Since the pandemic and even more so in recent years when I’ve learned more about septic systems and sewage treatment plants, I’ve had more and more of a desire to piss on trees and bushes, to crap in buckets and bury the poop in the woods.
I’m not saying there okay systems in urban areas that help protect the public health from dangerous diseases like Cholera and E Coli and protect water quality from excess nitrogen and phosphorus. But the solution seems to often to landfill such substances rather than recover the nutrients.
Maybe it’s just the freedom to pee wherever you want up at camp, up at the wilderness. Flip down the tailgate and pee. Spray urine wherever. Unconcentrated it’s pretty harmless though as noted on the Blue Ridge Parkway, too many people peeing on a tree can burn it.
Outhouses and composting poop outside of the cities makes a lot of sense. While both septic tanks and sewage treatment works biodegrade some of the sludge, a lot of it is lost unless it is collected and spread, a particular concern in sewage treatment plants is pharmaceuticals and long lasting chemicals like PFAS and microplastics.
I get people’s ick factor and concerns on public health but it just seems like such a waste to send it all to the local dumping grounds.
I was listening to this podcast on the way in today. Taxes, maintance cost, acreage that is build-able, among other things are big considerations. More information is good, and while I don't necessarily agree with everything in this podcast, I am considering each topic they discuss carefully.
One of the problems I face with finding a home is the life I love is literally miles from nowhere. I spend so much time wilderness camping where often the nearest house is five miles or further away – and sometimes further. Usually the same is true with other campsites – miles away.
There is just very few places anywhere near the city that is like the life I spend up in the wilderness. Places where I can burn stuff and shoot as much as my heart desires without any neighbors nearby. Where I don’t have to think about how much noise or smoke I create.
It just seems like every house and land you look at is nearby another house, anywhere near the city. Maybe country lots are slightly larger than your typical suburban and urban lot but not by much. There is some half decent places but they’re all on the border of too far to reasonably commute on a daily basis.
The truth is that I need to look west where there is more land and things are more spread out. But that is going to take a complete reboot of my life, starting from scratch and that isn’t easy either. And it’s damn scary too.
Known as "The Legendary Black Redneck," Joel Patrick is a young black conservative influencer heralded by the right after criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement in a viral video. But after making a video criticizing the capital insurrectionists, he was suddenly ostracized by thousands in his online community and even lost close friends. With only his infamous bright-orange lifted truck in tow, he now heads down to Florida from his hometown of Dayton, OH to attend conservative conferences and confront his former allies.
Tankless water heaters have long been a go-to for off-grid properties. They quickly turn propane into hot water, which is good. But I'm wondering about the pros of cons with solar and even batteries being so inexpensive these days - compared to a heat pump water heater or even a conventional water heater. Water heating is pretty energy intensive, but if you can do it with solar, it's one less thing to bring on the homestead. Not to mention the possibilities of traditional water heating using a solar collector, as has been popular with eco-conscious families and homesteads since the 1970s, though there yo uhave
I think my dream house or cabin would be as small as possible. As a single guy, I don’t need a lot of space, just room enough for a small table, a place to put a futon-style bed, a dresser, some room to hang clothes, have a stove and sink, a small propane heated shower, and a toilet or shitter bucket to take out to the outhouse.
I don’t really want or need a lot of space, because the more space you have, the more you need to clean. More space means more need for heating, more need for lighting and more room for stuff that will break. Fewer things, mean fewer things to fail and break and a simpler world to live in.
I look at horror with marble countertops and fancy carpets. So many things to break and fail. So many things I don’t think add much value to life. I don’t like complicated wiring or all that technology – especially nowadays when you can do almost everything on your laptop. I do like the big screen and a standalone keyboard but those aren’t something that take a lot of room. I doubt I’ll ever want internet at home, except maybe through my Smartphone.
