Emergency Sanitation

Sanitation is one of the ten critical components of emergency preparedness. In my book, it is usually one of the top two that are most overlooked. A lot of us take emergency sanitation for granted until our toilet breaks down or the sewer backs up. Keep in mind, if there is a quarantine, who’s going to maintain the proper working order of the sewage services? If there’s a financial collapse, how will we even have the wherewithal to send our waste somewhere else? If you don’t take emergency sanitation seriously

The Solar Oven Challenge

Today I happened upon an individual who, as of July 1, has commited to cook with her solar oven each sunny day for an entire year. The Solar Oven Chef, as she calls herself, posts images of meals she's prepared each day in her solar oven. She has prepared everything from ribs to bread to pizza and meatloaf -- excellent variety! By the end of the Solar Oven Chef's one year experiment, preparing meals in her solar oven will be second nature.

Prepare Spiritually, Mentally and Physically

Recently we posted the Ten Components of Emergency Preparedness. There’s a reason these ten components are in the order that they are. It’s not about ease or difficulty of storage or preparation. It’s about what you can and can’t fix down the road when an emergency arrives. Allow me to explain.

[caption id="attachment_1338" align="alignright" width="169" caption="Prepare Physically. Photo c/o thesealquest.com"][/caption]

The top three areas of preparedness on the list of ten components of emergency preparedness are preparing spiritually, mentally and physically. Whatever level of preparedness you possess when an emergency happens, that’s what you have to work with. It’s not like you’ll be able to go and read 30 preparedness books when a disaster strikes and immediately be up-to-speed.

Prepare Now

Statistically, we all know that an emergency of one variation or another is coming our way. What we do not know is what emergency and when. If you take all emergencies that you may ever experience or expect in your area, anytime is as likely statistically as any other. An emergency occurring tomorrow is just as likely as one occurring ten years from now.

[caption id="attachment_3280" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Earthquake in Japan photo c/o japansociety.org"][/caption]

Of course, geographically speaking, there are certain emergencies that are more probable than others. For example, in California, Japan or South America, it could be a major earthquake. On the east coast, it could be a hurricane. In the Midwest, it could be a tornado. In the state of Utah,

Lights!

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In the event of a long-term power outage, the obvious inconveniences will unfold such as a lack of heat or air-conditioning, television, microwave, and video games. However, many folks dangerously underestimate their need for appropriate lighting. You may be unaware that insufficient lighting will not only be incredibly inconvenient, but dangerous on so many levels and can also quickly lead to depression.

Ten Principles of Preparedness

, The Preparedness Pro

Typically when I mention "emergency" preparedness, or preparedness of any kind to someone they automatically think of “food storage” or “the Mormons.” Unfortunately, a focus on either will not save your family in a time of crisis. There are actually ten vital areas of preparedness to being prepared for an emergency whether it be a natural disaster, act of war or financial collapse or just every day situations in which you might need items from your preparedness pantry. Food is only one component that we’ve addressed recently. So let’s take a look at all 10 Principles of Preparedness.

UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage Part 8 of 8

What to store in your food storage?

There are 3 aspects that you need to concern yourself with when it comes to your food storage. Nutrition, preparation, and rotation.

[caption id="attachment_1277" align="alignright" width="266" caption="Create balanced meals. Photo c/o crusa-soccer.com/"][/caption]

The nutrition aspect has to do with WHAT you store. Be sure it’s not food that will simply enable you to survive, but THRIVE. Feeding your body quality nutrition in a time of stress is critical. It’s one thing to try and live off of fast food and such when you lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle. You may not think of food much

UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage Part 7 of 8

No, You’re Not Crazy

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How to influence that skeptical spouse when it comes to emergency preparedness efforts is a query I hear frequently in my line of work. I affectionately call it the “$64 million dollar question.” Surprisingly, the question isn’t dominated by one particular sex or the other, either. I guess both men and women are equally skeptical when it comes to this topic. Obviously, it is tough to have one member of the family focused on something so important without the support of knowledge, enthusiasm and additional expertise from the other. Being on the same page for this sort of thing boils

UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage Part 6 of 8

Food Storage. It really doesn’t have to be complicated.

[caption id="attachment_1231" align="alignright" width="294" caption="Medical Emergency Preparedness photo c/o ehow.com"][/caption]

When it comes to emergency preparedness, there are actually 10 different components to consider, listed below in order of priority:

UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage Part 5 of 8

A Case for Food Storage

In the matter of

One Year Supply of Food Storage (Plaintiff)

Vs.

Disbelief and Ignorance (Defendant)

“Plaintiff asserts that