What can I do?

We are living in increasingly uncertain times, its important to know what we can do - for ourselves and our community. I conceptually think of this in three key pillars - acts of self protection, individual acts of resistance, and acts of community building. While being a part of your community is the best way to be safe,

Acts of self protection

Maintain a food supply

Most grocery stores don't stock food for an especially long time, usually only three days out. With that in mind, having a shelf-stable supply of food is important, even if its only enough for a weeks worth. If you have the space though, two weeks to a month would be better.

Canned meat, like spam or tuna
Canned Vegetables
Peanut Butter and jelly
Preserved Fruits
Pasta and pasta sauce
Flour
Sugar
Dry Yeast

Have adequate water storage

The average person consumes 3 gallons of water a day, from drinking to food prep etc.

Have a way to purify water

Water thats not safe to drink can't be really used for much

Own electronics that can be recharged without buying a new battery

Have a backup charging method

Have a way to recharge chargers, like solar

How can you use your phone if it has no power? What about your battery

Have a way to make fire/light a candle

Lighters are pretty cheap - even if you don't smoke you should have a few.

Have forms of offline entertainment

Amazon went down in Oct '25 and took about half the internet with it, its good to have games to play by yourself or with a group, books to read, or art to do.

Have cash readily available

Similarly, if you don't have power or internet, or your credit card gets stolen, its good to have an alternate payment method

Have the following saftey things in your home

First Aid Kit

It should be well stocked and maintained

Fire and C02 Alarm

They should be powered

Fire Extinguisher

Make sure its current, and not like from 1992

Have a savings account, with enought money to cover for a while

Have knowledge of basic first aid

Should be pretty self explanatory, but you should know at least how to do a heimlech, CPR, and apply a tourniquet. Also recognizing a stroke, low blood sugar, or seizure, and how to handle them should be something you know.