many, many times more productive, meaningful, and bountiful than the one we have today.

Join us on this journey.

JOHN ROBB

PS:  This month’s Resilient Strategies report is going to dive into (among other things) how to make a resilient income by building a thriving urban foodscaping business.