Paper cannot only beautify your walls but also make it cozier in your home as well. With cellulose insulation you get added warmth and noise reduction.

Cellulose insulation is a great way to insulate your entire home. It has a R value on par and exceeding common fiberglass insulation and it remains consistent at a greater temperature range. Which keeps the heat out in the summer, but in in the winter. Loose-fill fiberglass can lose up to half its R-value at 20°F below zero, cellulose insulation performs at a higher R-value at 20°F below than it does at 70°F. According to the findings of tests conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. So that when your insulation needs are highest you get the best performance.

Added benefits of cellulose insulation is it’s increased fire resistance, 22-55%, life of the product, usually life of home, non-toxic, look for salt additives only, and increased noise reduction. Noise reduction is at 90% absorbed, that made the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) approve it for sound control material for homes located near airports and flight paths.

Since cellulose insulation is so tightly packed and if cured naturally , like boric acid, it is resistant to moisture, pests, and mildew. Cellulose insulation is also made from recycled paper, such as newspaper, so is friendly to the environment by keeping it out of landfills and leaving the trees to help clean our air.

Since cellulose is sprayed into the walls it allows for a tighter air control, unlike other insulations which need to be cut around pipes and wires. This improved air control and density is also one of the reasons for the increased fire retardation. Since the cellulose is not only slow to burn but dampens air flow through it less air means less fire. Unlike fiberglass which jut melts and helps spread fire.

To get the best health benefits when choosing your cellulose insulation look for natural curative, such as salts, and make sure it does not contain formaldehyde, asbestos, fiberglass, mineral wool, or ammonium sulfate. Salts will not leave trace odors, low to impossible toxicity to humans and pets, or any other chemical reactions that may lead to health problems.

Come on back, Woody

As the off-grid movement battles for recognition of this way of life, it all comes back to land ownership, and the empty building land held by speculators and developers with no thought to the good of society as a whole. As house prices collapse back to where they should have been all along, and the banks look for new ways to take our money, its timely to remember the words of Woody Guthrie’s immortal song This Land Is Your Land. Wikipedia says Guthrie was a “first-hand observer of the economic and environmental hardships of the Dust Bowl era, became known as the Dust Bowl Troubadour”. The Dust Bowl may be coming back very soon.

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me. (more…)

Christmas Eve the Science Channel ran an all nighter on their new show Invention Nation. With only six episodes so far it is definitely a statement to the innovative spirit of Americans.

Since wrapping presents lasted well into the morning hours, okay the show got our attention so wrapping didn’t go that fast, we were able to see the episodes from the beginning. Though we do admit that after midnight retention of what we learned definitely went down. Even with that we still had some interesting things stick in our tired brains. (Did we mention that the children woke us up before 7am). So please forgive us if this if it’s a little jumpy we just wanted to let you know about the show and the great ideas that stuck.

Chicago Department of the Environment was highlighted not only for it’s use of a green roof but it’s programs to educate the public about the advantages to building green and using alternative energy. The benefits of having a green roof were also highlighted and the hosts decided to even add one to their bus. One of the highlighted benefits was the improved insulation it provides, as well as improved use of the space. Since it is no longer a dark magnet for the suns’ heat and energy it also adds more plants to help clean the air.

Along with the thought of improving roof conditions in a city environment is a reflective roof. The people at Green Products has taken this a step further by using only natural ingredients to make their coating for the roof. So not only do you get the increased energy efficiency that a white roof gives, but can do so without the guilt of using synthetic products. Just think if we coated all the black topped roofs in American cities with this reflective material we could make a dent in the amount of energy the earth absorbs from the sun. since we are losing the reflective ice caps maybe we need to look more at this emerging roofing trend. This could help, not to the extent of the ice caps of course.

The show had many more Americans highlighted about how they are working to make their environment better not only for themselves but for us all. The only problem we really saw with this show was how little information was given about each person, project, or home highlighted. Also their web presence didn’t then fill in the gaps. So when looking for something specific we had to rely on memory and our old friend Google. Though if this show is intended to just get our imaginations revving then we have to say it did that. Seeing others working to improve their lifestyles, can be just the thing you need.

The show airs Monday nights at 10pm on the Science Channel. Also on December 30 a marathon is scheduled to start at 1pm.

Galena,Alaska, 2012?

Sony invented the personal stereo, but Toshiba (under its Westinghouse division) appears to have gone one better - the personal nuclear reactor. The first is likely to be installed in Galena, Alaska in 2008. Instead of a very small number of very large nuclear power stations, the new 200 kilowatt invention ushers in the age of a very large number of very small nuclear reactors.

And that might be a good thing. Or it might be a disaster waiting to strike. (more…)

Focus The Nation is a movement that wants to find global warming solutions for America and they want to do it with the help of all Americans. They currently have four programs they are promoting to help America: National Teach-In, Green Democracy, 2% Solution, and Choose Your Future.

The National Teach-In is set for January 31, 2008 and is hoping to engage students and citizens alike with their political and decision makers in a dialogue about global warming studies. It is designed to be inclusive of all educational types from K-12 to universities/colleges, also civic organizations, as well as faith organizations. You can get involved by either going to an event or if none available helping to host one.

Green Democracy is a program to help get lawmakers involved in the National Teach-In by having events invite their elected officials to their event to have a round table discussion about global warming and it’s effects on their communities. This is a designed to be a true grass roots effort. They even supply step by step instructions to help getting through to Congressional representative’s offices. Since getting anything done there has to follow protocol. Focus The Nation is trying to set up virtual round tables for those Congressmen and women who are unable to get back to their districts to participate also.

The 2% Solution is a free, live, interactive webcast set for January 30, 2008 at 8pm eastern. Stephen Schneider, a Stanford University climate scientist, Hunter Lovins, a sustainability expert, and Van Jones, a green jobs pioneer, plus various youth climate leaders will host this discussion of global warming solutions. This webcast is being encouraged to be shown in school auditoriums and gyms, be assigned as homework, host a show in your church, clubhouse or even your living room.

Choose Your Future is a forum based initiative that hopes to open discussion and use the top five into priorities for action to be held up as a citizen endorsed agenda for political leaders in Washington DC and capitals across the country. Current threads for this forum are “Invest in the Clean Energy Revolution“, “Create Green Jobs, Save Energy“, “No New Coal Plants without “Capture and Sequestration“”, “Cap Pollution & Cut Checks (to All Americans)“, “Build Green: Carbon Neutral by 2030“, “Jumpstart Low Polluting Biofuel“, “Support Stronger Forests“, “Tax Global Warming Pollution“, “Cleaner Cars, California-Style“, “Get Efficient — Cut Energy, Save Money“.

We here at The Off Grid Home encourage you to become involved even if it’s just watching the webcast or putting you two cents in on the forum. We are all part of this Earth so we must each decide whether we are going to be part of the problem or solution. We hope if you are reading us then you have chosen to be the later, as we have.

Dandelion…yummm!

If you go down to the woods today . . . be prepared to find them heaving with proto-hunter-and-gatherer types, not to mention the occasional itinerant film crew, crashing though the undergrowth in search of nuts, fungi and Wordsworth’s “lurking berries, ripe and red”, or snuffling out edible plants, herbs, bark and roots, along with the occasional trapped rabbit, in a kind of gonzo rustic rite of passage. Free food has become the most precious commodity of all.

Although mushroom-picking has long been a serious weekend pursuit elsewhere in Europe, the occasional blackberry ramble has tended to be about as far as most of us go in our back-to-nature moments. (more…)

Save the worms!

A New Zealand inventor with a new kind of anaerobic toilet has had some trouble with the thought police. He was told to get an expert’s report on the mental impact of his “wormorator” on the tiger worms being used in the composting toilet he has developed. City officials became concerned that the creatures might become traumatised by the procedure.

Coll Bell from Auckland says the official felt the worms were being unfairly treated and that it could affect them in a psychological way. Mr Bell was told he had to get someone with the necessary qualifications to say the worms were happy. (more…)

A handful of seed

To grow a seed likes warmth and moisture, exactly what you should avoid when storing seeds! Can you recognise the seeds in the picture? They are all ones I’ve saved this year, answers at bottom of article.

Properly stored most seeds will keep and germinate well for several years, some - like tomatoes - can remain usable for a decade or more.

Storing seeds wisely enables you to save money and compare different varieties. I almost always grow more than one variety of each vegetable and there are often surprisingly large differences in how they perform and taste. This would be too expensive to do if I had to buy fresh seed for each variety every year so I take care of my seeds and add new varieties every year to sow alongside good performers from previous years.

Cool, dry and dark is how you should store your seeds. (more…)

Dylan Appleseed

On 22nd November Dylan Evans abruptly ended The Utopia Experiment (TUE) less than half way through its planned duration:

“The original aim of the experiment was to find out what life would be like in the aftermath of the collapse of industrial civilisation. I have now collected enough information to achieve this aim. There is therefore no need to continue the experiment any further.”

No doubt there’s a bit more to it than that but we’ll probably have to wait for Dylan’s forthcoming book to hear the much more. I have a brief explanation for you: Dylan changed just about everything in his life while setting up the experiment and, having arrived in his ‘new life’, felt very uncomfortable in it.

Fortunately the outside world still exists much as it was a year ago and Dylan has escaped back into it. If things develop as his scenario suggests - and I expect - that option will become less available within a few years. Nearly all recent news on the three main threats (economic, oil and resources, climate) has been about as bad as could realistically been imagined over this last year.

So I would say the original premise for TUE is even more valid than it was a year ago and the project should and will continue, we’re calling it Phoenix for now. (more…)