price rise

USA Today last month carried a full list of every US State with details of whether it offered tax rebates or grants for installing renewable energy. The chart on the USA Today web site
also offered details of which States mandate net metering – allowing customers to sell power back to the grid.

Only New York, California, Oregon, Massachusetts and Maryland are running all three – incentives, rebates and net metering.. Fourteen states are offering just one of the three, and Idaho is offering none – no benefits, no incentives and no metering. (more…)

Why live off-grid?

Off-Grid in conjunction with Ecover
is running a competition for the best essay on the subject of “Why I want to live off-grid”

The competition is open to anyone whether you live off-grid or not. The closing date is 10th June 2006. Entries should be submitted as comments on this story, by registering, or by email to nick(at)off-grid.net.

The first submission, from veteran off-gridder Stephen Miller, is at the end of this story, as an inspiration to you all.

You can write a submission of any length on the subject of “Why I want to live off-grid,” and the best two entries will receive the following hamper of eco-cleaning goodies, worth over ?40, direct from Ecover, a manufacturer of ecological detergents and cleansing agents. (more…)

Amazing Race winners

After traveling to five continents, 10 countries and more than 59,000 thousand miles, the co-winner of The Amazing Race on CBS TV wants to live off-grid.

The winners of the one million dollar grand prize, on the two-hour season finale of THE AMAZING RACE 9, were BJ Averell and Tyler Macniven. “I’m thinking about buying a boat and living on it, trying that out,” Tyler said of how he might spend his half of the cash. (more…)

Uglification

While in Door County, Wisconsin recently, I picked up a real estate guide the size and heft of a Sears catalogue. Recovering from the resultant backstrain, I paged through the offerings. One, above all others, caught my eye.

“Exclusive private island . . . a true paradise for the selective buyer . . . a true sampling of all Door County is meant to be . . . the home has been meticulously planned and lovingly hand-crafted . . . a private pier provides easy access to the amphibious auto, which is included. . . .”

But as you can tell from the photo - this is the most crass new dwelling - designed like a mock colonial mansion, to feed the need for status with no thought to the environment nor energy saving issues, nor design. Vast expanses of red brick waste the opportunity for new high tech materials, that are better and cheaper. I was suprised the property was not sold together with one of those “Lordships” you can buy on the Internet. (more…)

Charis from Fox’s Jeff O’Neil show

Its off-shore and off the grid. You can rent a houseboat on one of the dozens of navigable lakes across the U.S. You can also rent houseboats for down river adventures (e.g. Mississippi) and some sea-based vacations (Florida). You’ll be surprised by the affordability and availability of comfortable floating homes and it’s an ideal way to take in the scenic beauty of some stunning countryside.

But houseboats have rules - like no drinking while driving. And you have to be careful of National Park and other Environmental fees, that can eat into your budget.

The Houseboating.org (tel. 888/454-8825; www.houseboating.org) website features rental opportunities across America, with boats available on all of the most popular lake destinations including Lake Powell (southern Utah), Lake Mead and Lake Mohave (Nevada /Arizona), Lake Shasta and Trinity Lake (Northern California), Lake of the Ozarks (Central Missouri), Lake Amistad (Southern Texas) and Lake Cumberland (Kentucky). (more…)