Simply focus your efforts on these three areas:

Getting Out of Debt

Growing & Storing Food

Generating & Storing Energy

Is it really that simple?

YES! … and no.

If you use these three items as guide posts, you’ll be on the right track. The thing to understand is that we’re all dependent on the global economic system today because we’re all in debt and we’re all consumers.

Think about the word ‘consumer’ and what it means. The opposite of a consumer is a producer. If we can become our own producers, then we’ll gain some independence from this system before it fails us.

If you spend some time thinking about this, you quickly realize how backwards popular culture is today. Freedom is not being able to drive your car all over the city, real freedom is when you don’t need to!

So, yes: it is as simple as trying to live with these thoughts in mind. But growing your own food? Producing usable energy? That’s not simple at all! We can’t walk out into the backyard tomorrow and ‘Just do it’, as the sneaker ads suggest. But we can start.

Here are some simple things you can start to change today, right now. Don’t attempt them all. Just pick one to start. You’ll be surprised how fast you can change your whole life if you can just get a good start.

• Get out of debt. Credit card debt first. Yes, your mortgage, too.
• Learn how to garden organically and start growing your own food.
• Save rainwater and use it on your garden.
• Store some gasoline in the garage.
• Begin following an emergency preparedness regimen.
• Keep some clean water and a month of food around the house.
• Buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture cooperative.
• Imagine your home during a blackout. Can you make it more livable?
• Shut the power off one night and practice. Camp out in the living room!
• Keep a week’s worth of cash hidden in the house.
• Get to know your neighbors. Make friends with them.
• Find a way to bike or use transit, or, consider moving closer to work.
• Learn how to store and repair things instead of throwing them away.
• Keep yourself in good physical shape.
• Shed chemical dependency as much as possible, from coffee to tobacco.
• If you own your home, consider a solar hot water system. It is the least exciting of all the alternative energy options, but the most effective.

Unfortunately, none of these moves guarantee safety. Personal perparations are the foundation for addressing the problem, but if society disintegrates, we all lose. The best defense against Peak Oil is a strong community.

So, What else can you do?

Come to Seattle Peak Oil Awareness meetings and get involved!