Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. The history of bartering extends back to early human existence. Yet today, bartering still has its place in modern life, as a … Read more
What are ithaca hours? | How They Work? The Ithaca HOUR is a local currency used in Ithaca, New York and is the oldest and largest local currency system in the United States that is still in operation. The basic premise of the Ithaca HOURS is that one Ithaca HOUR … Read more
Global warming (also referred to as Climate Change) is a complex issue which is difficult to tease out the human and the non-human causes. The precise causes of global warming are not crystal clear; whether humans are the cause, the Earth’s natural cycle or a combination of both is still … Read more
You may have heard the term before, but what is brackish water? Simply it is a mixture of both saltwater and freshwater. Naturally brackish conditions create a unique habitat for plant and animal life. On the other-hand, brackish conditions that are created by humans typically harms the pre-existing environmental habitat-permanently, … Read more
Electricity supplies every whim in modern life. It powers our lights, cars, keeps us warm or cool. Interestingly there is a diversity of ways to make electricity, although not all ways are preferred. In short, electricity is produced by converting kinetic energy (or physical movement) with the use of a … Read more
Think of some of your favorite foods. Yogurt, bread, sauerkraut, pickles. Drinks? Beer, cider, kombucha. What do they have in common? They’re fermented. Fermentation not only makes food nutritious and tasty, it’s also an ancient form of food preservation, born from time-honored rituals that were practiced long before anyone could … Read more
The dirty, dusty feel of the dull grey paper in your hands and the less than happy smell is the recycled paper from which you read today’s news. That same paper can be thrown away to decay in a dump or be recycled, where parts of it will be transformed … Read more
To make yogurt, you’ll need milk. Whatever the amount of milk you use will be the amount of yogurt it yields. For this recipe, we’ll use a half gallon. You’ll also need some store-bought yogurt with active cultures. You’ll also need two pots which can nest within one another, to … Read more
Water is a precious resource often taken for granted in developed countries where water is regularly supplied through a municipal source. Potable water flows into your toilets, is used in massive quantities for industrial cooling and cleaning, pumped from ancient springs into plastic bottles, and continuously wasted by individual and … Read more
Born in Alexandra on the 23rd of March, 1900, Hassan Fathy passed away in 1989, but not before leaving his mark on the world. Fathy was an architect and the very first Egyptian that did not incorporate western ideologies into his architectural techniques. Instead he dug into the past and … Read more
Recycle your batteries! Learn how Today almost everything uses batteries – from wristwatches and mobile phones to laptop computers and cars. Anything that runs on electricity without having to rely on an external power source for practical reasons requires a battery. However, as great as batteries are for making portable … Read more
Organic Food Preservation Definition, Importance, & Methods Food preservation has long been a necessary pursuit of humans through the ages. While short term food preservation methods are largely dominated by today’s refrigerators, and long term preservation is dominated by canning or freezing, our ancient cultures thrived without such technology by … Read more
Piles of leaves are either a chore to clean up or a pleasure to jump into, depending who you are. Each fall, leaves throughout the world turn bright orange, red and yellows displaying the best of fall colors before losing their leaves and scattering the ground with a natural multch. … Read more
Garlic has long been used for its medicinal qualities as well as for its pungent taste and distinct flavor. Long known as a “poor man’s medicine” this hearty plant was available for the masses during the Roman empire and was the used to help improve the immune system and ward … Read more
People who get their water from a well, likely know about hard water. What is hard water? Essentially a water is described as “hard” when it has a lot of minerals. “Soft” water is water that has a low levels of dissolved minerals. Although hard water is potable (or safe … Read more