Improve your lifestyle
“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”
― Abraham Lincoln
If you fancy yourself in simpler times and agree with this quote wholeheartedly, then you may be perfect for joining the movement to a self-sustaining lifestyle. Whether it is from a need to connect with the land, a desire to produce high quality food for your family or out of a concern for where the future of this planet is headed, you’ll find useful tips and education in the following ten websites. They are listed in order of their Alexa traffic count rating.
1. Eartheasy: http://eartheasy.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 32,272
Even if you only want to make a few baby steps, you will find plenty of resources on this site for everything from green home choices to energy efficiency. There are plenty of resources to shop for along with guides and blogs for education. Learn about non-toxic pest control for your garden or yard as well as natural weed control and natural lawn care. Even those not interested at all in the heavy-duty self-sustaining techniques will find information here for improving their lives through practical products and information.
2. Off-Grid: http://www.off-grid.net/
Global Alexa Rating: 143,399
For the ultimate in a self-sustaining lifestyle, the serious look to off-grid methods – in other words, breaking free from expensive and undependable utility sources. The site offers lots of advice on how to make this happen and includes LandBuddy, an interactive map showing who wants to go off-grid, where they are, and who has land to offer for the endeavor. This gives you the ability to connect with other like-minded individuals and perhaps work together on a project. Many useful articles and a forum round out the site.
3. Sustainable Baby Steps: http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/self-sufficient-living.html
Global Alexa Rating: 154,291
This site is devoted to guiding people to go green, live simply and abundantly and be healthy. They feel the world is connected. “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” ~ John Muir You will find information on simple changes right up to bigger changes. They offer step-by-step guides for sale as well as a free eBook. They do have some affiliates so expect some marketing to them.
4. The Self Sufficient Living: http://theselfsufficientliving.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 276,262
This site is organized into five segments: Blog, Gardening, Do It Yourself, Live Stock and Homesteading. The number of articles is incredible with great tips! They have article archives going back to October 2013. With this much already added in such a short time, this is definitely one to go back to every few days for new, fresh content. You can also subscribe to their newsletter. One article you won’t want to miss is “15 easy and different ways to become more self-sufficient in your life.”
5. Countryfarm Lifestyles: http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 400,237
This is a great resource for organic gardening, country living, homesteading and self-sufficiency. There is a great deal of information about livestock and things you might not have thought about such as curing ham, roasting coffee beans, making wine and drying fruit. This site helps remind you that there are so very many different DIY skills you can learn that all get you that much closer to breaking your dependence on the grocery store and other businesses.
6. The Urban Homestead: http://urbanhomestead.org/
Global Alexa Rating: 403,191
Just because you are surrounded by urban sprawl or live close to a freeway, doesn’t mean you can’t practice some sustainable methods. They show how you can create a working micro-farm in the city. It is completely possible to harvest 3 tons of organic food annually from a small 1/10 acre garden. They offer information on water & waste, citified farm animals, self-sufficiency, alternative energy, transportation biodiesel and organic gardening.
Global Alexa Rating: 822,653
This is a great guide for setting up a successful sustainable lifestyle with information about the right equipment to get there. They are on a small farm near Perth, Western Australia and they share what they are doing, how they are doing it and why they are doing it. They also go into something that is missing on other sites – how to create an income from your efforts and other ways to make an income while living a farming life.
8. Living a Simple Life: http://zenhabits.net/simple/
Global Alexa Rating: 2,478,710
A very simple blog page devoted to voluntary simplicity. The blogs hit on a variety of subjects including animals, food, arts & crafts and DIY projects. Some of their posts include videos as well. One nice feature is a listing of other homesteading blogs that they enjoy reading, so you get access to even more information than they have. Many of those blogs are specific to a certain type of experience so if you’re looking for lamb farming or news from an Australian farmer, for example, you’ll likely find it.
9. Self Sufficiency Guide: http://www.self-sufficiency-guide.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 6,236,858
This is a no-frill resource for finding information on self-sufficient living including off grid power, off grid solar power, off grid wind power, how to make biodiesel, saving water, rainwater harvesting systems, greywater systems, DIY solar heating, growing your own food, herbs and vegetables, making your own compost, beekeeping and raising backyard chickens. Be sure to check out the section of free eBooks. There is also a section of links to tons of useful sites in addition to this one.
10. Go Self Sufficient: http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/
Global Alexa Rating: 7,800,455
Although this doesn’t get a lot of traffic, it seems odd that it doesn’t because it has plenty of great informational articles. Their categories include allotments, around the home, case studies, energy & water, food & drink, foraging, grow herbs & salad, grow vegetables, grow your own, grow your own berries, keeping animals, money and natural remedies. You can also sign up for their newsletter.
It is unlikely you will find all your answers on any one site, or even on all ten of these, but it should definitely get you headed in the right direction and get you thinking about ways in which you can simplify your life and move toward self-sufficiency.
