#no electricity hydroponics

[crzygthumbs]

Off Grid Hydroponic Buckets

I’m trying a lot of new stuff this year. I’ve got wicking beds started. I made huge, permanent ones for fruiting bushes. Beginning of permanent wicking beds. Find this project here: wicking bed Then I have some specialty holes I have for two trees that don’t like my soil. Completely replaced soil, plus small raised bed top, for acid loving pawpaws. Find this project here:…

[fthrdvs]

Off Grid Hydroponic Buckets

I’m trying a lot of new stuff this year. I’ve got wicking beds started. I made huge, permanent ones for fruiting bushes. Beginning of permanent wicking beds. Find this project here: wicking bed Then I have some specialty holes I have for two trees that don’t like my soil. Completely replaced soil, plus small raised bed top, for acid loving pawpaws. Find this project here:…

[bethfuller]

map to the cloud city.

✫ follow me on twitter !! ✫

[sifytech]

What Is Electronic Soil?

The fact that two things (plants and electricity) that rarely interact with each other in nature except for lightning (which is rare) could have such an intricate relationship, is fascinating. Read More. https://www.sify.com/science-tech/what-is-electronic-soil/

[h3artstain]

A list of (realistic) things you can do to be more environmentally friendly

(from an earth-loving horticulture student.)

— COSMETICS

Use bar soap instead of soap bottles

Use old toothbrushes for cleaning surfaces

Try exploring and researching some homemade face/body/lip products

Use ice sleeves, sunglasses, and caps instead of sunscreen (Edit: I’ve seen people say that it is safer and even necessary to wear sunscreen at all times so try to use eco friendly sunscreen instead! In my country it’s pretty uncommon to wear sunscreen often as we usually wear ice sleeves which is why I did not know this oof)

Use coffee grinds or homemade tumeric masks instead of cosmetic products with exfoliator beads

Invest in a metal ear cleanser instead of cotton buds

Try placing more importance on skincare instead of contributing to exploitative beauty companies by buying makeup

Use cosmetic products that do not contain palm oil

— CLOTHING

Try as much as possible to rewear your outfits at least twice before washing them

Actually WEAR your clothes! I know some of y’all just wear them once for your Instagram post and let it rot in your closet forever. Stop doing that!

Thrift, stitch up holes in your clothes, and use second hand clothing instead of supporting fast fashion companies like SHEIN, H&M, Zara, etc.

Cut up your old clothing into yarn and do macramè with it

Cut patches of old clothing to turn into reusable cotton pads

Learn how to knit, crochet or stitch your clothes!

If you use tampons, try menstrual cups or discs instead. If you use pads, try reusable pads or period underwear. (Trust me, it works). Also, use reusable panty liners instead of disposable ones. They may seem expensive but you will end up saving a lot more in the long run

— GARDENING

Plant seeds/cuttings in your old bottles, jars, and containers

Propagate your plants and exchange cuttings with your friends instead of buying new plants

Make your own soil mixes instead of buying soil mixes

Better yet, don’t use soil for your indoor plants and try getting into hydroponics or semihydroponics instead. This saves so much water and doesn’t contribute to mining of soil

Fertilise plants with fruit peels, coffee grinds, and tea leaves. (DO NOT use chemical fertiliser on soil)

Plant more legume plants in your garden instead of using nitrogen fertilisers. (Look up the nitrogen cycle if you need an explanation on this)

Avoid pesticides unless really needed. Try sprinkling cinnamon powder on soil or spraying neem oil on plants and soil to keep away pests.

If you have a lawn, try looking into rain gardens and consider making one

Let the (non invasive) weeds in your lawn/garden grow! They are there for a reason!

Stop killing earthworms and millipedes in your garden. This also applies to snails native to your region. They are there for a reason.

Water used to wash fruits and rice can be used to water plants

— REDUCE, REUSE

Use the caps of jars as soap holders

Use recycled paper/notebooks

Wash and dry your glass/plastic items before throwing them in the recycling bin

Keep any plastic bags for future use

Use eco friendly or reusable dish sponges

Use reusable straws and cups

Invest in a fabric cup holder

Bring a water bottle with you wherever you go

Drink more water and less sugary drinks

Bring reusable bags for buying groceries instead of using plastic ones

Always keep a folded up tote/shopping bag with you in case you spontaneously decide to buy something

— ELECTRICITY

Set a timer on your air conditioning instead of letting it run throughout the night

Better yet, use a fan instead of an air conditioner

Open your windows! Aerate your home!

Allow natural light to enter your home during the daytime, so as to avoid turning on your lights

Switch to LED lightbulbs instead of regular lightbulbs

Turn off any switches in your house when they are not in use

Collect the water from your air conditioner/dehumidifier condenser and use that to water plants, clean surfaces, steam ironing, and flushing toilets. Do not drink it though!

— INTERNET

Delete your all of your unwanted emails

Delete your inactive social media accounts

Try not to post excessively on social media and stop scrolling excessively too. This not only reduces energy usage but also improves your mental health and productivity

Try to keep to one social media app instead of having so many

Reduce your internet usage

Save your eBooks on a thumbdrive instead of on cloud

Use Ecosia instead of Google

Stop being influenced by social media trends that only just contribute to consumerism

Download music instead of streaming

Reduce online shopping

— FOOD

Reduce intake of processed foods

Reduce intake of fish, beef, and dairy

Try eating vegan or vegetarian foods at least once or twice a week

Cook your own meals instead of eating out

Bring your own food containers when taking away food from stores

Beeswax wrap instead of cling wrap!

Buy loose-leaf tea or plastic free tea bags instead of regular tea bags

Eat more mushrooms, vegetables, and fruits and drink more water

Support local farmers

And finally, educate yourself more about ecology and the environment!

[bzurk]

 zombie!au 141 x reader

dark content ahead! you've been warned.

It’d been hard at first. Women weren't treated well when people turned on each other, both healthy and infected. You were lucky when the virus started;

You were a dog trainer, surrounded by canines trained in personal protection. It was easy to scare people off. On your travels, your pack grew, a congregation of man’s best friends who were left behind. You had a whole arsenal, eventually; hunting, tracking, attacking.

This winter, though, was particularly difficult. Game was scarce, the ground frozen solid, the older dogs weakened by sore joints and aching limbs. You had run out of supplies weeks ago, trading your trained mutts for scraps and tools. Your only companions were your two remaining dogs, your only hope the compound in the distance, surrounded by wires and gates. The facility's noise, perhaps, was scaring off any nearby game. Maybe, it was already infected. Your doubts were alleviated when you saw little shadows moving about the tarmac.

You walked up to what you hoped was the front gate, arms raised and guns holstered, dogs plastered at each side.

“I come peacefully!” You bellowed, staring straight through the chain links towards the silhouetted figures. They grow closer, slowly, weapons raised and glinting blindingly under the sunlight. “I mean no harm. I would like to know if you have any food to spare. I can trade you for it.” You swung out an arm to gesture to your dogs.

The men wore fatigues and vests, packed with gear and weaponry. Well-equipped. They must have food, fresh game, stocks of MREs, dried rations.

“What you offerin’?” A man’s rough voice called back.

“Can take one of the dogs, if you’ve got enough of worth. I don’t part with them easily. Both trained, they are. Good at keeping out infected.”

It wasn’t long before Price’s three subordinates were staring at him with wide, pleading puppy-dog eyes. “Can we keep ‘em, Cap, please please please?”

Price had to admit you were a sight. Tousled, blood-stained, covered in tattered winter clothes that could barely keep out the cold. A hunting rifle strapped to your back, knives peaking from your pockets. A capable girl. Not many women out this far. He hadn’t come across one in months, not since venturing to trade with nearby settlements. Three or four months, at the least.

“Would you like to come in, love? Looks like you could do with a night of rest.”

They were nice, these four men, if not overly charming and kind. But they were nice enough to let you, and your dogs, in, even providing a tour of the premises – insisting guns were left at the door, of course. You were correct in assuming they were well-stocked. They confirmed they’d been residing in the base since outbreak day, though people came and went. They fed you, and even your two dogs. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy the human company.

The base was a stark contrast to the wasteland outside. Boxes of food and warm blankets, running water, and electricity powered by a generator. The men showed you their hydroponic garden, where they grew fresh vegetables, and a storeroom stocked with preserved foods and medical supplies. It was a veritable haven.

They introduced themselves: Captain John Price, Lieutenant Ghost, Sergeant Johnny ‘Soap’ MacTavish, and Sergeant Kyle ‘Gaz’ Garrick. They shared stories of their missions before the outbreak, their camaraderie evident in their banter and shared glances.

You felt a flicker of hope. Maybe, just maybe, you had found a place where you and your dogs could be safe, at least for a few nights. These men were skilled and seemed trustworthy enough, and their compound was secure. It was enough to put your tired mind at ease.

Perhaps too at ease. It didn’t take long for your body to slump in your chair, almost sliding out of it, if not for the hands that held you steady. Your eyes were fuzzy, your hearing diminished to a faint ringing. You could feel a wet snout nosing your limp hand, firm and warm palms divesting you of your coats and the weapons hidden in your pockets, strong arms wrapping around your waist, your tummy digging into a warm shoulder as you were thrown around like a sack of flour.

“Nice little pack of mutts we’ve found, aye, lads? Don’t you worry, we’ll take good care of you. Train you up well.”

if this gets enough interest ill turn it into a fic

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

and found - outtakes

Hey, folks, I have weathered the first feast holiday of my winter season and had a super breakfast, and now I have to be at work but there's obviously nothing doing so it's time to post a couple of things that got cut from "and found," generally due to lack of narrative space for them.

***

girlboss

“Jiao Liqiao did some incredibly out of pocket shit, but she was kind of a girlboss. Or at least she knew how to be straightforward about, like, ‘hey, Di Feisheng, I want to tie you up and have insane sex with you.’”

Di Feisheng lets out a startled cough. “You're overestimating her willingness to explain anything ever.”

“Well, ok, yeah, but she knew what she wanted and she did something about it and I respect that as someone else who would, like, commit serial murders to hang onto you. And like. She looked at you and said, man, he's super hot and good at kung fu, the dick must be insane, and it's not like she was wrong.”

This time it's Fang Duobing's turn to cough, as Di Feisheng transitions into looking smug. “She had y–h–Bicha poison?”

“Oh, and god forbid women do anything.” Xiangyi glances at them and then cackles. “No, I mean, don’t get me wrong, if I could time travel I’d break her fucking jaw, but game recognize game.”

“I don’t. I don’t think that phrase applies here? Since you’re not evil?”

“You are seriously underestimating the degree to which you both make me feel like an insane person, if something happened to either of you nothing could get between me and the nuclear launch codes.”

“The. The Secret Service?”

“Shifu. I could take them! You don’t think I could beat up the entire Secret Service?"

Di Feisheng snorts. “And you worry about me getting on watchlists.”

***

“Of all of the technological innovations you’ve seen over the course of your life so far, what would you say is your favorite?”

(this one isn't even an outtake, it's just something I wrote down because it was funny even though there's never been a spot in the story where I could start having Xiangyi shoot interview questions at various immortals)

Fang Duobing: “I really like typewriters? Fountain pens were good, but getting a typewriter was game-changing.” (“Not word processors?”) “I mean. A word processor is fine, but it doesn’t go click in the same way.”

Di Feisheng: “Motorcycles.”

Wen Kexing: “Zippers are the greatest invention of the past eight hundred years. Although blenders are also good.”

Zhou Zishu: “Milkshakes and smoothies, any frozen drink. Unless that doesn’t count as technology, in which case hydroponics.”

Jing Beiyuan: “Hm. Noise-cancelling headphones. And there have been significant advances in the field of sex toys that I really appreciate, but I doubt you want to hear about that.”

Wu Xi: “Noise-cancelling headphones. Rubber gloves. Poison control hotlines.” (“You think of poison control hotlines as a technological innovation? What are they an improvement over?”) “They’re better than waking me in the middle of the night because some idiot’s eaten something they shouldn’t.”

Orlando: “Photography, and I do appreciate how easy it is to bathe now.”

Kenzaki Kazuma: “I mean, I haven't actually lived longer than a normal human yet, but smartphones are great.”

Kurenai Gai: “Ramune.”

Hob Gadling: “Modern painkillers are incredible, do you know what I would have given in the 1500s to be able to go round the corner store and get a bottle of paracetamol?”

Wen Ning: “Electric lighting is really nice.”

Song Lan: [ text messaging ]

Xiangyi: “If we don't get flying cars in the next hundred years or so I’m fully going to throw a tantrum. Unless Elon Musk is involved. Hey, A-Fei, can we kill Elon Musk?” (“You have a major study running right now.”) “Well, yeah, obviously we’d do it after that.”

***

Ultraman

Xiangyi bats his hand away without looking at the screen. “Cut it out, illegal to be horny at me during Ultraman time.”

Di Feisheng raises an eyebrow. “You said earlier that Ultraman makes you horny.”

“Which is true, and I stand by it, but this rise is important to the whole, like, emotional arc of the show and I don't want to miss it.”

“Not that I’m not enjoying this show, but I didn't think these aired in the USA.” Fang Duobing adjusts his glasses, apparently fascinated as he watches the transformation sequence. “How did you get to be such a big fan?”

“Oh, Uncle Xun had a couple of the old shows on, like, laserdisc, Yuze and I used to stay up all night watching them when we were kids. We got in fights about which one to put on, even, because he always wanted to watch Return because he has no fucking taste but then he’d make fun of me for wanting to watch Ace because he thought it ‘wasn’t fun’ or some shit.”

“I’ll be honest, I don't recognize any of those names? I watched the original show when it first aired, and Ultra Q before that, but then after that I was busy doing other things, so I never got around to watching anything after those. Didn't see the point, anyway, since Eiji had died, it felt weird watching his thing without him working on it.”

Xiangyi freezes, reaches for the remote very slowly, pauses the show, and turns. “Xiaobao, are you saying you knew Tsuburaya Eiji?”

Fang Duobing blinks. “Yes? Him and Kinjo Tetsuo, they were good men. I spent a few decades living in Japan mid-century.”

“What were you doing there?”

“Ah…sabotaging warships and fighter planes, mostly. Well, until I got arrested. I broke out, of course, but I couldn't manage to get out of the country, so I was living under an assumed name for a while, and then there was. I mean. I…” He trails off, looking haunted. “It's hard to stay angry at an entire country after you see something like that happen. So…I stayed. Someone always needs a doctor. I’d rather not talk about it. Ah, so, I set up a practice and one day a couple of men came in and asked if I’d come with them because there’d been an accident, and when we got there the first thing I saw was a monster? It was very startling.”

Xiangyi realizes that he's been holding his breath. “Was it Godzilla?”

“No, ah, Rodan. Anyway, someone had a sprained ankle and once I’d gotten it wrapped up I said, what were they doing here, and they said they were making a movie, and here was the man who’d designed the monster and he wanted to know what I thought of it, since apparently the face I’d made was very funny.” Fang Duobing smiles fleetingly. “I kept hanging around because safety standards in filmmaking at the time were…not good.”

[wachinyeya]

This co-op is growing baby trees in a shipping container to help reforest Colorado's burn scars CORE Electric Cooperative has teamed up with FarmBox for the project, using innovative farming techniques and collecting data along the way. https://www.9news.com/mobile/article/news/local/wildfire/colorado-hydroponics-trees-wildfires/73-d103b44e-2286-4679-ad4f-2e1247ee19ab

[elbiotipo]

Like in most starships, and indeed like in any kind of ships through history, the mess hall was the heart of the Johann Sebastian Mastropiero. Of course, most of the rest of the ship was propellant tanks, engines, and cargo bays. But what truly mattered was this place, this sacred place with food and drink where the crew could relax after a long day sailing the aether. They were the ones who kept this old bird flying, they were the lifeblood of the Mastropiero, and the mess hall was its heart. At least according to the crew themselves. The cargo's insurance was probably higher than theirs after all.

“Mess hall” might also have been a grandiose name for it. It was basically a table, some especially uncomfortable chairs bolted to it so they didn't flew away in 0g, several handles to walk through while in freefall, an old booth that seemed -and probably was- taken from an abandoned fuel space station, an old fridge/hydroponics combo, some kitchen essentials like an electric kettle and oven, and a counter bearing the scars of poorly prepared food, because you get tired of instant guiso and mushroom chips after a while.

It was Human spacer tradition for the Captain to have a last dinner with the passengers before landing at the destination, so never mind the mess, in a way, the mess hall also needed to show the ship's history. And it did, with the pictures hanging on the paneling. A faded photograph of the crew during the Machine War, and then newer ones, an old captain giving a thumbs up at a newly repainted ship, a group of people wearing smokings doing a comedy sketch, Beto as a kid sitting on the commands with the hat on, an asado under three moons that legend has it bring good luck, and more. The latest picture was just next to the oldest one, with a lanky, angular-faced human male with a mate gourd on hand, a small shark-like girl wearing sunglasses and doing a peace sign, and a cactus-like man with his leaves in a sarcastic attitude, under that same sky as the three lucky moons.

Freefalling, and yet somehow looking busy while at it, Beto arrived at the mess hall to heat up water for the mate and start up his morning shift. As he rubbed his eyes he saw Ragua hanging by her squalene tail on a handle in the "ceiling", her headphones at a high enough volume to tell she was listening to Hermética. Siusini was sitting conspicuously in the center of the booth table -not that he needed to eat anyways-, while holding a bunch of crystals around him that reflected on his leaves in beams of focused light, like glittering rainbows. Beto wondered if Pink Floyd would perhaps be a better soundtrack in this case.

"Mornin', people." Beto yawned as he turned on the kettle, his weightless body hanging as he waited for the water to heat up -not boil, this was mate after all.

"MORNIN', BETO!" Ragua said from the ceiling, her voice more high-pitched than usual, perhaps because of her usual excitement, perhaps because of the metal screaming that seemed to envelop her. Siusini's chromoplasts shifted into a greeting hue.

"What are you listening to, Ragua?" Beto asked as the water began to heat.

"It's that music you told me about last night!" She answered, perhaps a bit offended that Beto didn't notice. "I love it, though some lyrics are hard to understand..." She noted. Beto nodded thoughtfully. He was amazed at how quickly she had picked up Rioplatense Spanish in any case.

"Yeah, I told you, they talk a bit about the things that happen in my history tapes..."

"Of course you like them because of that." She grinned while narrowing her eyes playfully. For various reasons, perhaps because she was part of it, history just didn't sit well with her. "But that's the fun part. The voices go... like all low and deep like yours..." Ragua did a frighteningly good rendition of Ricardo Iorio, "...and then it goes all like YEEEEEEAHHHH." Ragua did an even more frightening impression of Claudio O'Connor. Beto just smiled, amused.

"I don't sing like that."

"You don't sing. At all." Ragua teased back.

"Shut up." Beto said. It was true, he couldn't sing at all.

"But what I like the most is the controls." Ragua continued as the album rocked on, her fins shifting to the music.

"You mean instruments?" Beto corrected her word use, helpfully.

"Yeah! Those! It's just so AWESOME... Like, I love the sound, the noise, it feels like when prey moves on the ocean, when you're about to just bite on it? You know? So nice." She said, a bit too giddy, kicking her finned legs against the ceiling.

"That's cool man." Beto answered in a monotone as he poured water on the thermos. 

Perhaps not wanting to awaken her predatory instincts, he turned to Siusini.

"What about you, you finally gave up engineering to become a table decoration?" Beto bantered in friendly confidence. Siusini didn't seem to listen through his sound translator. His leaf patterns shifted in ways that were difficult even for the experienced Beto to decipher.

"Sius'?" He asked again. The chromoplasts reacted.

"GOOD DAY BETO." The patterns of colors said. Beto knew how to read them, and he'd better, since Siusini was his engineer after all. Not a good relationship for miscommunications.

"Testing out the crystals you bought the other time?" Beto said while pouring himself a mate.

"RIGHT."

"Are they, uh, good?" Beto asked, not sure how to put it.

"VERY GOOD." the leaves answered, as Siusini shifted the crystals to what Beto assumed was a more pleasant light show for him.

Beto sipped his second -always the best one, after the yerba is settled- mate of the morning and watched the crystals dance in Siusini's tendrils. Being a heterotroph himself, Beto didn't quite get what was so interesting about the focusing crystals that many photosynthetic species enjoyed, but visually, they were very striking.

"You know." Beto said with his usual curiosity, "You never quite told me what does that light show feels, exactly." Siusini's color shifted to one of amusement, and Beto sighed, wondering what he was gonna say.

"EXPLAINING IS DIFFICULT. WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS." the leaves said.

"Oh come on. You can explain how a dark-energy inductor works, but not that?" Beto bantered back, knowing he won the argument.

"WILL TRY THEN." Siusini said, his color still in an ironic hue.

The communication leaves of Siusini shifted a bit in some patterns Beto didn't recognize. "IT IS LIKE. GOOD FOOD. VERY GOOD FOOD. NARCOTICS[?]. [?]."

Beto blinked a couple times, trying to understand. The last two patterns looked familiar, but... Then he noticed Siusini's leaves and tendrils shifting in a rather strange way... and he groaned.

"You dirty motherflower, I shouldn't have asked..." Beto groaned again in the tone of someone defeated while Siusini's leaves shone brighter in their amused state. He just grabbed his thermos and mate and decided to go to the cockpit.

Ragua, always up for some good gossip but who wasn't keeping up with the conversation because of her headphones, followed Beto with a teasing smile. "Wait, wait, what did Sius’ say?" she asked.

"Never mind, you don't wanna know." Beto said as he made his way to the cockpit.

"Come on, tell me, what was it?!"

"Ragua, no."

"COME ON, TELL ME!" Ragua insisted as she hovered on 0g after him, grabbing his leg while he grumbled. "BETITO, COME ON, TELL ME, WAS IT FUNNY? I KNOW IT WAS FUNNY!" She was not gonna let it go and he knew it. But never mind, first it was time to do trajectory corrections and get to work.

And so, another day started in the good spaceship Mastropiero, 614 years after Gagarin.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Today’s food is the product of a highly industrialized, oil-fueled, climate-changing machine built largely on lax environmental standards, loose animal welfare rules, nonexistent antitrust enforcement, and enormous government subsidies to deliver food that is plentiful, cheap, and increasingly harmful to the people who consume it and the rural communities that produce it. And don’t look to organic farms, small farmers, or local food to slowly but surely overtake today’s industrial food juggernaut. Even with the USDA widening its formerly sacred organic standards to include such wildly nonorganic practices as hydroponic fruit and vegetable production, total organic sales in 2022 totaled only $60 billion, an almost invisible drop in food’s $2.4 trillion bucket that year. Small-acreage organic farms—the farms most Americans envision when they think “farmer”—exist in spite of the USDA’s loosening standards, not because of them. American agriculture is shot through with contradictions. For example, every farmer knows that good weather and superb crops usually mean low prices and lean times. Another relates to how farmers dislike, discount, and dismiss “government” but rarely acknowledge it as their moneybags partner. (Uncle Sam sent U.S. farmers over $90 billion from 2018 through 2020.) Ethanol, too, is a massive paradox—some say fraud—that will claim one-third of the 2023 U.S. corn crop, at an estimated value of over $30 billion, even as one-in-four new cars sold in the United States is now electric, and at least seven states have banned the sale of gas-powered cars after 2035. The biggest paradox in American agriculture is Congress’s Farm Bill itself. The soon-to-be-enacted five-year update, the 2023 Farm Bill, will cost an estimated $150 billion per year. Even the common term “Farm Bill” is a misnomer: over three-quarters of the bill’s budget is devoted to SNAP, the nation’s largest food assistance program, which is a poverty relief program that also benefits the food industry. The rest of the budget goes to crop insurance subsidies, federal research grants, green energy initiatives, export subsidies, soil conservation, beginning farmer loans, and hundreds of other never-heard-of giveaways. This part of the budget often helps the very well-off: large agribusinesses. The bill is never imagined as a way to reverse the concentration of control into fewer and fewer hands. Few measures, if any, will slow the demise of rural America. Few, in fact, ever have.

[akirameta84]

WHY CANT I JUST HAVE HYDROPONICS BASINS GAME!?

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THEYVE CAUGHT ON FUCKING FIRE

SERIOUSLY?????

i thought "oh its wet and snowy, i can research gun turrets over fire extinguishers because the dry summer is a long time away" but NOOO electrical malfunction IN THE HYDROPONICS ROOM AND ONLY IN THAT FUCKING ROOM

UGH

do you know how much steel ive wasted rebuilding hydroponics basins over and over again already??? motherfucking game im so pissed

[tea-withnofixinsplease]

We're makin leaps and bounds with this whole sustainability thing since we moved from our apartment a few years ago. Whenever i feel like im not doin enough I lay out all the tiny swaps we've done on the table

we no longer by styrofoam cups and reuse the ones we have

We no longer use plastic plates, we either use glass or compostable ones (and throw the compostable ones in the compost)

Our building has solar panels for electricity

Our soaps are zero/low waste

My mother and I started our loc journey so its much easier to find all-natural, plastic free hair care

I use reusable pads

I don't buy new clothes often if at all, 4 shirts in the last 7 years

3/5 of us eat strictly plant-based bc we're vegan,

We have an indoor hydroponic system growing leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers and fruits, and we bought seeds in bulk. We're planning on swapping rockwool cubes with reusable and compostable hemp fiber cubes

Since the hydroponic system is so bright, and the led lights last for 5 years at a time, we use the living area lights much less, opting for natural sunlight if the hydroponic system is not enough or is off.

We have a bokashi indoor compost bin for food scraps, and an outdoor cold compost bin for the scraps that cant go in the bokashi bin to make our own soil

We started a kitchen garden, and a pollinator/tea garden, and as of 2023 we now have a plum tree, a grapevine, two blackberry bushes, 5 reusable grow bags, 4 big planters and 2 big raised garden beds, lookin forward to fruits and vegetables in the spring, summer, fall and winter. We're planning to buy one more steel raised bed to ensure that we are cycling through what we're growing each year to limit pest-control methods, even neem oil, and planning on purchasing a lot more perennials and native perennials/annuals.

This fall Im gonna purchase a mushroom growing chamber kit for more low waste vegan meat alternatives and to add some healthy mushroom soil to the compost cycle

Our laundry detergent is environmentally safe

Our washing machine is water-efficient

We have a fridge with a water filter for cooking and drinking water

We have reusable grocery store bags

Im gonna try to grow lufas next year to replace our kitchen sponges and steel wool scrubbing pads,

Our property is small, and our neighbors are not as social/gungho about bartering or Co-Op food gardening,

but I'm proud of wat we've done so far, and I can do a lot more, and I plan to do so, so any advice would be welcome

[eldritchamy]

@creative-sparx replied to your post “science fantasy is such a hard genre to be into...”:

The magic system in Diane Duane's Young Wizards series is handled very much like a science with many different categories, grounded mostly in the concept of entropy I believe; I would say it is very much a fantasy using science elements rather than science fiction using fantasy. As a bonus, Diane is a very active and friendly Tumblr user who often engages in the specifics of the system with fans, and has a lot of writing credentials in both fantasy and science fiction.

Now that sounds like something me and my own magic system might be interested in reading.

I think what I'm looking for is not Science Fantasy, (which seems to be just a synonym for science fiction), but Scientific Fantasy.

I want a world where magic is just a fact of the world and is studied like any other science. It's just part of how the world works, as recognized and math'd out as gravity.

So much of Urban Fantasy fucks up the worldbuilding by just slapping a magic system on top of a world that is otherwise exactly like ours. And a world exactly like ours wouldn't exist at all if there were magic. If magic was a TOOL that people could use to SOLVE PROBLEMS, it would be USED to solve problems the same way we would think to use machines and electricity. Those solutions, and the new problems people would discover by using them, would look nothing like our world at all.

In a world that has had access to magic over a long period of time, the kinds of problems you CAN solve, and even the kinds of problems you would THINK OF AS PROBLEMS IN NEED OF SOLVING, would be radically different from the problems our world, and our technology, has developed to deal with.

Long range communication wouldn't be solved by a box with electricity trapped inside it. There would be magical approaches to solving that problem. Okay, MAYBE a crystal tablet that can display information is a good enough idea that someone would think of it. If the world is old enough? Sure, someone has probably figured out that electricity exists and can be used by people who are less skilled or comfortable with magic to solve similar problems, but magic wouldn't just be slapped onto the surface of an otherwise unchanged world. The entire structure of society and the tools it creates and uses would be completely different.

Like Senshi using earth golems as a kind of farmland that manages its own water supply and fights off pests. LIVING HYDROPONIC CONSTRUCTS. That's brilliant.

The entire fucking world would be radically changed in more ways than even a very dedicated worldbuilder could ever really imagine. Public transit could be magic based, even teleportation based. Energy grids could be powered by magic. Something equivalent to an elevator could be done through levitation fields. Shipping could be managed through demiplanes that open in multiple places. Medical science could incorporate magic as a diagnostic tool. With an extreme level of fine control, surgeons could heal incisions or tissue damage without stitches. Magic wouldn't need to be a separate form of education, the basics would just be taught alongside the water cycle or the respiratory cycle.

People would make jokes 20 years after graduating about how mana is the powerhouse of the soul.

THERE'S NO GODDAMN REASON FOR A WORLD WITH MAGIC TO BE LOCKED TO THE AESTHETIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE.

Magical constructs could be teleported into orbit for space research. Think of the possibilities of a magic space race! Astromancy wizards summoning familiars on the moon!

There's so much more you can do with a magical setting than mud and castles and dragons and liches and horses. It's FANTASY! FANTASIZE! IMAGINE SOMETHING!

What if instead of meeting in a tavern you were stuck on a 3 hour connecting flight together on a sky train. You meet at the airport on your way to a tourist trap in the fey realm for spring break while working towards a degree in Arcanodynamics, and bond over the fact that it kinda sucks, and that pixiedust pretzel was in no way worth SEVEN gold, and their internship at the alchemical research hospital doesn't pay enough for this shit.

[justfacilitatinglife]

Small Container Veggies for Table Decor

Hello and welcome back to Just Facilitating Life! Today, I’m excited to share a creative and practical idea that blends my passion for gardening with my professional life as a restaurant manager.

Transforming Our Patio Space

Like many businesses, our restaurant had to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of our most significant changes was setting up a spacious and inviting outdoor patio. It looks fantastic, but I wanted to add a touch of decor that would align with our brand’s emphasis on fresh, healthy, and local food.

The Initial Idea: Flowers

My first thought was to adorn the tables with flowers. They’re beautiful and add a pleasant ambiance, but maintaining fresh flowers can be quite a task. Cut flowers would need replacing every few days, which seemed impractical.

The Epiphany: Edible Decor

Then it hit me—why not grow vegetables as table decor? It would perfectly complement our farm-to-table concept. But the challenge was to do it in small, aesthetically pleasing containers.

Experimenting with Mason Jars

Initially, I considered using mason jars for a hydroponic setup. However, mason jars require a covering to prevent algae growth in the nutrient solution, which didn’t fit the rustic look I envisioned.

The Perfect Solution: Rustic Metal Milk Containers

A stroke of luck came when I visited a 99 cent store that was closing down. I found charming rustic metal milk containers labeled "Flower and Garden." They were perfect for our decor theme, and they were on sale! I bought every single one.

Overcoming the Leaky Containers

Excitedly, I brought them home, only to find that they leaked. Not ready to give up, I inserted food saver bags inside the containers, securing them with mason jar lid rings. This improvised solution worked perfectly, making the containers watertight.

Planting the Seedlings

With my containers ready, I planted a mix of lettuce seedlings. The result was adorable table decor that grows right before your eyes. I also planted a cucumber and placed it on a shelf in our patio area. The cucumber thrived, even producing fruit! I left one on the vine a bit too long, and it started to turn yellow, but that just added to the charm.

The Kratky Method: Low Maintenance

For these setups, I used the Kratky method, a simple form of hydroponics that doesn’t require pumps or electricity. Once set up, I didn’t have to refill the nutrient solution for the entire six-week lifecycle of the lettuce. It was incredibly low maintenance.

Rotating the Crops

Today, I’m refreshing our decor by replacing the lettuce with bok choy, dwarf tomatoes, and ornamental Thai chili pepper seedlings. These new plants will not only enhance our patio’s aesthetic but also spark conversation among our guests about our commitment to fresh, local produce.

Final Thoughts

Creating these small container veggie displays has been a rewarding experience. It marries my passion for gardening with our restaurant’s ethos, providing a unique and sustainable touch to our outdoor dining space. I hope this inspires you to think creatively about how you can incorporate plants into your decor, whether at home or in your business.

Stay tuned for more gardening tips and stories from my journey. Until next time, happy growing!

[studioplantae]

GENUINE APOCALYPSE SURVIVAL GUIDE (pt 1/?)

Buy a generator.

Look around you, so much of our things use electricity. Trust me, you WOULD want a generator. It's a great short term solution while you get your solar panels sorted out.

Now, for the food issue.

Livestock I'm sure most of you have heard the saying "going at it like rabbits". Whoever invented that phrase wasn't wrong. Under ideal conditions, rabbit populations exponentially increase by 11.7% every day. Aka you get a lot of rabbits in a short time. While I'm not a gym bro, 26g of protein per 85g of meat seems pretty decent to me. Just put them in some enclosure with food and chill out.

Hydroponics (kratky method) Unlike rabbits, a human cannot sustain themselves on just grass, you'd have to try to grow your own food (unless you could survive off foraging). Hydroponics is where you grown plants in water. While easy, Hydroponics often relies on modern amenities such as premade fertilizer mix, which obviously will run out. Despite all that, Hydroponics would still be a soild temporary solution until you find out a way to grow more food.

[nameless-brand]

Project update for the vertical farming collaboration. We've broke even in terms of cost and profit, despite electricity being a massive barrier for cost. I think I mentioned it before - corps only receive around 30% of the sunlight they would normally receive when placed in a building whose floor isn't the top floor. So all that light has to be supplemented instead - not to mention the electricity needed for the actual hydroponics system.

Problem is they all cost power, particularly the LEDs. And adding solar panels doesn't really help because there's very few places you can place a solar panel that won't take up a plant's direct sunlight - which is sorta purpose-defeating if you do it.

Still the fact everything grows faster and with greater yields helps immensely. It also helps that WayneTech has fashioned very efficient LEDs that's better than anything currently on the market. WayneTech's leading consultant "pli" also assisted immensely in optimizing the nutrient solution. Overall, things are going well. And if this project succeeds, we'll start retrofitting several buildings in the area for food production.