As we work to make a better future for ourselves, we look to do three basic things: 1) To restore things from the past that used to work well but that we have lost or stopped doing; 2) To retain things from the here and now that are working great; and 3) To revolutionize new ways of doing things for the future. This blog deals with one of the big items in number 1: learning to make things ourselves.
Making things ourselves - be they food, personal care products or clothing - is something our ancestors used to do all the time. It's not only rewarding, the end result is often better than what you can buy. It also saves money, makes us more self-reliant and avoids use of things like plastics and toxins.
Making your own toothpaste at home, for example, avoids the throwing away of a plastic tube. It also avoids many of the toxins put into toothpastes (which are often not even listed on the toothpaste labels). And, you end up with a less expensive and better product. If that weren't enough, making your own toothpaste takes, like, a minute and a half. It's that simple. Ditto for hair gel.
There are a ton of things like toothpaste and hair gel that we can make at home easily and that result in spending less money, throwing less away and using less plastic. Many of these things our ancestors used to do, but over time, we have been taught to stop doing them, so, as a society, we have forgotten how. It's time we bring them back.
To help, we have started a new section of the Our Urban Farms website titled "M.I.Y." (for Make It Yourself). It includes "recipes" for making everything from food to home care products and more. And, the best part is that we have set it up so that our members can add their own favorite recipes and how-to's, too, so that the library can continue growing over time as we all get better making our own stuff. We hope you will check it out and begin sharing your tips and tricks, too!
Thanks in advance and enjoy!
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