From the monthly archives:

August 2009

by spy_vondega on August 27, 2009 · 11 comments

in SOLAR

kt tunstall
Tunstall – she’s for real Some green celebrities are complete frauds – for example Sting and Chris Martin who jet around the world, and live lavish home lifestyles while pretending they are “green.”

Others, like KT Tunstall, are putting us all to shame.

“As some of you may know, I’m a country bumpkin these days,” she told fans las tmonth after buying a $2m second home in Berkshire, wich she is turning off-grid ready. “And the extra exciting bit is that I’m currently building a solar-powered studio. Hope to record number 3 in it. (Better get it done soon then, or there won’t be any sun. Ho Ho.)” she said on her blog – KT Tunstall, http://www.kttunstall.com/diary/

The Scottish pop princess takes her green issues very seriously. Not only does she insist that her tour buses run on bio-fuels, she also uses an ethical clothing company to make all her merchandise and has her own 6,000-acre forest in the Borders.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Drastic Fantastic star also spent £170,000 transforming her London flat into an eco-home, complete with solar panels. Her flat in London’s Willesden, a green haven complete with sheep wool insulation, solar panels and recycled fibreboard.

‘I have a pretty environmentally unfriendly job,” she said. “The CD production, the travelling, thousands of gig-goers getting to venues, it all takes its toll, so it feels like I should do my best to try and turn the tables.”

»Keep reading 'KT Tunstall’s eco homes'

Grandma goes TEOTWAWKI

August 26, 2009
Grandma goes TEOTWAWKI

I ran across this article today, it's about a grandmother who has made the active choice to protect herself by prepping for an uncertain future. She made changes in her lifestyle to help her get through any tough times that might come her way. I say with tongue firmly planted in cheek, this grandma has gone all TEOTWAWKI, all I can say is, you go granny!

»Keep reading 'Grandma goes TEOTWAWKI'

Winter’s coming, get ready now

August 24, 2009
Winter’s coming, get ready now

It's the middle of August, smack in the middle of summer, and it's time to start thinking about winter. Yes, the cold air is coming. I have a hard time thinking about cold weather when I'm sweating and grumbling about where the breeze went... But there are little reminders about the coming  cold, the sun is setting sooner and sooner each night. The evenings are cooling off nicely, it's all but getting cold at night. Of course cold is relative, when it's been near 100° F, then 55° or 60° feels cold, after it's been in the 30°s, then 55° to 60° will feel like a heat wave. :)

»Keep reading 'Winter’s coming, get ready now'

How to install the right wind turbine

August 23, 2009
How to install the right wind turbine

Stewart: walking the talk Stewart Somerville owns an Alternative Power company, and even he had problems installing his own wind turbine. With building code issues, parts compatibility problems and technical expertise required, what hope is there for the rest of us?

»Keep reading 'How to install the right wind turbine'

Man Maketh the Clothes

August 20, 2009
Man Maketh the Clothes

Flintoff & daughter - homespun  wisdom

There are not many books about learning to sew that set up the problem with a few chapters on the world’s religions plus a visit to Prince Charles’s Savile Row tailor.  But John-Paul Flintoff’s personal memoir, Through the Eye of a Needle: The true story of a man who went searching for Meaning and ended up making his Y-fronts, (currently available in the US via Amazon UK)  is about learning to sew in a Post-Modern way, and so it is stuffed full of influences from Christianity and  Zen Buddhism to personal shoppers and Indian call-centers.

Flintoff’s starting point is the vanity of our current clothes purchasing habits plus the way that we have all been disempowered by Western consumer society, so we no longer know how to

do any of the things that got our grandparents through the last Depression.

He finds a copy of “Make do and Mend: Keeping Family and Home Afloat on War Rations,” a collection of war-time DIY pamphlets. This immediately inspires him to mend his wife’s hand-made and very expensive bra, as well as some socks and jeans of his own.    His stitching looks like the work of a blind man, but no matter

»Keep reading 'Man Maketh the Clothes'

Western New Zealand

August 19, 2009
Western New Zealand

Come to sunny Karamea A remote off-grid community in New Zealand has outed itself in an appeal for more residents to come and join them.

The scattered collections of a dozen houses and cabins near Karamea on New Zealand’s west coast, relies on solar power rather than pay the $40,000 per household it would cost to connect to the grid.

»Keep reading 'Western New Zealand'

African micro-grids

August 19, 2009
African micro-grids

The next big leap Phone company Ericsson is partnering with an African cell-phone provider, to build a thousand solar-powered base stations across the continent this year. Nokia Siemens is also working

»Keep reading 'African micro-grids'

David LaChapelle in Maui

August 8, 2009
David LaChapelle in Maui

A top fashion photographer who has grown sick and tired of the consumer society?  It sounds like a chef who has had enough of food.  But this is the story of David LaChapelle, darling of celebrity snappers, who moved from New York to an 18 acre off-grid retreat in Maui, where his bedroom is surrounded by kava, a tranquilizing plant that can inspire vivid dreams. Several years ago, at the top of his profession and in constant demand, he realized, “I didn’t want to keep photographing fashion and celebrities….I really just walked away at the top of that editorial photography world... it was not a place that I wanted to continue to be in. Although it was great when I was in my 20s and early 30s, I wanted something different.”

»Keep reading 'David LaChapelle in Maui'

Perry Reeves goes off-grid

August 4, 2009
Perry Reeves goes off-grid

Perry Reeves is building a 40-acre ``eco estate'' in Costa Rica  together with her equally environmentally conscious hubby Jeff Garrett who is in charge of home-improvement details.

``It's a beautiful property,'' said the Entourage star on the red carpet poolside. ``It's all off-grid . . . solar and hydro power. It's been my passion for the last five years.''

``You're really removing yourself,'' agreed the New Hampshire native. ``It's right next to the beach but between two rivers.''

»Keep reading 'Perry Reeves goes off-grid'

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