What is Greywater?

Greywater (aka grey water or graywater) is the term for any wastewater that does not include blackwater (the water that comes from your toilet and may contain dangerous pathogens). This includes water from your laundry, showers, and sinks.

How do I handle my greywater responsibly when living in a van, tiny house, RV, or in any other off-grid scenario?

Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of information out there for those who live tiny and want to know how to manage their greywater in a way that is environmentally sound, or at least the information that is out there has not yet become popular received wisdom. These living scenarios often include people who use compost or incinerating toilets to eliminate blackwater, but still have to do something with the water that comes out of their shower and sink. This article will explore a variation on one simple and affordable option that I have implemented for my own tiny home, a raised mulch basin.

Greywater safety concerns

It’s funny that people will often think nothing of washing their car in their driveway or having an outdoor shower on the back of their van, yet as soon as that shower moves a few feet into their camper and there is a few inches of drain pipe out the bottom of the floor, suddenly some people see it as potentially toxic and an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

The truth is that greywater is not dangerous or harmful as long as a few general rules are adhered to. In fact, it can be a great resource in areas of drought where it can be used to water fruit trees and ornamental plants. As with most things in our environment that we call pollutants, they are actually only pollutants because they are out of their proper place. Fertilizer in a field? Good. Fertilizer in a lake? Not so good.

Basic Greywater Guidelines

Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Be mindful of what goes down the drain
2. Don’t hold on to it for too long
3. Keep it away from natural water bodies, streams, and rivers
4. Discharge to dry soils (Ideally a mulch basin)
5. Keep it close to the ground (e.g. don’t use it for sprinkler irrigation!)

Be mindful of what goes down the drain

Thinking about what happens to our greywater makes us think more about what we’re actually putting down the drain. Even if you’re using a septic system or sewer, everything is ultimately going back into the environment—it’s just less obvious when you can’t see it. The only thing going down your drain should be water, soap, and bits of organic matter. Soaps should be fully biodegradable and phosphate free.

Eco-friendly soaps

Personally, I use Dr. Woods liquid and bar soap, and Seventh Generation laundry detergent. Some use Dr Bronners liquid soap for everything and dilute it to the strength they need, but I find it to be too drying. Dr Woods is pre-diluted and contains moisturizers like shea butter (I even make my own shampoo from this stuff!).

• Dr. Woods liquid castile soap
• Dr. Woods bar soap
• Dr Bronners liquid castile soap
• Seventh Generation laundry detergent

Don’t hold onto greywater for too long

Some people assume that greywater is dangerous and should be held in a tank for long periods of time. The irony is that holding onto greywater causes bacteria to multiply and turn it into a foul smelling soup, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you’re nomadic, retaining greywater may be required due to campground rules or because you are camping on pavement or close to bodies of water, so temporarily storing greywater in a greywater tank is an unfortunate necessity. If you’ve been holding onto a tank of greywater in your RV or van for a while (say, over 24 hours), an RV dump station is going to be your best bet. This will be later be processed in a wastewater treatment plant.

Keep greywater away from natural water bodies, streams, and rivers

Indoor plumbing has given many people the unfortunate impression that waste streams should be diluted in water, yet this is the absolute worst thing you can do. Blackwater and greywater should never be discharged into a freshwater stream, river, lake, or a storm drain (which usually empties into a natural body of water). The reason for this is that wastewater contains nutrients which can enhance soil fertility (good), but cause eutrophication in freshwater bodies (bad), depleting oxygen in the water, poisoning aquatic life, causing toxic algae growth, and reducing water clarity. Over time, this can turn once beautiful, crystal clear bodies of water into murky, undrinkable, unswimmable, unfishable swamps.

Discharge to dry soils (Ideally a mulch basin)

Spreading greywater out and allowing it to percolate into dry or well drained soils is the ideal. Whether this happens a few feet under ground (as in a septic system leach field), or it is closer to the surface (as in a mulch basin or simple “drain out the back”), the principal is the same. The soil acts both as a physical and biological filter, breaking down and purifying the greywater before it reaches the groundwater.

Greywater should not be discharged to the pavement or to overly saturated soils where it might pool.

Keep it close to the ground

Although greywater can be used for irrigation, it shouldn’t be used with sprinkler irrigation, as this could potentially make harmful bacteria airborne. You don’t want kids playing in or rolling in greywater. Out of an abundance of caution, it is also recommended that any plants you are watering do not have edible parts low to the ground that could come directly in contact with the greywater before it has absorbed into the mulch/soil.

How is greywater usually disposed of?

In cities, greywater is mixed with blackwater and goes into a sewer system to be treated at a wastewater processing plant before being released back into the environment (such as into the ocean or a river). Alternatively (in rural areas), it is mixed with blackwater and sent to an on-site septic system, where the solid waste sinks to the bottom of a tank (eventually pumped and sent to a wastewater plant) and the liquid is dispersed under the surface of the ground into unsaturated soil above the water table, which acts as nature’s water filter, absorbing contaminants and pathogens before it re-enters the groundwater.

Downsides of traditional disposal methods

People are sometimes quick to challenge new ideas without questioning the status quo. They assume that since something has been done a certain way for a long time then it must be the right way to do it—even if they don’t actually know how it works.

In both sewer and septic scenarios, we lose what could be a valuable resource by combining it with sewage (itself also a lost opportunity, but that’s another story), when it could have been used to water the landscape. This is inefficient and costly.

Sewer systems cost an average of $25,000–$50,000 per household per connection. Septic systems can cost anywhere from $10,000 to upwards of $80,000-$100,000 in some locations, as they often require custom engineering, permitting and inspections, heavy excavation equipment, and truckloads of sand or other imported fill. They are also not truly off-grid or self-sustaining as they require yearly pumping and trucking of the solids to a wastewater plant for processing (the solids are extracted and often eventually end up in a landfill).

Over time, septic leach fields can become saturated, leading to nitrogen leaching into groundwater, contaminating drinking wells and causing algae blooms in local water bodies. This has become a major issue for Cape Cod Massachusetts, where they are currently researching and piloting alternatives including constructed wetlands, urine diversion, and advanced on-site treatment systems.

What is a Mulch Basin?

A mulch basin is typically a broad and shallow depression dug into the soil and filled with mulch. A pipe (typically buried just below the surface) carries water to one or more small housings (known as mulch shields) buried in the basin where the water is dispersed into the mulch.

Mulch basins work similarly to a septic leach field in that they use soil treatment to filter waste water. The difference is that this happens closer to the surface and the water first passes through a layer of “mulch”, a coarse, carbon-rich plant material—such as wood chips or bark—that is added to the basin to filter water, reduce odor, retain moisture, and support aerobic microbial activity that breaks down contaminants.

Because most biological activity occurs closer to the surface of the soil, mulch basins may actually be more effective than septic leach fields (and even wastewater treatment plants) at processing the greywater. The layer of organic mulch prevents standing water through fast absorption and enhances this biological activity further. It’s kind of like a compost pile for your greywater.

Mulch basins can be used for irrigation by placing them around or near trees and shrubs.

Mulch Basins are proven

A mulch basin is a proven, environmentally sound method of disposing of and/or reusing greywater. Some states, including Arizona and California, have recognized mulch basins in their state wastewater codes and allow for their construction and use in small residential scenarios without a traditional permit process. Check out Greywater Action’s Codes and Policy page for more information. 

Siting a mulch basin

As previously mentioned, you want to find a dry spot for your mulch basin. Like a septic leach field, this allows the mulch in the basin and the soil below to perform its duty before the greywater reaches groundwater. Thankfully, a suitable location for a mulch basin is easier to find than one for a septic leach field, as they can be installed right at the surface (as well as the fact that the safety risks of greywater are extremely low as compared to blackwater).

You can test a location by digging a small hole down 2-3 feet (ideally during the wettest part of the year), and seeing if it fills with water after 15 minutes to an hour. If it does, then you know you’ve reached the high water table. If it doesn’t, you can try filling it with water and seeing how long it takes to drain. If it takes less than 30 minutes per inch, then you’re probably in good shape.

I live in an area of New England with a very unusually high water table. Even in the driest spot I could find, I hit water at about 12 inches below the surface. This meant I needed to think creatively.

My raised mulch basin design

The solution I came up with was to build my mulch basin above ground. It’s a simple, 4-walled structure open at the top and bottom and filled with mulch.

Because my location obviously does not lack for water, my goal was simply responsibly returning the greywater to the environment, rather than irrigation. Still, I decided to top off the mulch bed with native ornamental plants to further absorb excess moisture, provide filtration, and enhance beauty of the system—sort of like a raised garden bed.

Siting it directly next to the house (the driest spot I could find) allows for a short, direct, well sloped run of drainpipe. It also serves as a partial skirting for the tiny house and will hopefully add to the beauty when the ornamental plants take.

Sizing

I went with a single basin, 3ft wide x 8ft long x 26 inches tall.

Because I’m a household of one, I decided to keep it simple and start out with a single mulch shield for distributing the greywater, as opposed to a branched system that would split the flow and distribute it to multiple shields in the basin. However, this design could easily accommodate a second shield, if I later discover it to be necessary to avoid pooling.

For more information on sizing a system (and much more), The New Create an Oasis with Greywater 6th Ed is an excellent resource.

Putting together the walls of the basin

I had leftover corrugated galvalume roofing and downspout material from my tiny home construction, so I was able to make use of this resource to build walls for my basin that matched the aesthetic of my home for no additional cost. Obviously I got lucky here since I already had what I needed, but it’s always worth checking Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and your local “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook to see if someone is giving away what you’re looking for or offering it at a major discount.

Cedar decking boards was another option that I considered. These would be breathable, environmentally sound and rot resistant, but expensive and would still eventually rot and need to be replaced. Other options for the walls could include concrete blocks / pavers or corrugated plastic.

I marked and cut the galvalume panels down using a high quality pneumatic nibbler. For the corner pieces, I used some pieces of heavy duty downspout which I cut lengthwise to create 2 right angle pieces. I attached them to the corrugated walls with roofing screws.

I leveled off the ground the best I could using a shovel and a large carpenter’s level, and moved the structure in place. Then I dug a shallow depression in the middle, pushing a bit of soil up around the walls, with the thought that this will help to keep the water contained within the basin when it is heavily saturated (rather than leaking out the sides around the bottom).

I used a 2 1/2” hole saw to make a hole in the back of the rear panel (centered about 5” down from the top of the basin) for the 1-1/2” PVC drain pipe to enter the basin. Please use eye AND EAR protection when doing this! I think my parents thought the rapture had come when they heard me doing this.

Plumbing

Achieving a consistent slope for the drain pipe was a bit tricky since my trailer had a large structural member right where the drain pipe would ideally pass through. However, by cutting back my drain pipe with an angle grinder and using the tightest 90 degree fitting I could find, I was able to maintain a healthy slope to the top of the steel member, and then use a couple more fittings to drop the pipe down to its final destination.

I had some leftover 1-1/2” PVC that I used for this project (I only needed about 6 feet). In my case I didn’t even end up needing any PVC glue. Dry fitting everything was sufficient and will allow me to make later changes if necessary, and easily disconnect when I need to move my tiny home. If small leaks happen, it’s no big deal since the plumbing is all outdoors.

The mulch shield

The idea is to have your drainpipe enter the mulch basin inside of a housing called a mulch shield. The purpose of the mulch shield is to prevent the pipe from clogging, and to allow it to be inspected if needed.

You can buy pre-made irrigation boxes for this, but they’re a bit pricey for what they are and would still require modification. I used a simple 5 gallon bucket from Lowe’s with a watertight, flexible cover and cut off the bottom with an angle grinder, leaving about 11” total height. I then used a 2-1/2” hole saw centered about 5” down from the top rim of the bucket for the drain pipe to enter. I also drilled 3 rows of 1/2” diameter holes in the sides of the bucket to allow water to seep out into the mulch from the sides in the event that a large surge of water fills the mulch shield.

You will need to fill up the basin with mulch (at least part way) before actually installing the mulch shield.

Filling the basin

You shouldn’t need to pay to get mulch. Arborist wood chips are ideal. I used a mix of materials I found on my property (pine cones, pine needles, leaves, wood shavings, small branches processed by my little electric wood chipper, cardboard eco packing peanuts (yes, really), and free wood chips from a pile at the local town transfer station. Do some asking around as some towns have free communal mulch piles and many tree services / arborists are happy to get rid of extra wood chips.

A mix of leaves, pine cones, small sticks, and pine needles from my property. All sorts of organic matter can work, but coarser is better (you want to leave air gaps). Avoid using too many leaves, too much fine saw dust, or using pure soil.

Cardboard “eco packing peanuts” from a printer I just bought (!)

Getting closer…

Mulch shield in place…

Full! I used the mulch from the local transfer station for the top layer of the basin, for a nice, uniform look.

Adding to the beauty

After one failed attempt at sprouting some ornamental grasses (fox sedge) from seed, I decided to work with what I already had and transplant some native ferns from the woods in my backyard. I love ferns, and they should take well in this moist and shaded location. I transplanted two large Cinnamon Ferns, surrounded by a group of smaller New York ferns. The New York ferns should spread to fill in the gaps. I left a decent root ball of soil around each planting, figuring the ferns would prefer having some soil to growing directly in the mulch.

What about greywater in the wintertime?

How this system will perform in the wintertime remains to be seen. My plan is to cover the top (and possibly the sides) of the basin with straw bales to provide insulation. I also plan to wrap the exposed drainpipe with EPDM rubber insulation (to cover 1-1/2” drain pipe requires 2 pieces—1/2” and 3/4”—stuck together).

If leaving the greywater drain open all the time results in freezing, one possible solution is to retain greywater in a (insulated) on-board tank and empty it only once per day (ideally right after you shower or otherwise use a lot of warm water). If you have a simple “drain out the back” this prevents your drain pipe from freezing solid. The same principle may work for the mulch basin.

Once the freezing temperatures hit, I’ll be sure to provide an update.

Total Spend: $50

Your mileage may vary since I had many of the materials I needed on hand, but the point is that a mulch basin can be very inexpensive.

To help ensure accuracy, I had this article reviewed by Ryan Smith, a wastewater industry professional and ecosan advocate.

References and Further Reading

• Greywater Action
• Greywater FAQ (Greywater Action)
• Greywater Codes and Policy (Greywater Action)
• Oasis Design
• Common Grey Water Errors and Preferred Practices (Oasis Design)
• Branched Drain Greywater Systems (Oasis Design)
• The New Create an Oasis with Greywater 6th Ed (Book)
• Water Efficiency and Sanitation Standard (WE-STAND)
• Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Center

Are you a tiny house dweller, van-lifer, off-grid enthusiast, or full-time RVer? Did this article help you? Let me know in the comments below.

Product Recommendations

These are Amazon Associate links, which means I earn a small commission if you buy through them (at no cost to you). Thanks for your support!

• Dr Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap 
• Microfiber cleaning cloth
• Magic Eraser Sponge
• 303 UV Protectant

Maybe not.

I just discovered the hard way that wheel covers may actually do more harm than good. While it’s important to protect your tires from the sun’s UV rays, I discovered that my wheel covers were providing a perfect shelter and habitat for mice to take up residence in my wheel rims.

Apparently mouse pee is highly corrosive to steel.

In addition to the corrosive mouse urine, the covers may have been trapping moisture. Even though I had sprayed Blaster Surface Shield on the wheels before covering them and was checking tire pressure once or twice a year, somehow I missed that the paint was beginning to peel off of my rims. I caught it before things got too bad (the rim pictured here was the worst of the 6), but once corrosion starts it’s tough to stop.

I spent a few hours carefully cleaning all 6 wheels, degreasing, and scraping off all the loose paint I could find. Then I brushed on a liberal coat of Fluid Film to prevent the rust from spreading any further, at least until I can do a more thorough refinishing. My plan moving forward is to ditch the wheel covers and just apply 303 Tire Balm & Protectant for UV protection. I’m located in a fairly shady area, so I think this will be sufficient.

Hopefully this can save someone else the repeating the same mistake I did.

I’m proud of my wheels anyway—might as well show them off!
 

Note: The links below are Amazon Associate links, which means I earn a small commission if you buy through them (at no cost to you). Thanks for your support!

• Fluid Film Rust Prevention (1 Gallon Can) (also great for protecting your trailer frame)
• Fluid Film Aerosol Can (alternative to brushing it on)
• 303 Aerospace Protectant (looks like the product I used is discontinued, but their standard aerospace product is also good on tires and much more)

Disclosure: This article contains Amazon Associate links, which means I earn a small commission if you buy through them at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

From time to time I’d like to share about some personal things that are, at best, tangentially related to living tiny. Lately, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to spend a a bit more time than most of us get the chance to trying to get to the bottom of some of my day to day health issues (a.k.a. “figure out what’s wrong with me”), and my hope is to write the kind of article that I wished I’d had when I first started looking for answers.

What I’ve Learned From my Ongoing Battle with Chronic Neck Pain

I’ve suffered chronic neck pain since high school. I’ve always attributed it to a combination of poor posture (school desks are horrible), always carrying a heavy book bag on one shoulder, and genetics (my father had neck surgery in his 50s and lower back surgery in his 70s).

The pain that I get tends to be concentrated in the shoulders and upper back. Tension is often concentrated in the left trap and levator scapulae muscle (the opposite side from the shoulder I carried by book bag on), which I’ve come to learn makes sense anatomically but feels counter-intuitive.

I’ve had several x-rays but none have revealed anything out of the ordinary. I went to PT for a while. I finally started seeing chiropractors about 5 years ago. After the first session, I felt like I was able to stand up straight for the first time. Every time I leave the chiropractor now, I feel great. A day later? The tightness is back. The way that I’ve come to see it is this: chiropractic can loosen things up and sometimes get you out of a bind, but ultimately you need to learn how to avoid getting yourself into that bind to begin with.

Neck Tweaks

I worked a desk job in web development for 12 years. Despite attempts to optimize my workspace ergonomics, the problem progressively worsened over this period. I started experiencing mornings where I would get up, stretch, and inexplicably tweak something in my neck, putting me out of commission for days at a time, often when I was facing a tight deadline. At times, I couldn’t even lay on my back or find a comfortable position to sleep in. Any attempts to sooth the pain through stretching or massage just made it worse. Perhaps you know what I’m talking about. At the point of acute neck strain, nothing but ice, rest, and time will ultimately ease it.

At times I wondered if I would ever work at a computer again. This, in part, led to me leaving my full time web development job in Spring of 2024.

But even with more time away from the computer, the pain persisted. Back in August I suffered the worst “tweak” I’ve ever experienced. I woke up feeling fine, stretched the wrong way, and that was it. Recovery took over a month, with several relapses during that period. The process of research, discovery, and successful healing following this painful episode is what has led me to write this post in hopes that it will save someone else from similar suffering.

Everyone’s situation and body is different, so what’s been working for me might not work for you, but I want to share with you what has finally made the difference for me and has given me now over 3 months free from significant neck pain. The solutions were surprising, and weren’t always in line with the advice I had received from professionals or advice I found online.

Lesson #1: Sleep Position is Key

Sleep position was HUGE for me.

You’ve probably heard that sleeping on your stomach is bad for your neck, but for me even sleeping on my side or on my back with the wrong type of pillow can be straining to my neck. Basically, any non-neutral head position held for too long can precipitate a tweak. What revealed this for me was the slow process of recovery following my last episode. I kept on waking up feeling worse than the night before instead of better.

Why was I getting worse?

I had already made the discovery several years ago that using a pillow while sleeping on my back was generally counterproductive. For back sleepers, almost every pillow on the market is designed to lift the neck into a non-neutral, elevated position. For the past year or two I had been using a McKenzie neck roll without a pillow, which seemed to help reduce the recurrence of tweaks. In addition to supporting the curve of my neck, it helped keep my head from flopping side to side. But now after a night with the McKenzie roll, I was waking up with even more pain.

So I tried a night with no roll or pillow. I still woke up in pain. What was going on?

The $5 Solution: A Beach Towel Neck Roll

I finally decided to try something totally different. On a whim, I took a small beach towel, folded it in half, and then rolled it up most of the way, leaving a bit of the towel sticking out as a pillow to support my head slightly. In comparison to the Mckenzie roll, this felt like nothing. I could feel the rolled up portion of the towel on the back of my neck, but it didn’t feel like it was applying any pressure. It honestly felt unlikely to have any effect at all, but I was ready to try anything.

Incredibly—perhaps for the first time in a month—I woke up feeling relief.

I’ve been using the same beach towel rolled up in the same way ever since, and I’ve yet to have a tweak. Ironic that the least expensive and most conservative solution turned out to be the right one for me—no fancy, expensive pillows—just a $5 beach towel from Dollar General.

The problem is that I tend to start out the night on my back and then roll to my side, where a thicker pillow is necessary in order to keep my head in a neutral position. So I have a pillow next to me that is just right thickness for when I roll over onto my side. It’s not a perfect solution—I’d still like to figure out a way to reliably keep myself on my back with my head on the towel roll—but it’s working better than anything else I’ve tried.

When I do wake up in the morning in a non-neutral position, I’ll roll onto my back and spend a few minutes with the towel behind my neck before I get up for the day to give myself a quick “reset”.

Getting enough sleep is also important. Your body uses that time to heal.

Lesson #2: Regular Movement is More Important Than Maintaining Perfect Posture

I had tried everything: fixing my desk and monitor height, lumbar supports, neck strengthening exercises, different chairs, neck pillows, foam rollers, massagers, traction devices, heat pads, ice packs, stretches, weekly chiropractic, etc. Nothing provided lasting relief.

The fact is that the human body is designed for generalization—not specialization—but our jobs force us into specialization and repetition. Whether you have an active or a sedentary job, both are likely to put you into unnatural repetition for 8+ hours on end, and our culture of work generally doesn’t respect the need to intersperse regular periods of rest or movement throughout the day. In other words, whether you have a cushy white collar office job or a hands-on blue collar job, your job is probably destroying your body.

The Pomodoro Technique: Also Great for Back Pain

What works for me is this: Make time for movement every day, and don’t stay in one position for more than 25 minutes at a time without getting up and stretching. Ideally, take a 5 minute break.

Don’t get me wrong—ergonomics and posture are important. But even if I’m in the perfect ergonomic seated position with the top of my monitor at eye level and sitting up straight, I will still get neck and back pain if I stay seated for too long (even trying too hard to maintain perfect posture can cause strain!).

In fact, I’ve discovered that I can even work in my preferred working position (sitting cross-legged on my couch with my laptop) as long as I follow the 25 minute rule. This has been a real boon to my productivity.

This technique is greatly assisted by a pomodoro timer. If you struggle with task initiation and ADHD like I do, you can address both physical and mental health by integrating the pomodoro timer into your workflow. If you’re anything like me, having a dead simple timer like this is the only way to sustain this practice over time (and even then, it’s difficult!)

During my breaks I usually do the following two exercises:

1. 2-3 Scapular retractions (I like to clasp my hands behind my back and do a bit of a neck retraction at the same time) — I often get a good little “pop” out of my upper back when I do this.
    
2. 10-15 Wall angels — It might not always feel like this exercise is targeting the issue directly, but wall angels do great things for the upper back and neck.

Your mileage may vary, but I have been avoiding the more commonly recommended neck stretches as these have sometimes instigated tweaks/episodes for me. I have a very flexible neck (hypermobility) so I need to focus on stability and balance rather than flexibility.

Other movements that are helping me

• I have found careful and gentle use of the McKenzie neck extension exercise to be a lifesaver when I’ve felt an episode coming on.
• I also throw in a good doorway stretch before bed to counter the closed posture associated with working on the computer.
• I try to get in a 30 minute walk or hike outside each day.

Anxiety and Neck Tension

Finally, I feel like I should mention the role of anxiety in neck and upper back tension. Over time—as I have become more mindful of my emotional states—I’ve noticed a close correlation between neck tension and anxious feelings. Anxiety can put your body into a low-grade fight-or-flight state that causes muscles in the neck and back to contract. For me, talk therapy (both human and AI) and mindfulness meditation have helped me get to the root and release some of the tension that built up over so many years of my life of trying to push down strong emotions. But it’s a slow process.

A Note on Driving Position

I used to struggle a lot with neck and back pain while driving for long periods. Unfortunately, driving cross country doesn’t give you the luxury of breaking every 25 minutes to stretch and shift position. Here’s what I’ve found that works best.

1. Recline your seat enough that you can “hang” your back on it. This removes the pressure from the lower back that can lead to lower back pain over time.
2. Relax your head back into the headrest frequently to avoid the hunched position that can lead to upper back neck pain.
3. To facilitate this posture, slide your seat as far forward as necessary.
4. If you notice that you’ve settled back down into your seat, lift your butt off the seat a bit and push your back into the backrest to allow it to hold most of your weight again.

I’ve been able to drive thousands of miles using this technique.

If this article helped you out, please let me know in the comments below and feel free to share it with someone else who could benefit.

Product Recs

• Pomodoro Timer
• McKenzie Lumbar Roll - I find most lumbar rolls WAY too thick/extreme, but this one feels about right to me.
• Arnica Gel - Helps relieve muscle tension when you just need to loosen things up a bit.
• Microwavable Heating Pad - My favorite heating pad. Gives off a nice moist heat that lasts a long time. Much better than an electric pad.
• Peppermint Oil - Great for tension headaches.
• Tune Up Ball - Great low-tech back massage tool for small spaces

Here’s a “tiny” five-minute meditation I developed for myself and keep coming back to on days when I struggle to focus on a typical guided meditation or a longer, unstructured session. It could be useful for anyone, but if your brain fits the ADHD pattern like mine seems to, it may be especially helpful.

What You’ll Need: An Interval Timer

The first step is to find a timer or an app with an intermittent bell that sounds at regular intervals, known as an “interval timer”. I use The Waking Up App, which is full of tons of great guided meditations and thoughtful commentary, but also includes a perfect timer for this. There are other options on the app store—just search for “interval timer”.

The Practice: One Minute Per Sensation

1. Set the ending alarm for 5 minutes and the interval for 1 minute.
    
2. Start the timer. Close your eyes and pick something to focus on. I like to start with whatever I can see behind my closed eyes. Try to sustain this focus for just one minute.
    
3. Each time the bell tolls, switch to another sense to focus on. You can rotate through each of the 5 senses (touch, taste, sight, smell, hearing), or you can dive deeper into the sensation of breathing, your internal heartbeat, or checking in on the emotions in your chest.

Why This Helps When Focus Is Hard

If you’re like me, even just one minute can be a lot to sustain on a single sensation without your mind wandering. Often when trying to meditate, I struggle with choosing what to focus on and second guessing my choice. And with guided meditations, I often struggle to pay attention to the voice. But with this approach, I feel better knowing that I am not neglecting some part of my experience. The fact that I will be visiting each sense allows me to let go of the others while I focus my attention on one.

Small Wins You Can Build On

It’s still a challenge to focus without my mind wandering for one minute straight, but it’s not unattainable by any means, so I get a little win that I can feel good about and build on each time I make it to the next bell.

And if your mind does wander, that’s okay too. Just use it as another opportunity for mindfulness and return to your subject of focus without judgement or self-criticism.

If this technique helped you, please drop a comment below or share it with someone else you think might benefit!

Here’s the easiest way to slice an avocado:

1. Purchase avocados that are still firm and leave out at room temperature to ripen.
2. Once they begin to soften, move to the fridge to preserve. (Moving to the fridge too early will prevent proper ripening!). A ripe avocado should still feel solid and not hollow or squishy, but will have a gentle and uniform give when you squeeze it.
3. Using a paring knife, cut the avocado along the circumference of the long axis. Rotate the avocado in one hand and keep the knife mostly stationary. If the avocado is ripe, this will not be difficult.
4. Twist to separate the two sections.
5. Remove the pit by hand, using your fingernails if necessary to get a better grip.
6. Now here’s the key: Using a shallow teaspoon, scoop out the avocado into sections, scraping the bottom of the rind to get every last bit.
7. Throw the rind and pit in the compost.
8. Enjoy perfect avocado slices with no mess and no waste!

Disclaimer: I’m not a dentist or medical professional. This article shares my personal experience and what worked for me. Always consult with your dentist or doctor before making changes to your dental care routine or diet.

In my late teens I got several large cavities in my back molars. They didn’t appear bad on the surface, but as the dentist began drilling, she discovered they were much deeper than they appeared. At the time, I didn’t think too much of it. I figured cavities were just a part of life. I’ve always loved sweets, but whenever people talked about the relationship between sugar and cavities, it was usually with a bit of humor and maybe a suggestion to be sure to brush twice and floss once a day.

The Road to Gum Disease: Paved with Sugar

During college I got in the habit of enjoying a tall glass of Mountain Dew with a Blimpie sandwich for lunch every day—perhaps with a chocolate chip cookie or two to round off the meal. After all, it was part of the meal deal, right? And I thought I was already being healthier than most by choosing a sandwich packed with veggies over the more typical fast food lunches my peers were enjoying. Regular Dunkin’ runs also became a staple for me—nothing better than a sweetened coffee with a donut on the side.

My metabolism is freakishly fast, so I’ve never had weight as a signal to let me know if I was overindulging.

At some point I started noticing that my gums felt “different”, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and it didn’t even cross my mind that increased sugar in my diet could have something to do with it. If my dentist noticed, she didn’t make much of it other than to encourage me to floss and to avoid brushing “too hard”. The relationship between sugar and cavities is well publicized, but connection to gum disease is less discussed.

Around this time I was also diagnosed with acid reflux. I began experiencing lightheadedness and frequent headaches.

After college I went at least 2 years without visiting a dentist. I never intended to do this, but I knew that I needed to find a new dentist and I just kept on putting it off because I didn’t want to go or to think about it.

The Wake-Up Call: My Gum Disease Diagnosis

When I finally found a new dentist, I was informed that I had significant gum recession with visible bone loss on x-rays. In other words, I had gum disease.

I had kept pretty good oral hygiene during this period including brushing and flossing (with the wrong floss, but more on that later). I had also started using a fluoride gel every night, which is probably the only reason why I only had one small cavity that needed repair after all that time.

Why I Refused a Deep Cleaning

My hygienist encouraged me to get a “deep cleaning”—a procedure that involves numbing and special tools to clean below the gum line, but I hesitated. This may be the right procedure in many cases, but I couldn’t imagine my gums responding well to such a beating—if they got to where they are despite my best efforts at proper oral care, why should I expect things to go any better the second time around? Not to mention the cost of the procedure and my lack of dental insurance.

My hygienist agreed that we would hold off on the deep cleaning and see how things went. I decided to start going for cleanings every 4 months instead of the typical 6 month schedule to monitor the situation.

I was determined to do anything that was in my power to fix this.

Fast-Forward to 5 Years Later…

I’m happy to report that at my last checkup—about 5 years after my initial diagnosis—my dentist casually remarked ‘no recession’ while jotting it down in his notes.

What follows is the routine that—with persistence and in fits and starts—finally got me there.

Quitting Sugar to Save My Gums

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m almost certain that diet is what made the biggest difference for me. It wasn’t until I made the decision to quit all added sugars in January 2023 that things really started to take a turn for the better.

I came to this decision after taking an autoimmune food sensitivity test. My results? Sugar took the number one spot. The test I took (LRA by ELISA/ACT) wasn’t cheap or covered by insurance, and there was little I could find attesting to its validity, but my mother had had it recommended to her through word of mouth and had discovered that her rheumatoid arthritis symptoms were largely resolved by avoiding the foods it had identified for her. I figured it was worth a shot, so I convinced my doctor to administer it (It was a simple blood test).

Why Quitting the Sugar Addiction is so Hard (and why that may be a good thing)

The problem with removing added sugar from your diet is that they put added sugar in everything. Even when the nutrition label shows 0 grams of added sugar, you may still find sugar hidden in the ingredients, because they’re not required to show it in the break down if it’s less than 1 gram.

This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because it basically puts all packaged, highly processed foods off limits. It was painful at first, but since discovering whole, unprocessed, inexpensive foods that I like, it’s simplified my grocery list and reduced my grocery bill. Once you remove all that stuff from your kitchen, you just stop thinking about it and find something else that you do have to snack on (that’s less likely to kill you).

Living Sugar-Free: It’s Better Than You Might Think

I can still eat fruit (which I now find tastes sweeter and better than ever), and I can enjoy things sweetened with monk fruit, stevia, date sugar, and erythritol. I now bake my own goodies using these natural sugar substitutes, using whole grains and healthy fats. They taste great, and I actually don’t have to feel bad about eating them. I learned how to make my own chocolate from scratch using date sugar. I can still make amazing fruit smoothies sweetened with bananas. Speaking of which, I’ve discovered the magic of Yonanas as a substitute for ice cream. So it really isn’t so bad after all.

Since quitting added sugars, headaches (which were frequent) have become rare for me. Dizziness is rare. I also had a rare (and potentially blinding) condition called iritis twice within a span of 3 years prior to quitting sugar. It has not returned since.

Most importantly, my gums feel better than they have in 15 years.

Now if I cheat (which I’ve only done 2 or 3 times) I can actually feel it—I immediately get a tingling sensation in my gums. I know that it’s just not worth it.

My Daily Gum Disease Reversal Routine

Evening Routine

I’ll start with evening as it is the most important. Why? Because this is your only chance all day to give your body 8 hours of healing and recovery time to rebuild those gums without having to battle bits of food, sugars, etc. This is key, because the goal is to get things into a state of progress—even if it’s small—instead of regress. That means getting everything as clean as possible before you hit the pillow, and then letting your body do the rest. Over time, that little bit of progress will build. In the same way that gum recession doesn’t happen overnight, recovery takes time.

1. Floss with REAL dental floss - Floss first. Don’t use dental tapes that sacrifice utility for comfort—I made the mistake of using “Glide” for a long time, and it just doesn’t do a good job of scraping debris off your teeth or stimulating the gums. A good thin waxed floss will do the trick, and eventually your gums will get used to it. Be sure to follow good flossing technique.
    
2. Brush for a full 2 minutes using an electric toothbrush - Use a soft bristle brush, and then don’t worry about brushing “too hard”. Don’t be afraid to target the gum line–stimulating the gums is what we want. I use Doterra toothpaste which also contains essential oils that are good for the gums. Until recently I made the mistake of ignoring the little signals that my electric toothbrush was sending to let me know when that 2 minutes was up, and as a result I wasn’t brushing long enough.
    
3. Before rinsing, use a tongue scraper - Simply brushing my tongue wasn’t enough for me. At one point I developed this strange pattern on my tongue that dumbfounded even my dentist. After adding the tongue scraper to my routine, it went away. Also, if you use any kind of oral appliance, be sure to wash and scrub it with soap every morning (not toothpaste). I use a night guard which I think may have contributed to this issue.
    
4. Use interdental brushes with tea tree or frankincense essential oil - I’ve discovered that floss alone is actually not enough to remove all the food between my teeth. Following up with an interdental brush takes care of the rest, and also provides a convenient way to apply an antibacterial essential oil like tea tree or frankincense to the gums. I was skeptical of essential oils at first*, but there are actual studies showing the efficacy of both tea tree and frankincense for gum recession. My preferred interdental brush is the Peroxabrush because they will hold the essential oils and not break down like the rubber ones. You can wash these with soap after each use and get quite a few reuses out of each one.
    
5. Topical fluoride - I use a topical fluoride gel called Gel Kam as my last step. This is more for cavity prevention and tooth sensitivity than for gums. Fluoride is controversial (for some good and some not so good reasons**), but I can tell you from personal experience that it works to prevent cavities. The amount found in regular toothpaste may not be enough to do much, but once you try a higher concentration like what is found in Gel Kam or a prescription toothpaste like Prevident, you should start to see and feel real results. Since using Gel Kam I have had only one small cavity (that was before I quit sugar). Prior to that, I had several large cavities as a teenager and a lot of tooth sensitivity.

*I’m still skeptical of essential oils as a general cure-all category, but many essential oils have real evidence backing them for specific uses, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence from my own life.

**My conclusion based on the latest research I’ve seen is that fluoride is safe and effective as a topical treatment, but should probably not be ingested or added to drinking water. Some people seem to have an autoimmune sensitivity to fluoride and for them it should be avoided completely.

Morning Routine

My morning routine is much simpler. Basically, it’s just freshening things up with a 2 minute brushing and tongue scraping. Since I drink coffee in the morning (and don’t eat breakfast), I prefer to do this after my coffee to reduce staining, but there are arguments for either before or after.

When I was just getting started on this journey, I also flossed in the morning (and sometimes after lunch) just to give the gums some extra stimulation. If you’re not seeing progress, I suggest doing the same. You may also want to add a second application of essential oil using the interdental brushes (If you apply frankincense in the evening, you could apply tea tree in the morning or vice versa).

In Closing

Dental care is expensive. Prevention involves a little bit of effort and habit building up front, but it will save you tons of money, discomfort, and stress in the end.

One more thing….

Be your own advocate, because your own health will always matter more to you than anyone else, including medical professionals with the very best of intentions. AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are incredible resources for the curious mind when it comes to health research and diagnosis. Use them, but challenge them to cite evidence, studies, and rationale for their suggestions. Good luck!

Product Recs

• Interdental Brushes - For applying essential oils. They come in different sizes depending on the gaps between your teeth. I like the CVS brand too.
• Frankincense Essential Oil
• Tea Tree Essential Oil
• “Real” Dental Floss
• Doterra On Guard Toothpaste - The toothpaste I’ve been using.
• Fluoride Gel - Extra cavity and sensitivity prevention
• Tongue Scraper
• Electric Toothbrush
• Soft Brush Heads
• Yonanas Machine

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mike Spooner (@teaspoondwellings)

Here’s a fun project I did about 8 years ago after several successive years of shoring up and replacing mailbox posts that were clobbered by snowplows. The last straw arrived back around 2015. I had just gone through the effort to replace our battered mailbox post with a brand new box mounted to a beautiful cedar post, stained and outfitted with those nice big house numbers down the side. That following winter, it was utterly demolished in one blow. If you live in the north, you know the pain.

A $10 DIY Mod to Make Your Mailbox Snowplow-Proof

Come the following Spring, I went back to the big box store and picked up another cedar post, but this time I had other plans. Instead of installing it as-is, I grabbed a heavy duty stainless steel hinge and some long stainless wood screws (2”-3”, or as long as you can find without coming through the other side of the post) and went to work on it.

I did my best to deconstruct the post without damaging it. Once the arm was removed from the base, I used my circular saw to cut a bit of an angle to allow the arm to swing freely and fully clear the post. Then I installed the hinge.

The brace under the arm provides just enough support and friction to generally keep the arm from swinging out of place during normal circumstances. But when a snowplow hits it (or pushes snow into it), it swings away freely. I usually wake up after a storm to find it swung out of place, and all I have to do is swing it back and up onto the brace. No harm done.

I wasn’t sure if that little hinge would hold up, but I’ve had this setup for 8 Winters and counting. I think I can say it’s been time-tested.

I’ve since discovered that there are mailbox posts on the market that operate on a similar “better bend than break” principle, but this simple DIY mod can be made to just about any existing timber post at a fraction of the cost.

Why Not Just Put up a Sheet of Plywood / Snow Break?

That seems to work for some people, but the way I see it, it just creates a bigger target / larger surface area for the snow to push against that has to be resisted. Plus, it’s just another thing to have to maintain and fix when it gets knocked over. And if the plow actually hits it it’s not going to stand a chance. With this hinged breakaway design, as long as the base of the post itself doesn’t get hit it will live to see another day.

My philosophy is that the plow always wins. Don’t fight it!