Practical steps

Practical Steps: Reclaiming Our Autonomy One System at a Time

This article offers a grounded look at the practical aspects of daily living—resources, systems, and skills—and explores real alternatives to the overcentralized, profit-driven models we've become dependent on. None of this is presented with bias or dogma—just simple observations and some well-earned ideas worth considering.

1. Power

We’ve grown so used to life on the grid that we often overlook just how vulnerable and expensive that dependence has become. Electricity costs rise, outages increase, and yet many of us remain locked into systems that don’t serve us well. Fortunately, there are options.

Solar energy is more accessible than ever. Even in countries with less daylight, it's still a viable solution for low-consumption households. In sunnier regions, it's almost a no-brainer.

I live in a hot climate with 10–12 hours of sunlight most days, yet most people I know still pay over $100 a month for electricity—mostly due to air conditioning and freezers. Meanwhile, I found solar panels online for roughly $21 per 100 watts. I personally purchased a 580-watt panel for under £100, delivered.

A typical household using around 2kW could be powered with a system costing around £400, plus about £200 for a couple of 120Ah batteries to get through the night. Add a quality pure sine wave inverter (£100), and you've got a full setup that pays for itself many times over in five years. Extra power could even be shared or traded—think local bartering for goods, services, or battery charges.

Of course, in other regions, larger solar “farms” could be developed on unused land. Coastal areas could explore tidal energy; mountainous areas, hydro. And there are emerging solar technologies that generate power from rain—broadening their usefulness even further.

2. Water

Clean, processed drinking water is regularly used to flush toilets. That alone tells you how broken the system is.

A simple rainwater tank in the loft could easily handle that task and more—non-potable uses like showers, gardening, and cleaning. Add basic filtration, and you're well on your way to reducing reliance on chemically treated tap water.

In some countries—Portugal, for example—gutters are banned under the guise of groundwater protection. But the real motive often seems tied to revenue control. Once storage is full, any overflow would naturally return to the earth. So why the restriction?

Meanwhile, industrial water use—especially for irrigation and large-scale agriculture—goes mostly unchecked. Shifting toward more organic, sustainable farming could massively reduce water demands and help rebuild ecosystems damaged by decades of chemical abuse.

Proper land and forest management, along with smarter materials like bamboo and hazel, can naturally regulate water flow and reduce damage from both drought and flooding. But we must stop treating water as a commodity and start recognizing it as the essential, shared resource it is.

3. The Internet

The internet has become a basic utility. Yet it’s still treated like a luxury—monetized, monitored, and manipulated.

Ironically, your own hardware and data are what keep the internet running. You’re not just a user—you’re the fuel. Despite this, access remains expensive, slow, and controlled.

Mobile phones, once tools for connection, have become traps. As a phone repair technician, I’ve watched quality plummet while prices rise. Devices are built to fail. Updates are intrusive. Tracking is constant. It’s surveillance wrapped in a lifestyle accessory.

We’re nearing a point where technology doesn't just observe us—it shapes our thoughts. With AI increasingly “assisting” our decisions, the risk of subtle manipulation grows.

We don’t need all this noise. What we need is basic communication and unrestricted access to true information—not filtered, not censored. Just knowledge, freely explored.

4. Food

Industrial farming has severed our connection to the land and, with it, our health. The solution isn’t just better food—it’s better systems.

More local gardens, more community plots. Not just for sustainability but for empowerment. Food shouldn’t be something handed down from corporate supply chains—it should be something we grow, share, and understand.

Land “ownership” on a massive scale should be questioned. Instead, we need caretakers—stewards who know how to manage ecosystems with respect and skill. We must protect natural springs, rivers, and the ancient wisdom that once shaped our landscapes.

Children should grow up knowing how food grows, where water comes from, and how to live in harmony with the Earth—not just how to shop. The divide between nature and child is one of the most urgent gaps we face.

Barter systems, food-for-service models, and cooperative food networks are not only possible—they’re essential. And artificial preservatives? Ban them. We’ve strayed so far from real food that it’s killing us, both slowly and systemically.

5. Waste

Modern life leaves behind a trail of trash—both physical and emotional. From cheap packaging to cheap tech, we’re choking under the weight of short-term thinking.

Fast food chains pump out not just unhealthy meals, but mountains of plastic and polystyrene. These materials should be outlawed entirely—not taxed, not regulated—banned.

Product design must evolve. Manufacturers should be required to build for longevity and repair. “Right to repair” should be law, and all schematics, parts, and instructions should be publicly available. Today, we toss away more than we fix—intentionally. Phones, cars, appliances… many are engineered to fail just outside the warranty window.

In some cases, even software restricts a device’s functionality after a certain period, not because it’s broken, but because the system demands it.

This kind of planned obsolescence is insanity disguised as innovation. We should stop supporting companies that build waste into their business model. The change starts at the source—not in the landfill.

6. Skills

At the heart of it all lies a simple idea: Do what you love. Technology can handle the drudgery—cleaning, sorting, monitoring. Let people create. Let them connect. Let them care.

If we restructured society around natural talents and authentic interactions—not profits and performance—we’d see something beautiful emerge. Less crime. Less depression. More purpose.

A healthy society is one where creativity is encouraged, where education nurtures curiosity, and where healthcare sees the whole person—not just the symptom.

It’s not utopia. It’s possibility. But it starts with belief—in ourselves and in each other.

Support, understanding, connection—these are the roots of a better world. And all it takes is the willingness to grow something different.

Final Thought

These ideas aren’t radical. They’re human. They’re what happens when we strip away the noise, the fear, and the false choices—and start living like the future actually matters.

I may add more over time. This is just the beginning.

The power lines in front in the house I live in. Each one supplying at least 15 premises, ranging from large detached properties to single room shacks.

Surprisingly there are not many power cuts, considering the poor state of the cabling.