Coffee table camp sites

Camping and caravanning in the UK has never been more popular, or more fashionable which is not the same thing. Here are four books that cover every kind of camping from cool to not so cool (click on the titles to buy the books):

Cool Camping: England

Cade’s Camping, Touring and Motor Caravan Site Guide 2006

Alan Rogers Britain and Ireland: Quality Camping and Caravanning Parks 2006

Camping and Caravanning Club Big Sites Book (recommended but not available online) Reviews follow on the next page. (more…)

Lead us to Utopia

From March 2007, eminent scientist Dylan Evans will be inviting volunteers to join him in an experiment in creating a Utopia in the Scottish highlands. They will live together in a novel kind of community based on three main ideas:

1. It will be a LEARNING COMMUNITY - each member must have a distinctive skill or area of knowledge that they can teach to the others.

2. It will be a WORKING COMMUNITY - no money is required from the members, but all must contribute by working.

3. It will be strictly TIME-LIMITED. This is not an attempt to found an ongoing community. Members may stay for up to three months, but may also come for as little as two weeks. (more…)

Sarah - winner

Thanks for all your entries in the “Why I want to live off-grid” competition, with two prizes of hampers of cleaning products from Ecover. The first winning entry is from Alex Benady and the next is from Sarah Ifield who lives on a houseboat in Huntingdon:

Alex Benady

I live with my family fully connected to all amenities, close to the centre of London. I�d like to pretend that my desire to live off grid was born of altruism, ethics and a concern for the future of the planet. While I do care about all those things, if I�m honest that is not my motivation.

In truth it is born of a sort of survivalist instinct �not a reactionary red neck vision of fighting government and communism, but of a fear that the world as we know it is going to break down some time soon and I don�t want to go down with it. (more…)

JK - camper than you think

Car-crazy Jamiroquai star Jay Kay shocked garage staff when he walked in to buy a camper van. Jay, 36, turned up at a dealers in Lowdham, near Nottingham, and bought a �46,000 motorhome with a bathroom, leather armchairs and flatscreen telly. He plans to use it as a mobile apartment while away on tour.
The multi-millionaire singer could not be less ecologically aware. He already has a fleet of luxury motors including several Ferraris, (more…)

Not the best charger

Energizer, the battery company is launching portable chargers for cell phones, iPods, and handheld gaming devices, but they are designed to be opimized using its e2 lithiumAA batteries.

The chargers can also use any alkaline batteries, but won�t charge as quickly or as effectively with those, Kelvin Belle, senior product manager for Energizer, told Red Herring Magazine.

Of course the chargers will cause a mild stir amongst the off-grid community, but they are no match for solar trickle-chargers for example. �I don�t see it taking over,� said Sara Bradford, analyst at the Frost & Sullivan consultancy. (more…)

Off-grid hero

In the Pittsburgh area, a man went to jail rather than let the local power company run an electric line through his property.

And even though he’s repeatedly lost in criminal court, William Williams, 76, of Cecil, vows to continue removing the guy wire and its anchor in his yard each time the power company replaces them. For Mr. Williams, it’s all a matter of civil disobedience. He said he refuses to surrender his property rights to the utilities.

“I don’t owe [Allegheny Power] anything, and I’m not going to pay,” he said. “They were on my property, and their right of way ends right here.” (more…)