Apartment Homesteader - 5 Things I Did

1. I tried to cook steak!

Yeah, tried. I mean I didn't catch it on fire or have it explode or anything, but it certainly wasn't great.

2. A no driving challenge!

Whaaaat? I shouldn't really count it, because it didn't last long. I spent Wednesday not driving (I walked to work instead!), and Thursday I walked to my am job, but drove to my pm job. I drove in the pm because the four boxes of donation items were finally loaded into my car and I wanted them GONE. So after work I took them up to the thrift shop, which is outside of walking distance. (The four boxes were also large and HEAVY, so I couldn't have carried them all if I tried.) It seemed like a better use of my time than to walk to work, walk home, then drive the items up. If it wasn't so snowy and slippery out, I would have ridden my bike to work instead.

I know this all probably sounds pretty insignificant, but I have never not had a car of my own (since I was 16 anyway). The tiny place I live in is characterized by several small towns separated by miles of desolate road. It hasn't been until I moved into the actual town last year that walking/biking has even been a remote possibility. It's awesome!

Why did I choose the depths of winter to start this?

Apartment Homesteader - 5 Things I Did

I thought I'd document 5 little (or big) things that I did in the past week to bring myself closer to self-sufficiency and my homestead dream. I plan on making it a weekly event. Some weeks may be the same, but most weeks I don't think they will be! Besides being a potential resource for others, this will help me stay on track (personal accountability, yo), and encourage me to think of new ways toward self reliance.

1. I composted/recycled (almost) everything!

Composting // I don't have a compost heap at the apartment and since I'm only here for a year, I didn't want to start one when it won't be cared for after I leave. So currently I am saving food scraps in a gallon sized bag in the freezer. When it gets full I take it to mom's house and throw it in the compost. I try not to make them in the first place though 'cause a gallon bag doesn't hold a lot and I have to take it when it's full, since I'd rather have stuff in the freezer that I'll eat instead of egg shells and orange peels. Upside: freezing the future compost makes for no funky smells! I'm thinking of starting a small worm composter in my apartment - a friend has them in hers, but I'm not too sure if I want them. She has a lot of fruit fly problems but she also freely admits to over-feeding them... I'm still mulling.
Recycling // I had to upgrade to a bigger container for the recycling 'cause the small one gets too ful too fast, but the new container was also one I don't need and was going to otherwise get rid of, so two birds with one stone! I try to recycle everything I can. The things I end up throwing away are mostly foam meat packages (working on it!), and anything else I can't recycle.