Fun Fact, Hammering Metal Spikes Into Tree Trunks Is A Federal Crime In The US Because Environmental

i learned that Binghamton University researchers have been working on a self-healing concrete that uses a specific type of fungi as a healing agent. When the fungus is mixed with concrete, it lies dormant until cracks appear, when spores germinate, grow and precipitate calcium carbonate to heal the cracks (x)

Ray of Rice hat/lamp by Jittasak Narknisorn

“I respect and admire agriculture, especially the rice farmers who provide us with the food in our everyday lives. They work very long hours under the hot sun during harvesting season. From this observation, I saw how to merge the traditional lifestyle of a rice farmer and today’s technology. Ray of Rice : hat & lamp is comprised of solar cells on the exterior with LED lights on the interior. As the rice farmers work during the day the solar cells collect the sun’s energy. By night, the hat can be hung anywhere and utilized as a wireless lamp.”

(via)

Succulent Care Guide

I see a lot of people killing their succulents due to ignorance of how to care for them. Here’s a quick guide!

Lighting: Most* succulents require full sun, meaning they need direct sunlight for 4-6+ hours a day. South or west-facing windows are ideal for succulents. You can also move your succulent around windows throughout the day to give as much light as possible, if you want.

If your succulent has previously not received enough light, GRADUALLY give it more and more sun over two weeks. This will prevent sunburn.

Failure to give your succulent proper lighting will result in etiolation – a process in which your plant will grow lanky, weak stems in an attempt to find more light. 

If you can’t provide enough light, succulents probably aren’t right for you. Look into lower light plants, such as pothos or peace lily!

Type of Pot: Succulents need a pot with a drainage hole. End of story. No rocks in the bottom will help, no bullshit. Drainage. Hole.

Size of Pot: Pick a pot no more than one inch larger than your plant’s rootball. Overpotting will kill your plant. Oversized pot = too much soil = more water than your plant can use = death from root rot.

Soil: Regular potting soil is terrible for succulents as it’s water-retentive. Succulents like well-draining soil with lots of perlite or pumice, and gritty ingredients such as fine bark or turface. Look for a cactus&succulent soil mix, or just improve regular soil by adding 50% perlite. Avoid anything with peat moss! Avoid MiracleGro.

Time to Water: Find a wooden toothpick for small pots, or a wooden dowel for larger ones. Insert the wood into the soil. If it comes out wet, with damp soil sticking to it, it’s not time to water yet. If it comes out clean and dry, your succulent is thirsty! Think of checking brownies with a toothpick to see if they’re done baking. 

This is recommended because often times your finger cannot feel the soil towards the bottom of the pot, and you need to make sure all of the soil is dry before watering.

DO NOT WATER ON A SCHEDULE. DO NOT RELY ON A WETNESS METER (THEY ARE INEFFECTIVE). DO NOT WATER DAILY. Listen to your plant!

How to Water: When your succulent’s soil is dry, water thoroughly, until water drains out of the drainage hole. Allow all excess water to drain before putting it back into any saucers or decorative pots.

*Some succulents’ lighting needs may vary – such as Haworthias with “windows” in their leaves, who don’t like as much sun, or Sempervivums who need much more sun than most. Look up your specific plant’s care to be sure!

no, listen, when I say I want to integrate more specific solarpunk stuff in my life, i don’t mean to ask for yet again new “aesthetic” clothes that now you have to buy or make to show your support of the movement (screw that i’m consuming enough as it is), or more posts about impossible house goals, or whatever, I’m asking you what my options to build a portable and eco friendly phone charger are, im asking you viable tiny-appartment edible plants growing tricks on a budget,  im asking tips to slow down when my mind and society tell me im not fast enough, i don’t need more rich art nouveau amateurs aesthetics or pristine but cold venus project, okay, i know i should joins associations where I am tho i’m constantly on the move, thanks for that, just, you know, can we get a bit more practical ??? how do I hack my temporary flat into going off the grid for the time i’m here

Jeanette Winterson

XKCD’s excellent presentation on historical global temperature and anthropogenic global warming. 

[After setting your car on fire] “Listen, your car’s temperature has changed before.”

unhappy reminder that amphibians are going through a pandemic right now and anything you can do to support conservation efforts would be greatly appreciated by literally everyone in the world

if you’re interested in mutual aid and aren’t sure where to start, i can’t recommend enough joining a local Buy Nothing group. in a nutshell, it’s a totally free gift economy— people give from their own abundance and ask for what they need. it’s indispensable as a recent grad household— we got the majority of our basic furniture, as well as an AC unit through the group— but what i find particularly wonderful are the ways other forms of community aid popup through the group.

i’ve seen people organize meal trains for strangers. people fleeing from domestic violence have gone from a suitcase of possessions to a fully stocked house in 48 hours. home hospices being set up with goods from six different households. cookbook lending. distribution of windfall apples and tomato harvest overabundance. grocery pickup for ill folks. people looking out for listings for others. everything from bread to baby carseats to house paint to pet food.

and much of it is done between strangers, often between people who would not recognize or identify with the term “mutual aid”. it lowers waste, goods go directly to people who need them, and it avoids the sometimes dubious morality of the thrift shop circuit. i’d really recommend it.