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Disasters often strike without warning and leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Yet armed with the right tools and information, survivors can fend for themselves and get through even the toughest circumstances. Matthew Stein's When Disaster Strikes provides a thorough, practical guide for how to prepare for and react in many of life's most unpredictable scenarios.

In this disaster-preparedness manual, he outlines the materials you'll need—from food and water, to shelter and energy, to first-aid and survival skills—to help you safely live through the worst. When Disaster Strikes covers how to find and store food, water, and clothing, as well as the basics of installing back-up power and lights. You’ll learn how to gather and sterilize water, build a fire, treat injuries in an emergency, and use alternative medical sources when conventional ones are unavailable.

Stein instructs you on the smartest responses to natural disasters—such as fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods—how to keep warm during winter storms, even how to protect yourself from attack or other dangerous situations. With this comprehensive guide in hand, you can be sure to respond quickly, correctly, and confidently when a crisis threatens.

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Our forefathers and mothers knew how to keep their homes clean and homey — and live richer while spending less. Many of today's products are expensive, bad for the environment, and don't work any better than Grandma's methods, which only cost pennies.

The editors at Back Home Magazine have collected hundreds of formulas for effective cleaning, gardening and home maintenance — as well as ways our ancestors saved on heating bills, prevented costly repairs, and maintained a cozy, charming home with little besides ingenuity.

Drawing on the advice and techniques of contributors across the country, this indispensable guide shows you the best ways to take care of everything in your home from wood floors, to tile, to stainless steel appliances ... and how to get the longest life out of every household item from pots and pans to pillowcases.

The Country Almanac of Housekeeping Techniques That Save You Money is chock-full of solutions, recipes and how-to projects for living a simpler, cleaner life and keeping your home beautiful.

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Written by renewable energy experts, this hands-on resource provides the technical information and easy-to-follow instructions you need to harness the wind and generate clean, safe, and reliable energy for on-site use.

Build Your Own Small Wind Power System shows you how to install a grid-connected or off-grid residential-scale setup. Get tips for evaluating your site for wind power potential, obtaining permits, financing your project, selecting components, and assembling and maintaining your system. Pictures, diagrams, charts, and graphs illustrate each step along the way. You'll also find out how you can help promote wind-friendly public policies locally. Save money and reduce your carbon footprint with help from this practical guide.

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Author Ellen Sandbeck preaches a return to a more primitive way of life—a life with more joy and fewer household products. Green Barbarians demonstrates that by mustering a bit of courage and relying less on many modern conveniences, we can live happier, safer, more ecologically and economically responsible lives.

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As fossil fuel supplies dwindle, home heating will be one of the major challenges in temperate and cold climates. The reserves of natural gas used to heat the majority of North American buildings are rapidly being depleted. This latest Green Energy Guide helps readers who want to slash their energy bills and reduce their dependence on scarce resources to navigate the sometimes-confusing maze of clean, reliable and affordable options.

Solar Home Heating Basics focuses on renewable energy strategies to heat new and existing homes and small businesses. These include:

• Energy efficiency, weatherization and insulation
• Solar hot air heating
• Solar thermal systems
• Passive solar heating
• Backup heating systems.

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Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape, and chicken lovers often shy away from gardening for the same reason. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too! Fresh eggs aren't the only benefit — chickens can actually help your garden grow and thrive, even as your garden does the same for your chickens.

In this essential handbook, award-winning garden designer Jessi Bloom covers everything a gardener needs to know, including chicken-keeping basics, simple garden plans to get you started, tips on attractive fencing options, the best plants and plants to avoid, and step-by-step instructions for getting your chicken garden up and running.

For anyone who wants a fabulous garden where colorful chickens happily roam, Free-Range Chicken Gardens is the guide that will bring the dream home to roost.

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Robert and Hannah Litt have dispensed advice to hundreds of urban and suburban chicken-keepers from behind their perch at Portland’s Urban Farm Store, and now they’re ready to help you go local and sustainable with your own backyard birds. In this handy guide to breeds, feed, coops, and care, the Litts take you under their experienced wings and share the secrets to:

• Picking the breeds that are right for you
• Building a sturdy coop in one weekend for $100
• Raising happy and hearty chicks
• Feeding your flock for optimal health and egg nutrition
• Preventing and treating common chicken diseases
• Planning ahead for family, neighborhood, and legal considerations
• Whipping up tasty egg recipes from flan to frittata

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A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:

• Siting
• Planning for heat and moisture
• Developing an integrative design
• Creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• Protecting against fire and insects
• Planning for acoustics
• Selecting and making finishes
• Plastering
• Budgeting

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This third collection of Mother Earth News' most popular DIY articles provides enough fun, rewarding projects to keep you and your family busy all year long. Made available to you in an easy-to-use CD-ROM format, just like our popular Mother Earth News Archive on CD-ROM.

Selected from more than 40 years of material, this collection provides 101 articles for enough fun, rewarding projects to keep you busy every single weekend for a full year!

You can learn how to:

• Build your own add-on greenhouse
• Make a bamboo flute
• Make a handmade braided rug
• Make homemade paper
• Build sawhorses
• Build a grain bin house
• Build your own earth Oven
• And more!

• With an IBM-compatible computer: Microsoft® Windows 98 SE (Second Edition) or newer; with Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or newer. You also will need Java Virtual Machine (VM) version 1.3 (free download from www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp) or newer browser plug-in with Java enabled on your browser and computer.
• With an Apple Computer: Mac OS X with Safari 3.2.525.27.1 or newer and Java. Use the Software Update feature (available on the Apple menu) to check that you have the most up-to-date version of Java for your Mac.
• For Mac OS 9.2.2, this CD must be run in Netscape 7.0.2 with Apple MRJ 2.2.5. (Both available free from www.versiontracker.com.)
• A CD-ROM drive (auto-start should be enabled).