Urban vs. Rural Sustainability

Jay sent me an interesting article the other day written by Toby Hemenway, a well-known permaculture activist, in which he discusses his choice to live in an urban vs. rural environment and how it relates to sustainability. He argues that urban dwellers might actually fare better in the event of disaster compared to their rural counterparts.

Check it out, definitely worth a read.

Adventures in Yogurt Making

In attempting to scale back on grocery costs I decided to look into making some of our weekly staples from scratch. Yes, we already make our own salad dressings, pasta sauces, and chicken or vegetable stock. However, a significant amount of money was going towards the costs of yogurt - between the three of us, we would go through at least 4 big containers a week. At approximately $3 a container, thats a good $50 a month spent on something made quite easily at home.

Now, I could have been extra adventurous and made some from scratch, but I decided to go easy on myself and buy a yogurt maker second-hand from a friend. For a quick and easy $20, I was able to get one in great condition.

Now, I buy bags of homo milk (approximately $6 for 3) and use 1 cup of yogurt from the previous batch as a starter culture. One bag of milk makes 6 small containers of yogurt (about 1.5 servings per container). I make two batches of yogurt a week, costing approximately $4 in total, a savings of $8 a week.

Its good yogurt and its fun involving the little guy in the process.

Someday soon I would like to try making it from scratch but for now, this is an easy way to save some money on groceries as well as cutting down on packing and waste.