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2012

Community

Be the Hero, Not the Victim

This pairs well with my “Prepping on a budget” series, this is about the “what if” scenarios, it’s something all of us should do more often, not just once and then forget about it. Going to the store and purchasing a few bags of beans and rice to put up is a good thing, but don’t let that be the main thing or (gasp) the only thing you do to prepare for potentially hard times. And remember, hard times don’t have to be on a global or regional scale to affect you, it can be something as simple as losing your job, having your hours cut, getting hurt, having an unexpected bill… It’s important to be proactive about your situation, and the more you plan ahead, the better off you will be in the event of something unexpected happening.

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Build an Edible Green Roof


Beautiful Green roofs are a good alternative for growing food where there is little or no garden space, it also helps to keep the temperature fresh in summer and isolate the house in winter.

This video show how to make a green roof with a mix that is one third of the weight of common soil – so that the roof can handle the load.

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Community

Daily Mail story about off-grid Emma



Currently the top story on the Daily Mail web site is a plug for off-grid living, featuring Emma Orbach who first came to prominence when she was described in my British book How to Live Off-Grid. The book is about my trip around the UK meeting off-grid dwellers, and the time I spent with Emma at Brith Dir Mawr in Wales is one of the most inspiring sections. She was lucky enough to be part of a group that bought a huge fertile piece of land and moved on in 1995, before the backlash against this way of living. you can see film of Emma and many other off-gridders at my YouTube channel.

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Off-Grid 101

Best way to cut Glass Bottles.


Glass bottles are a great building material – strong, long-lasting and beautiful if handled correctly. They can be used for hundreds of things, from decoration and food storage to UV water treatments and windows.

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Can lone females live safely in inner city vans?

a “little Dodge Caravan” plus “volunteering in exchange for meals and a shower”

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Community

The Global Ecovillage Network

The Global Eco-village Network is a network of sustainable communities.

It offers invaluable knowledge and experience from the most successful sustainable communities around the world. In this video, founder Kosha Joubert talks about the GEN, her experience in this movement, how an Ecovillage helps to change a whole region, and the rising interest from mainstream media.

An example of famous ecovillages that are part of the network are Findhorn Ecovillage in Escotland, Auroville in India and The Farm in the U.S.

All off them are true laboratories for Off-grid living, energy technologies, low Carbon footprint building methods, new economics, alternative currencies and much more.

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Mobile

Best way to get Internet off the grid

What do you have do to get Internet access when you don’t have a fixed phone line?

Which service do you use and why? – We are trying to find out what works best in different parts of the country – it can make a huge difference to your quality of life. Please let us know through comments at the end of this story, or in the forum if you prefer.

There are three main options
1. Satellite Internet – like Dish network and HuughesNet – relatively inexpensive but surprisingly high power consumption.

2. Mobile broadband via your cell – either on your cell or using it as a wireless hotspot and connecting your computer to it – lowest power consumption.

3. A purpose built device, like a roof-top antenna for 4G signals, connected to a wireless router inside the house like Home Fusion from Verizon.

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Holos – beyond doomsday – the new Paradigm


As the  winds of change are being felt around the planet, it´s a good time to post this video about Paradigm shift. The end of the year contains an astounding amount of collective attention to an “end date”. For some, December 21 brings the end of world, a doomsday, a shift in consciousness, an alignment of the earth with major cosmic bodies and black holes. Some say it is the end of the longest cycle of a Mayan Calendar, others say this long count cycle Calendar was made by the Olmecs.

This video doesn’t talk about calendars and doom dates, but it gives a good description of what kind of paradigm shift we maty be going through, and how this new understanding is the key to the next stage of planetary consciousness from the perspective of modern science.

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Mobile

Stops Along the Way: Part 1

Time goes by fast and even faster when you have much to do by a deadline, writes Mochagypsy.   My energies have been scattered between organizing my belongings, moving into my home on wheels, and being hit with the first Nor’easter of the season!

I’m happy to announce that I am now a full time RV-er!  I intended to write a climactic entry the night before my big move (the last day of October), but a hurricane Sandy came along and knocked out my Internet connection.  I will not complain too harshly since compared to many others in my region, I got off easy.  It’s somewhat strange for me to think about how I had an idea to change my life only a few months ago and now I’m writing this entry from the inside of my new home.  I guess life really is that simple.  It’s only the stops we take along the way in our journey that makes change seem so complicated.

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People

Do not buy Solar Panels from James McKirdy

Greentech Media reports on scam artist operating under the name Off-Grid Solar (not connected in any way with this site).

They’ve reported on the antics of solar salesman (and apparently scumbag) James McKirdy, age 66, since early 2011. In the months that Greentech have been following his activities, he’s been accused of bilking tens of thousands of dollars from solar panel consumers who have partnered with him or tried to buy McKirdy’s mythical solar panels.

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A million solar homes in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries on earth, a renewable energy company is busy installing nearly 1,000 solar home systems each day.

In November 2012 Grameen Shakti hit 1 Million Solar Home Systems (SHS) installed. The company’s milestone reinforces a lesson that is increasingly clear. Whether it’s Germany, the US, or evenChina distributed solar installations are driving the solar revolution.

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Technology and Unemployment

The average working person struggles while Corporate profits soar. The middle class is being replaced by automation.

We underestimate the impact of automation. This video observes how, as the economic crisis deepens, competition gets tougher.

This is forcing business to automate more which in turn lays people off, reducing purchasing power and fuelling the crisis further. This self destructive trend has a limit where the system stops, and we may be close to that limit.

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