When you don’t have a clean water source in the immediate vicinity, wells are an option worth looking into, especially if hooking into city water is not viable. However, depending on your location, having someone out to drive your well can be quite expensive too. So, here are a few links about driving your well on your own! It’s not a good option for everyone, but it’ll work for some.

• Mother Earth News has an article with well-driving tips.

• Waterhole: How to Dig Your Own Well, by Bob Mellin, looks like a good resource. Available HERE.

• Types of wells are described at THIS page.

While root cellars might not do much to increase your personal efficiency, they will help you become more self-sufficient. Much of your garden produce can be stored in a root cellar… if you have one, so here are several links with different ideas for building your own out of materials you might just have on hand!

• The Pallet Root Cellar

• THIS site has lots of info about different types of root cellars, but not too much about building your own. However, it looks very helpful.

• Build Your Own Underground Root Cellar, by Phyllis Hobson, looks like a really good resource as well. HERE

• More root cellar tips HERE.

• Thefoodguys.com has a clever variation on traditional root cellars.

Wood stoves are becoming increasingly popular for heating entire homes, but the ones on the market are still quite expensive. Here are a few links by folks who have built their own wood stove, and are willing to share their experience with others who have the same dream of greater self-sufficiency.

Old, discarded water heaters are the material of the day:

• THIS website has pictures with plenty of instructions.

• Mother Earth News has an old article with steps for building one of these heaters.

• HERE are step-by-step instructions as well.

Water. It is probably the most underutilized of the three major renewable energy sources (the others being solar and wind). Strangely enough, it also has the potential for being the most reliable and powerful; you’ve just got to harness all that energy somehow. Here are a few links to help you in that endeavor:

• RE-Energy.ca has plans for a very small micro hydroelectric generator. It’s more like a school science project, but it could be very helpful as a starting point if you want to build you own generator and have had minimal experience.

• Oregon.gov has many tips for helping you determine everything you need as well as how much power is available from the water source.

• THIS site gives step-by-step instructions although they are a bit vague.

• And THIS site has quite a lot of information about all types of micro hydroelectric systems.

THIS website has several workshops, including a couple for building your own solar water heater! The hands-on experience would, no doubt, be worth the money spent, and much of the cost can be paid by work exchange.

The Sustainable Village has a 30-gallon passive solar water heater kit that looks like it wouldn’t be difficult to assemble. Kits would definitely be easier than starting from scratch, even if it is a bit pricier.

Here are several links all about ethanol. This includes instructions for making your own still to produce your own ethanol, and helpful tips for converting your vehicle to run on ethanol, if you don’t already have a flex fuel vehicle.

• Making Your Own Fuel

• Ethanol Fuel: Journey to Forever

• myownfuel.com