Surviving an Economic Crash: Resources and Tips

Dear friends:

With concerns about the economy posted all over the web, and with some people fearing a total economic collapse (ie, depression and not recession), it is wise to be prepared. “Act, don’t react to situations” is a phrase I once heard. I have always remembered those words of wisdom. And while, in my own experience, the things we fear *almost* never come to pass, it’s still wise to cover the bases.

Since canning up a storm to stock our cupboards this year, and buying a few staples in bulk, I have to say that I have a cozy feeling about it. It’s sort of like having money in the bank: “Phew, if anything goes wrong, we will not be hurt. We will be okay” is my feeling. And I want to see all my family members, friends, and our collective community prepared in the same way.

Just how do we survive an economic crash? I don’t know, not having “been there”. But having read a lot, and brainstormed a lot, and using links (below) which were posted to a previous article I wrote, here is a compilation of ideas which I hope will prove useful.

First of all, one blogger who survived the Katrina affair wrote about crime in his local neighborhood thereafter. In order to prevent such crime, I suggest that education is the key. What are our survival options? If we distribute leaflets, ask others to photocopy them and send them around, and write our local newspaper editors, perhaps we can prevent such wrongs from occurring. In fact, we can even spawn sharing and proactivity. Feel free to use any and all ideas below, without quoting me as author, because this information is communal property and does not belong to me! Certainly I hope global survival is a communal issue! Please distribute this information, far and wide! I only ask that nobody make any money off the ideas here. Not even one cent. Please spread the word of hope, free of charge! Thank you. (And feel free to pass these ideas on to journalists, who may print some or all of them in order to help the community).

The links below are good for cooking, gardening et al. Below that, I will write ideas about how to get food in our community, with resources going above and beyond what we might ordinarily think of. There may be lots more out there than we think!

Here are website instructions in multiple languages (Catalan, French, Russian, English, Spanish, you name it) for how to make your own solar oven out of cardboard boxes, with or without glass tops: http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/