When preparing for the hard times that inevitably befall us all at some point whether from disaster, economic collapse, job loss, or becoming sick or injured, an important factor to consider is hygiene and sanitation. Poor hygiene and sanitation can lead to a whole host of diseases that can kill you or make you wish you were dead. Here I would like to discuss the areas of going to the bathroom, bathing, and clean clothes. Most of the things you will need are not temperature sensitive like food and water is, allowing you to store the items in an out of the way place like a garage or attic. Some minor building of some helpful things and knowing how to use items should be learned now. Now is the time to stock the basic supplies you will need and learn the skills required to deal with the situation.
| Penywise from morguefile.com |
The one thing everybody does is produce bodily waste but how to dispose of the urine and feces in less than ideal circumstances can be tricky. There is always the time honored method of building an outhouse. Make sure the hole is nice and deep and at least 50 feet from any water source. If the thought of making a midnight trip to the outhouse during a blizzard or thunderstorm does not appeal to you, there are other options available. A five gallon bucket makes a great emergency toilet. You can buy an emergency toilet at many camping stores or make your own. Line a bucket with a trash bag first. Next, put either kitty litter or sawdust in the bottom. Then, do your business in your toilet. Cover your waste with sawdust or a commercial toilet deodorizer. Last, tie the bag and either bury it 50 feet from any water source or place in an outside trash can and properly dispose of it in the trash when the situation is over. The book Humanure by Joseph Jenkins gives great advice on how to build and maintain a composting toilet. If you own your place and have the room, you might want to consider building one. If you do not wish to build a composting toilet or do not own your residence, the five gallon bucket will work just fine. To make an emergency toilet kit, get a five gallon bucket and attach a toilet seat with a lid on to the top. Inside of the bucket put a small box of trash bags, bag of kitty litter or sawdust, and some rolls of toilet paper. Stash the bucket in the garage or attic until you need it. An outhouse, bucket, or composting toilet can all be used as an emergency bathroom but make sure you have the proper supplies and tools on hand before you need them.
Keeping yourself clean without the usual bathroom facilities can be another major dilemma if you do not prepare in advance. A quick and cheap way to bathe in an emergency is to either take a sponge bath or use baby wipes. This method is probably the best if you are sick and have to take care of yourself. Coleman sells a five gallon solar shower kit that can be quite useful. Simply fill with water, hang out in the sun for a few hours to heat up, and then shower with hot water. A similar homemade option would be to use a five gallon bucket and attach a hose and an old shower-head to the bottom as well as an on/off valve. Set outside to heat up and then bath. You might want to paint the outside of the bucket black to help with the heating process. Either the Coleman shower or bucket shower can be used in your bathroom inside as long as the drains are working and you have a way to suspend the container above your head (they are both gravity drained). If the drains are not working, stand in a large wash tub to capture the shower water to be able to dispose of the water outside. Or get a privacy enclosure from a camping store or build one with a tarp and shower outside or in a garage. Be sure to gather all of your emergency bathing supplies in a kit to make finding it easier in an emergency.
| from morguefile.com |
We as a modern society also prefer to have clean clothes instead of wearing dirty ones until they fall off. There are many options for cleaning clothes without the use of the modern washer and dryer. Unless you have a generator, your only option for drying will be a clothes line. You can build an old fashioned clothes line in your backyard if you have the room. If you can not or simply do not want to, there are a few options still available. Many retail stores sell expandable clothes racks you could hang your clothes on to dry. Or you can put some hooks and/or pulleys on a couple of trees, posts, or walls inside and string a clothes line between them when you need to use it. Although drying the clothes outside works the best, make sure you have a way to dry the clothes inside as well. It will be difficult to nearly impossible to dry them properly in the rain or freezing cold. Setting a couple of hooks in opposite walls in an out of the way area will work great. Make sure you get the hooks or pulleys, clothes line, and clothes pins before anything happens.
| from morguefile.com |
Although washing clothes in an emergency can be very difficult if you do not have the necessary equipment beforehand, the list of supplies you can use is numerous and you might already have them. There are three basic steps to washing clothes, getting the soap soaked through the clothes, rinsing the soap out, and wringing the water out. Figuring out how to do these simply steps can be become time consuming and very stressful if you do not prepare some supplies in advance. The oldest and most time honored way is to boil water, put the clothes in with soap, stir with a large stick, wring out soapy water, drain and reheat water or have a second boiling pot of water, put clothes in rinse water, stir with a stick, wring out water, and hang out to dry. Another option is to put hot water, soap, and dirty clothes in a large pot, wash tub, or in the bathroom tub. Use a stick, plunger (any plunger will work not just the laundry washing plungers), or your feet to get the soap soaked through the clothes. Little children think it is fun to stomp on the clothes in a bathtub, me and my brothers had a blast doing it as children when the washer broke down once. Drain the water, wring out as much soapy water as you can, and refill with clean water. Repeat the stirring or stomping process. Wring out as much water as you can and hang out to dry. This can be a very messy process and uses a considerable amount of water but also requires the least amount of supplies beforehand.
Another option to wash clothes is to use the bucket and plunger system. You simply take a five gallon bucket with a lid and put a small hole in the middle of the lid. Slide a plunger in the hole. Repeat the usual steps of soap, wring, rinse, wring to wash the clothes. To soap up and rinse out the clothes you simply move the plunger up and down through the hole. Some camping stores sell a product called a Wonder Washer that is very similar to the bucket/plunger method. It uses a bucket on a stand and a crank to soap up and rinse out. If you have the room and the mechanical ability, you could build something similar yourself. Using a large 30 or 55 gallon drum with a bicycle to turn it is even possible if built beforehand. Some things that could make the washing easier is an old fashioned washboard to scrub the clothes on and a hand crank wringer to wring the water out. This bucket/plunger method uses less water but also needs more preparation before it is needed.
The water you use for cleaning clothes does not have to be safe drinking water. Captured rain water or water from a fairly clean, moving water source will work just fine. The water you need to dispose of after the soap and rinse cycles is called gray water and can be disposed of easier then human waste. If the sewer system does not work, simply make sure that wherever you choose to dispose of the gray water it is at least 50 feet away from any drinking water source. The gray water is safe to the plants and animals so it can be run off into your yard or into the street gutter.
Your hygiene and sanitation supplies should be broken down into three kits: Toilet Kit, Shower Kit, and Clothes Cleaning Kit. The suggested supplies for each kit for is as follows.
Toilet Kit:
1-Five gallon bucket with lid and seat
7-Trash bags per week
1-Bag of kitty liter or sawdust
1-Roll of toilet paper per person per week
Shower Kit:
1-Pack of baby wipes
1-Coleman Solar Shower or five gallon bucket with shower-head
1-Bar of soap or bottle of liquid soap
1-Bottle of shampoo
1-Washrag
1-Privacy Enclosure or tarp and washtub (optional for outside)
Clothes Cleaning Kit:
1-Five gallon bucket
1-Plunger
1-Box/Bottle of laundry detergent
1-Washboard (optional for scrubbing)
1-Wringer (optional to wring clothes)
2-Hooks or pulleys
1-Roll of clothes line
1-Bag of clothes pins
Having all three kits assembled in advance will save time and stress during an emergency. Waiting until the crisis is already here to try to gather the supplies could be too late. Most of the items needed are probably already in your home but simply need to be gathered into a central kit. Save yourself time and heartache later by assembling your needed kits now!
No comments:
Post a Comment