Posts from — April 2009

The Hopi declaration of water states, “What we do to our water, we do to ourselves”.  A scary reality in the West, where aquifer levels steadily decline, arsenic continues to poison city water, and new development is threatened with an inadequate assured water supply.

In the face of such monumental water shortage challenges, rainwater harvesting offers a solution.

High Desert Rain Catchment of Prescott, Arizona is hosting workshops geared towards do-it-yourself types who want to learn about installing their own rainwater harvesting systems. (more…)

Kicking ass for cap and trade

Incoming boss of Greenpeace USA, Phil Radford, took a break to speak to Off-Grid about his aims for the organisation.

He praised Americans living off-grid for showing a way forward that everyone could follow. “We have a short time to make dramatic changes in society’s use of energy,” he said.

“People with or without permission need to be putting up solar panels and wind turbines, whether they are off-grid or on the grid.”

Phil Radford’s  main enemy:  companies like ExxonMobil and Southern Energy “that will fight to the death against any action on global warming,” he said. (more…)

Small beginnings There has been a rush of government announcements for loans to bring off-grid power to both rural and urban areas.

The Department of Agriculture has issued two schemes and the Public Health and Welfare section of the United States code calls for the Energy Secretary to favor projects which include “designing a local distributed energy system that incorporates renewable hydrogen production, off- grid electricity production….in industrial or commercial service.” (more…)

We do live in extreme times and it seems to be getting worse. Today I received an email contained a link to a Fort Worth (Texas) newspaper, they wrote an article about modern day survivalists, it included a blurb about Bruce Hopkins, the owner of http://www.internet-grocer.net/. Of course the article contained more, and I am conflicted about its contents. http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1299768.html (more…)

Come on darkness, my old friend Our society has become scared of the dark. So we salute Cassandra and Danny Campbell’s of Valley Glen. For them, Earth Hour comes once a week — and it lasts all night. Thursday is the family’s No Lights Night, meaning candles and oil lamps only.

“I wanted to introduce my kids to what life is like without electricity,” says Cassandra Campbell, an audio books narrator. “All kinds of things can happen when you turn off all the media.”

Darkness, she says, can be fun. (more…)

Action Man Canadian teacher Hugh Dale-Harris shared his experience of living off-grid near Thunder Bay with readers of the Toronto Star. But before you think, “oh great, if a teacher can do this then so can I” – bear in mind, Dale-Harris recently traveled to the North Pole via dog sled.

His love for the outdoors and teaching began as a swimming, sailing, windsurfing and water-skiing instructor at summer camp. Later he decided to get his teaching degree and continue his passion for educating people in the wilderness. (more…)

Make money, save planet Show me the green We are always being told how to save money and save the planet – but here’s how to go a step further. With the right investments you can actually make money whil helping save the planet. As U.S. policymakers begin to consider the idea of building a “Smart Grid,” (where your fridge talks to the power company and will switch off for a few hours at peak demand) , companies already in that business stand to benefit from federal grants and growing demand. The idea of a smart grid may never work because the cost of implementing it could outweigh the savings made, but some companies will get rich trying. Comverge Inc. (COMV) and EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC) are two good examples (No off-grid staff have any pecuniary interest in either company). (more…)