Surely you have heard of a botanical garden, and maybe you’ve roamed around the sanctuary like place seeing and smelling the different flora and fauna carefully cared for and studied by public and botanists alike. Yet did you know that the first known botanical garden, in fact was a physic garden? What is a physic...
As the economy puts its heavy strains on us, low cost housing, or affordable housing, has become one of our biggest needs along with access to healthy whole food. Affordable housing is not just about how to build a house in the most affordable way possible. It is about how construction can take place...
A portable water heater is, quite simply, a means of ensuring one has hot water wherever one goes, especially in places where heat is a rare commodity. It is perfect for use in camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities where the nearest electrical outlet could be miles away. In areas where there is little to...
Gardens are places of practicality, beauty and even used as status symbols. Botanical gardens are distinctly special in that they are meant to be places of education and study as well as a place to for preservation, all within a natural and beautiful setting. In botanical gardens, different ecosystems and plant species are showcased from...
Catnip affects both humans and cats, although quite differently. As you probably know, your little feline pet probably goes a little crazy when exposed to catnip, and is specifically reacting to the oils found within the plant. This same oil also has medicinal properties that can help humans with a variety of ailments. Generally catnip...
Wouldn’t the world be better off if there was a simple substance, widely available and safe that could be used for multiple uses around the home? Well, there is- and its borax? What is borax? Borax is a useful mineral with many applications and was historically used in food preservation for many former civilizations. Borax...
Complementary currency is, simply put an agreement within a community to use currency that is non-national as a way in which to pay each other for services delivered for example. It is also sometimes referred to as Complementary Community Currency. This kind of currency can be implemented in two different ways: Mutual Credit or...
More than just a trendy term at the supermarket, “free-range” embodies an ethical idea of raising animals in a humane, natural way where the animal is free to roam in open spaces during its life. “Cage-free” is an interchangeable term with “free-range.” Eggs are a common food item that is popularly trending into “free-range” territory....
You’ve heard the adage that “food is medicine”. This alludes to ancient holistic health practices, like the Indian Ayurveda, which prescribed different diets for different types of people, with a goal of maintaining an optimal energetic balance for the practitioner. Food can also be understood as preventative medicine, the idea being that when we maintain...
Timber is the name given to trees that are grown specifically for wood use in furniture and construction. Sustainable timber is a term that assumes timber can be sourced and used indefinitely, however this is simply not true. When taking biomass (cutting down trees) from any forest, key materials for future healthy forest growth will...
Electricity supplies every whim in modern life. It powers our lights, cars, keeps us warm or cool. Interestingly there is a diversity of ways to make electricity, although not all ways are preferred. In short, electricity is produced by converting kinetic energy (or physical movement) with the use of a turbine. As a turbine moves...
You may have heard the term before, but what is brackish water? Simply it is a mixture of both saltwater and freshwater. Naturally brackish conditions create a unique habitat for plant and animal life. On the other-hand, brackish conditions that are created by humans typically harms the pre-existing environmental habitat-permanently, or many years after the...
