While we are sure most of you are probably gearing up for Turkey Day (or Tofurkey Day if you're like me, whatever you're into), emergencies do not have discretion for holidays, so we still wanted to share a resource with you on our last day in the office this week. Here's a nifty article on 20 Emergency Preparedness Items You Might Not Think Of by MommySavers.com with some tips on some of the items that might typically be left out of your home emergency kit. There are even some useful links at the bottom of the article for where you can purchase some of the items online. Who knows where to find MRE's at their local grocery store? I certainly don't, and for that reason, this Thanksgiving I am quite thankful for Amazon. Please enjoy the article, and while you're cooking your turkey, tofurkey, and everything in between, do take a minute to make sure you're being safe and examine your prep space for hazards. We certainly don't want any turkey grease fires!
Wishing you all peace, happiness, and humility for a happy Thanksgiving with whomever you choose to share it,
Rob and Tiara
P.S. Just in case you aren't familiar with Loren Bouchard's wacky and wonderful animated masterpiece "Bob's Burgers," we really just can't resist posting Linda's Thanksgiving song. We sing it to each other in the office most days, and no Thanksgiving is complete without some Linda Belcher-style love.
So if you haven't figured it out by now, Tiara and I can become a couple of pyromaniacs when we want to. And, after the wild success of the pine cone fire starter, we decided to do our research and see if there were other effective ways of making fire starters for your emergency kits. Funny story, there are plenty, so today we decided to try out the good ol' dryer lint and Vaseline method. Here's what you do:
First, you need only two supplies for this -- Vaseline and dryer lint. If you're like me, you keep a Costco-sized tub of Vaseline on your desk because your lips get chapped in the winter cold, but if you're not, this Costco-sized tub of Vaseline cost me a whole three bucks. Hip hip hooray for cost effectiveness. As for the dryer lint, I really hope you aren't paying for that.
At this point, I really do recommend wearing gloves. I didn't, and while I'm really quite fine with getting down and dirty and doing whatever, it got a little hairy (pardon the pun, Tiara's dryer lint also came with quite the accompaniment of dog fur). Especially if you're making these in a group (for whatever reason you may be), I would recommend keeping some gloves on hand. At any rate, gloves on or not, all you have to do is scoop out a ball of Vaseline and start mashing it with the dryer lint to incorporate it at least fairly evenly. There aren't really any specific ratios, at least not by my method, so don't think you need to measure anything exactly, but keep fiddling with the Vaseline and lint until you have a saturated but firm ball of fire-starting power. It might even look something like this:
Clearly, any semblance of sanity is not always within my skill set, but as Miss Frizzle put it best for the Magic School Bus, "Take chances! Get messy! Make mistakes!" Obviously you will want to make more than one of these, as you will probably need more than one fire started if you are without power for multiple days at a time, and they store just fine in an old egg carton or zip lock bag!
And since again, we are Charlotte's resident pyromaniacs, here is the test video. After all, if you checked out Tiara's link to Pinterest Fail, mistakes do happen and we would never want to leave you unprepared in case disaster does indeed strike and you need to start a fire. So without further ado, here is proof that dryer lint and Vaseline (and Blue Oyster Cult, if you're also blasting the namesake of this post) may indeed save your life one day, and do please enjoy our colleague Sara's pretty fantastic interjection at the end:
Tiara and I have embarked on a new endeavor, and we would like to extend an invitation to all you wonderful folks within and outside of the Queen City to join us. We are looking for recipes for an emergency kit cookbook. Basically, what could one make out of items in his or her emergency kit without a power source? Black bean salad? Peanut butter hummus? We are looking for all things wild and crazy and creative, but again -- no power, and it has to come from a product with a long shelf life that one could keep in emergency storage. Please comment below with any fantastic ideas you have, and of course, when the cookbook is finished, credit will be given where credit is due! Let's get cookin'!
Okay, we know, Pink Floyd did (and trust me, Tiara and I love on some Pink Floyd). But coming from two college graduates, sometimes education can be pretty damn wonderful. Since we are here to educate and equip all you wonderful little boo kitties on the ways of preparedness, we would love to offer you the opportunity to join us in a disaster preparedness course offered (for FREE!) via Coursera. The course is taught through The University of Pittsburgh, and begins on January 26, 2015. Don't worry, we will be posting reminders (and they will send reminders to your e-mail) as the date approaches. We hope you will be able to join us on our journey! See the link below to sign up:
With last week's cold snap, Tiara and I agree that it is certainly time to get all set up for winter weather. Even if it isn't technically winter until December 22, if another 18 degree night hits soon, we want for you to be prepared. Here's a nifty short video from FEMA with some helpful tips and reminders about what you can do to be sure you're ready. (And a huge thanks to Meg Tizzano up at Jersey Cares in Newark, NJ, for sending this to us!)
Last night, Tiara and I had the great opportunity to partner with Inspector Jessie Horton from the Charlotte Fire Department to provide a fire education session at Albemarle Road Elementary School's monthly Family Night. Inspector Horton spoke about the importance of getting out of a house fire once one begins, as well as the importance of testing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors once a month, and keeping a fire extinguisher near the exit of your home and knowing how to use one.
We were also able to use a mock fire extinguisher with an interactive illuminated board to simulate how to put out a small fire with an extinguisher. Inspector Horton taught us the P.A.S.S. method of using a fire extinguisher:
Pull -- pull the pin from the handle of the fire extinguisher
Aim -- aim the hose at the base of the fire
Squeeze -- squeeze the handle of the fire extinguisher to eject the contents of the extinguisher
Sweep -- sweep back and forth along the base of the flames for most effective extinguishing
I have added a few pictures from our educational session below, and further down the page I have attached an infographic with some fire statistics. Please do comment below with any questions or if you would like additional information about fire safety and what you can do to prepare!
Stay safe, Charlotte, and enjoy the pictures and facts!
Good afternoon lovely viewers! Rob and I decided to tackle a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) project this morning...let's just say that we should not be allowed access to blow torches. Seriously. Those things are dangerous, and we are too much like children to be handling them without supervision. Anyways! As always, we are here to provide you guys with insight on how to be prepared for the coming months of horribly dreadful conditions. Feel free to thank us in the comment section below, no pressure...
DIY Pinecone Fire Starters
This project is all about fire. Sure, you can run over to your local grocery store to pick up a fire starter log, but where is the fun in that I ask you? Nowhere to be found. With this DIY life lesson, you can make a fire starter with things you've probably already got laying around your house or yard. The materials used:
Pine Cones
These are free, and work just as well as your fire starter logs. If you do not live in a place that has a surplus of pine trees...Florida I'm looking at you...don't hesitate to run over to Michael's and grab yourself a bag. It's fairly inexpensive for the amount of pine cones you receive.
Yarn or String
You will use this to wrap around the pine cone. It makes for easy dipping (this will be explained later) and also happens to be really cheap. If you aren't near a Michael's, I know Walmart carries yarn at super discounted prices.
Wax
This will make your pine cones water proof and also help keep the fire burning longer. It takes a while for the flame to melt through each layer of wax completely, and depending on what kind of wax you use, you can make them as colorful or as scented as you like. Feel free to use candle wax, beeswax, etc; personally, Rob and I melted down crayons to save on the cost of this project, which gave our fire starters a colorful twist. Use what you've got!
Paper Towels or Napkins
You need this to wrap your pine cone up! Your pine cone will have a wick on it, but the added paper element will just help to get the pine cone burning all over and helps the process along. If you don't have any paper on hand, feel free to just burn the wick you make out of the yarn.
Container For Wax
We used a paper plate with a coffee filter put on top to melt down our wax in the microwave. This is because we are broke as jokes and only wanted to use things we found in the office for free. If you are melting the wax on the stove, you will just need to dip your pine cone in your pot, no need for other dishes. You can also use a microwaveable bowl, tupper-ware, anything that will allow you to dip your pine cones into the wax.
And that's it, guys! This is all it takes to be able to start your own fire. Stash a few of these in the emergency kits you make for your home and your car; they go a long way for such cheap materials. So let's get down to the process:
WRAP YOUR STRING AROUND THE PINE CONE
It doesn't need to be perfect, the wax will stick it in place, but I tried to make sure I was getting the string tucked underneath some of the...leaves? Fronds? We actually have no idea what the little prickly pieces of the pine cone are called. If anyone else knows, feel free to enlighten us! Anyways, if you need a better reference to what I'm talking about, take a look at the image below:
Now you'll just need to cut your string when you've got enough wrapped around so there is at least an inch of string up top. This creates your wick.
This is what it looks like finished. Hooray! Seriously guys, I am a perfectionist, do not feel the need to make this string as pretty as I did.
BREAK DOWN AND MELT YOUR WAX
It was a battle between us and the crayons...somebody had to go. If you are using crayons like we did, you can choose to make these pretty or resourceful. We peeled off the papers on the crayons, but in hindsight realized that any extra paper in a fire starter isn't going to hurt. Make sure you're keeping in mind that these are supposed to help you build a fire, not sit on your mantle. If your end product looks a little crazy, relax. It's better to be safe than sorry if you ever have to use these things. Comfort should be the main priority, not looks! Don't follow in our footsteps (at least not for this step).
DIP OR ROLL YOUR PINE CONE IN THE MELTED WAX
This step is where it starts to get messy. If you do get wax on yourself, don't fret. Once it cools it is really easy to brush off. Our fingers are a little green from the crayons we used, but what's a little finger stain in the name of emergency preparedness? We marched on, and now the odds will be ever in our favor if we need to start a fire because of it.
If you are able to produce enough melted wax where you can fully dip your pine cone in and hold onto it from the top of the wick, go for it! Like I said, we had very limited resources to make this tutorial. You can also use tongs to dip and submerge the whole pine cone if you are doing this on the stove. Your options: roll pine cone in small amount of wax like we did, dip pine cone by wick if you more wax that will allow you to submerge the whole cone, or dip the pine cone using tongs if you are working on the stove near a hot surface. Capeesh?
LET YOUR PINE CONES DRY
This step is really easy, the wax takes only a minute or so before it is fully dry. Just set your pine cones off to the side somewhere, you can use a multitude of objects as drying racks. You could even use a drying rack, but if you don't have one of those lying around, go for a plate, a bowl, etc.
I know, I know. I'm disappointed with the quality of this shot as well. I'm the perfectionist in the group, I have to make sure everything is exactly perfect and beautiful, and perfect. Rob is very much so laid-back, easy, doesn't mind if things go wrong, etc. We try to balance each other out, but mainly we just get frustrated..Still love him though! (If you're reading this, Rob, I love you to pieces.)
Onwards!
SEND IN THE FIRING SQUAD
No, not that firing squad. These bad boys are ready! We decided to put them to the test, since this was originally something we discovered on Pinterest. Pinterest has lovely photos, but there is a reason that there is a whole website dedicated to Pinterest fails. Sometimes things just don't turn out like they should. (Seriously, if you've never heard of the website for Pinterest fails, please click here. You will thank me for this after you get your ab workout in from laughing so hard.)
We wrapped our pine cones in paper towels for extra strength in making sure our fire got going. As stated earlier, as long as you made a wick at the top of your pine cone, you do not technically need the paper. We used it for reinforcement, but the pine cone itself is perfectly capable of being flammable on its own.
Wrap it up nice and cozy, oh yeah!
This is where things got scary. Rob with a blow torch is something I hope you guys never have to witness in person. You might lose your eyebrows. PLEASE use matches, small lighters, anything but a blow torch!
Burn baby burn, disco inferno!
(I'm a riot, I know.)
And there you have it, folks! You just made yourself a fire. Do you feel proud? Is there a warm, fuzzy feeling inside as you're lighting up this pine cone? If this is the case...you might want to talk to someone about that, this world does not need any more arsonists! Let's stick on feeling warm and fuzzy from the outside; but seriously, this pine cone can give off some heat! You will be pleasantly surprised.
If you guys feel like watching this video that Rob and I made of us actually lighting the pine cone, take a gander down below. Ignore the last ten seconds, a man walked by us in the parking lot, and let's just say we couldn't ignore the smell. Anyways, thanks for tuning in, we'd love to hear your feedback!
Good morning, Charlotte, and we hope this finds you safe and warm!
As Community Emergency Preparedness Corps members, Tiara and I have colleagues all over the country, and after looking up weather forecasts for our fellow members in Atlanta and Newark, we realized that somehow Charlotte is still enduring the coldest weather between the three. And for those of you in Orange County, California, I don't even want to know how warm it is out there. (Curiosity struck; NOAA says it's 51 degrees with a high of 72. I'm jealous.)
At any rate, my two and a quarter mile walk to work this morning taught me the value of coffee for both warmth and energy, and I found myself with a refreshed thankfulness for electricity and heat in our Central Avenue office. However, as you certainly know, electricity and heat are two commodities that can be few and far between in the event of disaster. Further, while I like to consider myself a resilient person with simple needs, coffee is just one of those things that is required for basic functional capabilities, in the office or elsewhere. Realizing this, I went on a Google crusade to find ways to make coffee sans electricity. The link below reveals a few different ways to make your magic brew, a couple of which do involve either a camp stove or an outdoor grill. Do remember with these to keep your propane-burning stoves and grills outside, as using them inside is a terrifying recipe for carbon monoxide poisoning, and we certainly wouldn't wish that on anyone. If you have a fireplace, that might be your best bet for heating water while staying inside. At any rate, do check out the link below, and enjoy the picture of the coffee our wonderful cubicle neighbor in the office, Beth, brought to work to share with us! She is an angel, especially on 22 degree mornings like this one!
Good afternoon my fellow winter soldiers! I come to you bearing gifts of more winter preparedness information and the promise of an absolutely delicious chili recipe (using almost only ingredients that you would find in your non-perishable canned food stash) in the near future. With the cold weather finally here to stay for good until March, I think it's safe to say that we need to start preparing for the harsh conditions ahead.
Preparing your home for winter is an absolute must, and most of you probably already have items around your house that you can use to keep you self sufficient for a few days...but what about your car? Do you have the necessary items packed in your vehicle to help you beat the frost bite sure to come your way if you-mother nature forbid- did in fact get stranded in your vehicle?
First of all, let's check off the essentials; you should definitely already have tires, oil, and a battery in your car. If you don't have any of these items, you probably just shouldn't be driving around in the first place. Now that that's out of the way, let's look at the not so obvious things you could have that would be beneficial to you in this time of need:
Engine Coolant
(Think anti-freeze. It's this magical fluid that stops your engine from freezing in the winter or overheating in the summer. Make sure you have this.
A Full Tank of Gas
(Consider this...a tank half full of gas is also half full of air...which contains...you guessed it! Water vapor. On cold mornings, that water vapor can condense and leave water in your gas tank. Not that big of a deal right? Wrong. Since water is heavier than gasoline it sinks to the bottom of the tank, and from there it can find its way into the fuel pump and fuel lines. If this water freezes, it can block the flow of fuel to your engine. Say goodbye to those holiday travel plans and say goodbye to all that money in your bank account as repairs can get costly.)
De-Icing Windshield Washer Fluid
(Pretty self explanatory, nobody likes an icy windshield. This could help tremendously for those mornings where it doesn't seem possible that the ice could have gotten so thick on your vehicle.)
There are a few more things listed on this helpful infographic from the Washington State Department of Transportation below, think about putting at least one thing from this list in your car every week until you have them all. You'll feel awesome knowing that you took the initiative to get prepared, although I hope that you will never be stuck in this kind of situation. Feel free to comment below with anything else you think might be needed during this harsh winter coming up!
You might have noticed it's a bit chilly outside here in Charlotte, and while some of us may hope that tonight's forecasted low temperature of about 18 degrees is the coldest night we see through this wintry season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has put together a pretty nifty map (link below!) showing when the coldest day of the year typically occurs across the occurs United States. Here in Charlotte, it looks like we are forecasted to experience our coldest temperatures in mid-January. This would suggest that we still have plenty of time to prepare, but as nights like tonight go to show, we never know when an exceptional cold front may catch us unprepared! Enjoy, and please share with family and friends to let them know when exceptional cold may be approaching in their area!
Since we know we make the community emergency preparedness life look oh so glamorous, there is no way we can't share upcoming opportunities for you to join us in our efforts! If you are able and willing, we will be partnering with the Red Cross this Saturday, November 22 (It's also National Family Volunteer Day!) to conduct a canvassing effort at the Village Lakes Apartments complex off East Independence Boulevard. We will be meeting there at 10:00 a.m. to pass out door hanger bags with winter weather preparedness and fire safety information to all the residents. The weather looks amazing, too -- should be in the mid-fifties and mostly sunny! Should you decide this sounds right up your alley and you'd love to meet up with us and make the magic happen, please follow the link below and sign up through the Hands On Charlotte website. Hope you can join us!
Rumor has it that temperatures may drop down to, if not below, 20 degrees Tuesday night here in Charlotte. While this is outrageously cold for a Charlotte November, it is not long until 20 degree nights become a regular occurrence even this far south. The CDC defines "extreme cold" as any temperatures significantly below what the general population is used to. To help all of you stay nice and safely toasty, we have attached a link to the CDC's extreme cold preparedness guide. This includes a guide for what to keep in your car in case you get stranded in the snow, as well as facts about frostbite, hypothermia, wind chill dangers, and all sorts of other useful information. Don't forget that you can experience hypothermia even when temperatures are above 40 degrees if your clothing or skin isn't dry! Enjoy, and best of luck collecting emergency supplies for your car if you haven't already!
Given today's meteorological turn from the beautiful clear days of the past couple weeks, we thought it might be a great day to talk lightning safety. You never know when you might get caught in a storm!
Here is an interesting infographic from State Farm with some lightning statistics:
Many of the practices you may have heard about growing up really are wonderful ways to prepare and keep yourself safe. Don't take a shower, as lightning can travel through plumbing. Go inside if at all possible. Don't use electronics.
But what if you are caught outside? What if you are in a concrete building? What if you are in a group? There are all sorts of variables that can affect your vulnerability to the dangers of lightning. For answers to all of these and more, we have attached a link to the CDC's lightning safety page here:
Further, we joined with our Mission Continues Fellow in the office, Sara, to demonstrate the lightning safety pose. As the CDC says on their page, if you are ever caught outside in a lightning storm, it is best to crouch into a ball, keeping your knees and feet together and placing your hands over your ears. This will minimize contact with the ground in case lightning strikes nearby, as lightning can travel across the ground's surface, and also keeps you as low as possible! (Thanks to Beth, our cubicle neighbor and Communications and Development Manager at HOC for the flawless photography skills!)
Guess what, Charlotte! Remember last winter when we had a couple inches of snow and the city shut down? (At least we weren't in Atlanta!) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has released their winter weather outlook, and it appears that this year may be even wetter and colder than last year. Here are some ideas from the CDC for ways to prepare yourself for the impending winter season. Further, be on the lookout in the next week for some information from us about what to include in a home emergency preparedness kit. You never know what may happen, so it's always best to be prepared! (And for all you weather geeks like me, we have a link to NOAA's winter weather outlook below as well!)
Tiara and Rob here! We are two Charlotte residents working with Hands On Charlotte and AmeriCorps as Community Emergency Preparedness Corps members. Over the coming months, we will be bringing you all sorts of helpful information and fun events to help make Charlotte a safer and more prepared community. After all, while we hope it never happens and we have rainbows and butterflies until the end of days, who knows when disaster may strike?
If you have any questions for us, or ideas for events or potential partnerships, or otherwise interesting and maybe even quirky notes (even if just to say hello!), please do not hesitate to use our nifty little "Contact Us" box on the right. We are looking to reach as many of you beautiful people as possible with our ever-growing emergency preparedness mission, and would love to hear from you.
Wishing you peace, safety, and rainbows and butterflies until the end of days,
