How Basic Can You Get?

This weekend
some very good friends of ours spent several hours at our house.
At one point over dinner, the husband, James, began asking about
food storage. How did I know what to store? How long would it last?
His wife, Dawn, had questions of her own and I began making a simple
list of how to start with preparedness.

I asked them
both what their concerns were. Dawn mentioned the news about the
solar flares that might cause problems with electronics on Earth
and James said his main concern was a war developing in the Middle
East. Since we had never talked about preparedness before, I was
surprised that those concerns were on their radars. Previously,
we had just chatted about work schedules, homeschooling, and whether
or not our kids should go to church camp this summer.

After James
and Dawn left, I started writing out a list of the most simple steps
we had talked about and then decided to post them here. If you are
new to the idea of preparing for an emergency or worst-case scenario,
hereÂ’s where you can start! IÂ’ll be posting additional
lists throughout the year, all titled, Â“How basic can you get?Â”

Here is
List #1.

Start saving
empty soda bottles. Eventually, youÂ’ll need 28 of them for
a water supply lasting a family
of four for one week. ThatÂ’s about one gallon of water per
person, per day. If you live in a hot and/or humid climate, add
another gallon per person. Clean out the bottles and run the caps
through the dishwasher. Refill with water. You can add 1 drop
of bleach if you wish. Cap tightly and store these in out of the
way places. Put 3-4 in your vehicle, underneath the back seat.
This car water is back-up water, something youÂ’ll only use
and drink in a dire emergency. This step will give you enough
water for one week for a family of four. Continue adding to this
supply until you have at least a monthÂ’s worth. TIP: Do NOT
use empty milk jugs or fruit juice containers.

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the rest of the article

February
3, 2012