Thanks for Sticking Around
More updates
First, an update:
We recently posted about our success with rainwater harvesting. Over the last couple of days, I've come up with an even simpler filter rig. You can read about it in the updated version of the post:
Jessica Wildfire
In a nutshell:
These are the same filters, just with a streamlined housing. In fact, the stage 3 .01 micron filter offers a significant upgrade.
Next:
As promised, we've started a "survival shop" on the page that lists the specific parts and gear we're using for our projects. We're making zero commissions off these, and there's no affiliate links. It's just item listings:
Jessica Wildfire
So if you want to know which pump or which HOCl generator to get, now you can just browse the lists. Click "more" in the top righthand corner of each embed. It'll take you to the full page where everything is organized by category and subcategory. We'll be updating it in real time.
Next:
We'll be updating the illustrated guide later this month. The next version should be ready by the end of September. It's going to feature the updated rain harvesting guide, as well as the updated hot composting and toilet guide. I'm also going to be adding a little more information on crop rotations, etc.
Thank you for sticking around:
Your support has meant a lot. Over the last year, this newsletter has lost nearly 1,000 paid subscribers. Based on the emails I'm getting, a third are doing it for financial reasons. The other two thirds? It's not the price. It's not the content. They tell me so. They're punishing me for something I said or did that they didn't like. They're pretty clear about their reasons. It speaks to a larger set of problems in western culture. Our society expects women to provide labor for free. Liberal men and women feel entitled to correct someone for no other reason than to demonstrate their own status.
I'm fortunate to have funding from AKET. Without their support, there's no way my family would've had the time or resources to work out a plan on filtering rainwater from shingle roofs in the suburbs.
It's a big deal...
As one reader said recently, a lot of people don't appreciate what this means. Perhaps they will soon.
Shingle roofs account for roughly 80 percent of all homes in the U.S. They're considered unsuitable for harvesting potable water. They're barely suitable for use in gardens. Many cities and counties here make rainwater harvesting for edible gardens illegal, for good reason. In reality, they're not going to police what we do in our yards, but they're certainly not going to approve any plumbing connections to rainwater systems. If they find out you're rigging outdoor tanks to indoor plumbing without approval, you're in big trouble.
That's why we found it essential to develop a lightweight, portable rig that gives people a halfway affordable alternative to use during emergencies, one that doesn't require redoing their roofs. Putting on a metal roof can run anywhere from $10,000-$20,000. For many, it's not an option. Even if you install a metal roof, you're still going to need a filtration system. In the U.S., it's required by law if you ever want to use that water indoors.
It's a great example of how the systems that people like me have inherited continue to work against us as we try to develop sustainable, resilient plans to survive the climate crisis and build communities in the face of collapsing industrial civilization. As I recently learned, this setup might look silly to someone in... Australia. Well, it's a completely different context. What works in one place won't work somewhere else. America is way behind the ball on adapting to harsh conditions. This is how we start changing the culture and the infrastructure, by starting where people are and showing them how to work with what they've got, and what they've got are toxic asphalt shingles that might contain anything from heavy metals and arsenic to fiberglass dust.
For 5-10 percent of the cost of a metal roof, someone can develop a rainwater harvesting plan that produces safe, drinkable water. They don't have to install huge containers or complicated systems. With a battery-powered pump, you don't have to leave it outside exposed to the elements. You can charge it on solar, take it outside, pump your water, and then take it back inside.
This solution scales. Your neighbors could install their own rain barrels, but you could share a pump. That's the whole point.
Anyway...
It's been a difficult year, watching flunkie journalists and gurus flock to Substack and amass tens of thousands of subscribers by predicting famines or chasing conspiracy theories, while the work that seems to deserve support gets passed over with an eyeroll. Last August, people were cussing me out over DMs for putting my posts behind a paywall. They clearly wanted to read it, but they had no respect for the work that went into it. When I unpaywalled my work, a thousand people canceled their paid subscriptions.
That's why comments and emails like this matter so much:
Thank you for all you are teaching us. I like the clean approach to how you teach, it's what people need, without garbage filler. It's not a youtube video with filler for the algorithym. It's just objective, hypothesis, tests, results, conclusion. Love it.
It's really nice when you all get it. What that note says is exactly what I'm trying to accomplish. It's the whole point. It's hard to produce, but it's far more rewarding in my opinion and far more valuable than yet another list of things to stockpile or yet another hot take on something the fascists did.
You stuck around. You offered your support without preconditions. You understood the value. You said thanks. It kept me going. I'll continue to work on this newsletter with your support and your kind words.
