Posts from — December 2008

It seems that the “green” (or brown) movement is growing faster and faster. It used to be the realm of unwashed hippies, tree huggers and other so called “degenerates” who lived off the grid, in the wild, on the fringes of society.

Lately, I keep reading about how more mainstream people are jumping in, purchasing solar panels, adding passive solar rooms, collecting rain water. I read about people who build $300,000+ green homes, that price doesn’t include the price of the land it sits upon! It’s all fine and dandy for those who have lots of readily available cash sitting around, or worse, they get loans to bankroll their ubergreen homes. (more…)

de Quincey: are we noble or savage? Who among us is innocent of responsibility for the degradation our species inflicts on the natural world, says Christian de Quincey of the Wisdom Academy

Everyday, we all make choices that contribute, one way or another, to environmental disruption—and we are responsible for those choices.
I’m not just talking about our ecological footprint (some eco-footprint is unavoidable from every member of every species). By “choices,” I’m referring to those decisions we make with our purchases and other actions even though other, less eco-impacting, alternatives are available.
The problem is systemic. (more…)

Chris AndersonAfter the ice storms of the past 24 hours, the entire town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, is plunged in darkness  – except for one off-grid home.

Chris Anderson and Anna Von Mertens live on a 14-acre lot  not far from the center. The 5,000 sq ft house cost about $600,000 to build – but right now the extra $150,000 over and above an equivalent on-the-grid house, seems like money extremely well spent. Not only are there no electricity or gas bills, there is power. (more…)

Ureneck: On Walden Pond Lou Ureneck has decided he is the next Thoreau, author of Walden, Life in the Woods.

Henry Thoreau’s nineteenth century cabin was 10 feet by 15 feet. Lou Ureneck’s in Western Maine will be 30 by 16. And The New York Times has given it the star treatment.

Ureneck is professor of journalism at Boston University, and  he is building the cabin “himself”, together with help from friends and family, not to mention a few local contractors.

The cabin is to be a vacation getaway and “will be simple, even primitive, maintaining contact with a tradition of frugality that reaches back to Walden Pond,” says Ureneck.  He bought the land this February for $32,000 to have somewhere to go fishing. (more…)

Tia Meer in her organic garden A couple living off-grid by the shores of the Econlockhatchee River, Florida, are about to be featured in an upcoming issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, which has about 2.7 million readers, in an article titled “Back to Basics” about Americans embracing a “less is more” philosophy of growing your own vegetables and living simpler lives. a more simple life.

Oprah Winfrey’s crew found Terry Meer and Tia Silvasy Meer down a leaf-strewn gravel path, their home sitting on 10-foot concrete stilts. (more…)

Wretha…are worth a thousand words, or so they say, I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of myself, I know that when I have been following someone else’s blog for a while, any time I can see a picture of the blog author, it’s a treat, so here’s my treat for you. Some of you have been following my ramblings for a year, some for not as long, either way, here I am, now you have a face to go with the words. (more…)

Let there be skylight Skylights offer ventilation and light to your vehicle, helping also reduce damp by circulating air. They are easy to install with a few simple tools. There is a variety of places on the internet, or local camping stores where they can be bought. Depending on your requirements they can cost anything from $50 to $000’s. The basic models offer a simple lift up method to allow air in. (more…)

Don’t try this at home A high profile story about living off-grid in the UK appeared in New Scientist magazine. Its riddled with errors.

Titled ‘How to unplug from the grid,’  it couldn’t be a bigger plug for off-grid living, if you’ll excuse the pun. But the New Scientist cover story has sparked a furious debate about numerous inaccuracies in both the story and the accompanying picture.

The New Scientist editorial team for some reason chose to illustrate “How to unplug from the grid” with a photo (left) of a woman ironing laundry in a field, powered by a single solar panel in the foreground. What these science experts failed to appreciate was that it is quite impossible to run an iron off-grid using a solar panel other than by a major leap in solar technology. (more…)

Tankless Water HeaterLiving off the grid, and on the cheap, requires sacrifices, you do give up some conveniences. Some of the things I didn’t have when I first moved to my off grid home were running water, unlimited electricity, heating, much in the way of furniture, refrigerator, internet, phone, solid walls (grin)… and hot water. (more…)