I can't tell you exactly how to become self-sustaining, I can't even tell that our home is completely self-sustaining. I can tell you that we are in the beginning stages and I can share how we are doing it with tips we've learned from what we have done so far.
Living on a farm does help, it isn't a requirement but it does help when it come to livestock and our water. Since we live on a farm we have our own well, there for mother nature does the filtering for us, it doesn't have to go through a plant and be "cleaned". I have seen ways on the internet to build your own water supply without using the city water, so I guess I would say: do a little research and you could probably come up with a way to have water without using the city supply. Sometimes all it takes is a little creativity.
We also have the luxury of 5 acres to put whatever animals we see fit on. That is something I wouldn't even have a clue what each city ordinance is, but it doesn't take much to ask around and do a little research. Even if you can't have the animals in your own yard, having a friend that does have the animals is a plus. We don't have our own chicken yet so we usually buy farm fresh eggs from a friend. Supporting local farms is a good place to start. As for larger animals for meat that is something that can easily be shared amongst friends as well. My parents have helped friends who were raising 4H cows pay for the processing in exchange for meat.
Grow your own veggies, and plant a fruit tree or two. Even with limit yard space there are many many ways to grow a garden. The only wrong way is to not grow a garden ;) If you live in town you may want to check with your local city office to see if the have any specifics you have to follow dealing with where you plant your garden and so forth. I have seen several things where people we fined or forced to move their gardens because they had planted them in their front yards. Personally I think that is bogus!! Planting a garden is so awesome for many reasons and if it is my yard I should be able to do with it as I please. At least they weren't leaving broken down cars and garbage pile up in their front yard. If your city does have an ordinance, who knows you could be the one to help change it ;)
I know not everyone can make or grow everything they could possibly need to be self-sustaining, but in my opinion every little thing you can do helps! After doing some research on the internet and reading tons of articles I started to realize how easy it would be to make certain things for myself and that many of the things we buy in the store are truly luxury items. Not to mention how harmful several of the things used to make these products can be extremely harmful to us and our environment. Many of our health and beauty products fit into the line of luxury items. .
Beauty products are definitely heavy on the luxury side of things. Yes, I do where make-up. That is one of the few things I do indulge in, and I haven't really found a way to make cosmetics to match the ones I buy. As for lotions and and things of that nature, I have found ways to make a lot of them. My list of homemade beauty supplies: lotion, chap stick, deodorant, face wash, shampoo, facial creams, body spray/perfume. Most of the in-store varieties of the items contain harmful ingredients, just because it doesn't go in your body doesn't make it any less harmful. After all the biggest organ of the human body is the skin, the layer that protects us so treat it well! You can even make or buy feminine pads that are washable, and reusable. I realize that it is the fact of having to wash things like feminine pads and cloth diapers is the main reason why people switched to disposable, to me it is no worse than cleaning up those potty training accidents or those yearly tummy flu messes. As far as tampons are concerned..... I saw an article about a woman who found a moldy tampon in her box of tampons. When she wrote to the company they told her it was no different than a mold found on vegetables and that she should not be concerned! Really?! If I won't eat moldy food I sure as Hell am not going to stick something that is moldy where the sun don't shine!
There are many food items that can be made at home for a fraction of the price. I have recently found recipes for different kinds of crackers, and I love baking bread. Not everything made at home as a very long shelf life, but really I would rather make enough to use right away or freeze it verses ingest unnatural preservatives. Condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise are also very easy to make at home and are better for you than what you can buy in the store. A regular store bought bottle of ketchup has a staggering amount of sugar in it, it is actually amazing to me that there are any tomatoes in it at all.
Laundry detergent is another on my list of things I can make myself for a lot less money. I use a mixture of Borax, washing soda, and Fells Naptha bars. I will do some looking and post the recipe I use. As for fabric softener, I don't use liquid and if I use the dryer sheets I cut them in half and use a half a sheet per load. Otherwise we are going to invest in buying some dryer balls or I am going to make some instead of using any fabric softener at all. If I want my clothes to come out of the dryer scented I use herbal sachets from the lavender I grow in my flower bed. These can be refreshed every so often with essential oils. Of course when the weather is nice I use my clothes line. If my basement was bigger I would have a clothes line in it as well for winter and rainy day use, but my basement is tiny so I have a drying rack for those few things I absolutely cannot put in the dryer.
As for cleaning products....... I use a lot of vinegar. Soaking orange peels in a jar of vinegar for a week or two, makes an awesome cleaning liquid. You just strain off the liquid and put it in a spray bottle and use like you would any cleaning product. I am careful not to use it on things I don't want stained because it could turn them a little orange. For that stuff I just use diluted vinegar. Baking soda is also in my cleaning kit, it works well on a lot of things, it is great for refreshing a stinking carpet just sprinkle it on let it sit for a few minutes and vacuum it away. Some people even add herbs or essential oils to the baking soda to give their house a scent of their choice.
So do some research and ask some questions, that is the best way to start ;)
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