The basic technologies behind the plastic bags and forward-osmosis membranes are well tested, but Trent expects to spend more time ensuring that the system can work efficiently and without problems.

TwitZap lets you do that for any term you want. If you want to always be able to quickly search for terms "social media", "job", and "Trent Reznor", you can easily add them to the menu.

The basic supplies and ingredients will cost you, but making several gallons of beer or wine—which can be done in an afternoon—can be quite economical, says blogger Trent Hamm of thesimpledollar.com.