Building Resiliency & Community Safety

DIY Safety Tips & Fun Fall & Winter Projects

The seasons have changed, and most of our country is now dealing with rain, snow, sleet, and inclement weather. On one of those rainy nights, we started thinking about ideas that could build resiliency and community safety during extreme weather conditions.

With the tips we share below, we have considered project time, cost, and ease. Some of these money-saving tasks are fun and can be family projects to involve your kids in. So, let’s get started saving money while building resiliency and community safety. We have also thrown in some fun fall and winter projects for your entire family to enjoy!

Our community has implemented many systems to keep us safe during harsh weather or other emergencies, which we share with you below. These systems, when combined, have allowed us to respond quickly to emergencies and keep our community residents safer.

Phone Trees for Safety

Our community has divided our mountain into three different geographic areas, and each area is assigned a coordinator who will call the first line of people on the phone tree below them. The people our coordinator calls then call two other families below them on the phone tree until all community members have been alerted and accounted for.

This system allows our entire community to be contacted in case of emergency in less than 5 minutes. This can be a critical difference in keeping everyone safe in extreme weather or other emergencies. You can get the template for this phone tree at https://www.speedytemplate.com/phone-tree-template-2.asp

Walkie-Talkies for Safety When Power is Down

Our community invested in multi-channel walkie-talkies that have a range of about 5 miles. These walkie-talkies are rechargeable and an adapter will allow them to be recharged in your car. When the power goes down we lose landline phone service very quickly. Also, in extreme weather cell coverage diminishes.

Our community bought these along with many other small communities in the area so we can communicate in extreme weather and other emergencies with ease. These walkie-talkies have helped with everything from fire notifications to helping air evacuate an older resident off the mountain after a fall.

WhatsApp for Community Safety

The third line of communication for our community is WhatsApp. Anyone can post an emergency and all community members will be alerted on their cell phones. Having many layers of emergency communication helps keep everyone safer in emergencies or extreme weather.

WhatsApp allows people to get communications about emergencies when they aren’t at home. We have used this application for extreme weather, fire emergencies, and even when a neighbor’s sheep got loose.

One Call for Community Safety

A “one call community phone alert” refers to a system, like “One Call Now” by OnSolve, that allows a community organization to send out urgent messages to all residents simultaneously via phone call, text message, or email, often used for emergency notifications.

We have a couple of community coordinators that are in charge of One Call Now in our community and it’s a simple way to alert all community residents in a timely manner of extreme weather or other emergencies.

Make Composting Easier While Saving Money

One of the best investments we made last year was trading in our outdoor compost bin for a Vitamix FoodCycler. The Vitamix FoodCycler fits easily on your countertop and transforms your kitchen scraps into wonderful compost in a couple of hours. No more fruit flies around your compost pot on your countertop.

The Vitamix FoodCycler can be fed fruit, vegetables, dairy, chicken bones, and more. I only put fruit, vegetables, tea bags, coffee filters, and paper products in mine. Over the years, I’ve learned that striking a balance between wet goods and paper makes for an excellent mix for turning out great compost and keeping our vegetable garden healthy.

The only items you don’t want to put in your FoodCycler are banana peels and fruit rinds. Making sure I’m not heavy with one type of food scrap makes for balanced compost. Diversity works best in the Vitamix FoodCycler to generate the best compost. This compost can be used as a planting mix or mulch for indoor and outdoor plants.

Make Yogurt or Sourdough Starter to Save Money

I know many of us have an Instant Pot or an equivalent at home. I learned this summer that my Instant Pot can be used for making yogurt; both Greek and regular yogurt. The preparation time is only a few minutes and the Instant Pot does the rest.

I bought glass yogurt containers for storage that I can add fruit or jam to and have delicious yogurt on hand without all the additives and sugar. I learned this summer how much sugar is in most yogurts, even organic brands. Now I have delicious yogurt on hand for breakfast and also making my two-ingredient protein bagels that are so delicious.

I learned this last winter that my Instant Pot can be used for keeping my sourdough starter at a constant temperature. Keeping sourdough starter at a constant temperature during our colder months can be tricky, and an Instant Pot or its equivalent can make sourdough starter stable during our colder weather. I learned that using rye flour as your base for your sourdough starter makes for a faster-growing and robust starter.

Pumpkin High-Protein Ice Cream Recipe

I have started making all sorts of cottage cheese ice cream this summer. It tastes good and is loaded with protein. Cottage cheese ice cream is a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth and not add a bunch of calories.

Ingredients:

• 1 carton cottage cheese, 16 oz
• 1/4 cup honey or add more for more sweetness
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Caramel sauce if you wish to add or chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Add cottage cheese, honey, pumpkin puree, spices, and vanilla to a food processor or blender
2. Blend until smooth
3. Scoop mixture into a loaf pan, cover with plastic, and freeze for 3-4 hours till set
4. If you wish to add chocolate chips, drizzle them over the top and use a spatula to blend them in
5. If you wish to add caramel sauce, drizzle it over the top as a topping
6. Take the ice cream out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving and serve

Enjoy this yummy dessert this fall as a way of celebrating our changing seasons.

Fall and winter is the best time to plan your next DIY project. Be sure to give us a call when you are in the planning stages and we will answer your questions about our products. Shed Windows and More is your one-stop store for all your DIY building and small construction company building products.