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Community

Montana retreat near Canadian border

If you want to unplug and enjoy the breathtaking scenery that Montana has to offer, head to The North Fork. Located only a mile from Glacier National Park and three miles from the Canadian border, this small community operates on off-grid generators and solar power, with no cell phone reception for miles.

“That’s exactly why we chose to build here,” said Bill, owner of a three-level log home. What attracted Bill and his wife Luann to the area is also what created a unique challenge for builder Scott Leigh. “To get to the site, we had to drive 60 miles up a gravel road, sometimes in terrible weather, and then have no cell phone reception the entire time we were there,” Scott said. To minimize the difficult commute, he would stay onsite with his workers four days a week and then drive back to his office on Friday and gather more building materials.

The layout and design of the three-bedroom, three-bath log home was a collaborative effort that included Scott, Bill and Luann and designer Eric Bachofner whose company provided the 12-inch Swedish cope, hand-hewn lodgepole pine logs.

Because the site had an unspoiled view of Kintla Peak in Glacier National Park, the scenery was a major influence on the design. “Bill’s big push was centered on how the house was oriented,” said Scott. “He wanted the bay windows to face the mountain range, so we sat out there together with a compass and the floor plans and made it happen.”

The other key essential was a dining bay with 14-foot ceilings that Bill saw on another floor plan and wanted to incorporate into his own log home. The room features large windows with a 270-degree view of the horizon. Western larch logs provide structural support for the roof, but also create a unique “speckled” design leading up to the ceiling.

Not to be outdone by the dining bay, the kitchen boasts amazing views that “look straight out into Lewis and Clark country,” according to Bill, and is decorated to transition seamlessly into the dining and great rooms in the home’s open design.

To complement the logs, Kurt Kress was brought in to create the kitchen’s custom cabinetry from knotty alder. He applied several layers of stain, glaze and lacquer before heavily distressing the doors to give them an antiqued look. He chose a deep brown hue with green undertones that plays off the copper farm sink framed with two handmade newel posts. Seeded-glass panels were inserted into several upper cabinets as accents. Crema Bordeaux granite countertops complete the rich look of the space with copper features that mirror the same accents found throughout the home.

If you want to disconnect from the wired world, Bill and Luann’s home is certainly the place to do it. And you couldn’t ask for a better backdrop than some of the most spectacular …

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Community

Montana Music Man

Greg Grant, born in New York, has spent the last 21 years living in his self-built off-grid home in Montana. In this clip we interview Greg about his lifestyle and share some of the videos from his own web site.

Armed with previous experience as a carpenter and with the help of friends, but mostly self taught, he built his home which serves as both his recluse and studio.

Greg currently spends monthly no more than $150 in living costs, all thanks to his solar power set up, food growing and all round frugal lifestyle.

Greg Grant: https://www.greggrantmusic.com/

 

 

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Energy

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Solar Panels for Palestine – Donate Now

Whatever your views on the Arab-Israel conflicts, and on the Hamas atrocities of October 9th, nobody can no doubt that the humanitarian crisis demands immediate action by all of us – especially now that UNWRA has been exposed as a deeply suspect organisation. Sending money to huge bureaucracies like Save the Children or UNWRA – you know for sure that much of it goes in admin, bribes and other priorities than your own.

So if you want to help Palestinians on the ground in Gaza, who are surviving on tiny morsels of food, limited water and intermittent energy, if you want all your money to go straight to those in need – then we have a way.

Our cameraman in Gaza, will spend what we send him on buying solar panels, and film himself donating them to ordinary families. He has already been donating cash this way – brought in via Egypt.

He shot our latest Youtube footage, showing him distributing donated money – 50 shekels at a time. You can see the ID cards of the women as he hands them the money. You can see they are innocent citizens and not terrorists. Watch the video on our socials, and tell your friends.

Insta
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3SFn31IQld/?igsh=a3Nxa3R4YjFnNDZo

Facebook
https://fb.watch/qaYFhPNFqc/

Tiktok
Banned

Youtube shorts

But solar panels are more valuable than money – they are the gift that keeps on giving. We have found a supply of panels in Gaza, and any donations received will be used to purchase them and give them to communities in need of energy to power their lights and phones.

Please paypal to nick@off-grid.net and we will get the money straight out there the next day.

Mark your paypal: Solar Panels for Palestine.

dog-by-fire-on-boat

Windy Winter Boating Nights

Richard Stabbins begins an occasional series on the joys and heartbreaks of living on a boat in the middle of a big city.

It’s early evening on the canal towpath and I’m almost home. My hands are frozen and even getting my bike lock open had me yelping expletives. I cut a dishevelled figure on the dark stretch between Broadway Market and Victoria Park, dimly lit by LED lights of neighbouring boats. Hopping onto the bow of my floating home, crouching my way through the front door, my first thought is: “I’m so glad I’ve got a dog!”. Bruno is an excitable 30kg hound, a blessing in himself. I had stocked the stove

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Land

Public land sell-off halted till next Prez term

Public land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the US is some of the most important for off-grid communities – including those who live in vans and RVs, but also for millions of ordinary Americans who depend on it for livelihood and outdoor activities.

Under President Trump there has been a permanent threat of a massive sell-off, but a Montana judge’s ruling has effectively removed the risk until after the November election, the New York Times reported.

The federal judge in Montana ordered William Perry Pendley, whose appointment was not confirmed by the Senate, to leave the position of BLM acting Director.

Mr. Pendley, who had held the job since he was “temporarily” appointed in July 2019, was also prohibited from using any authority to make decisions about federal lands. President Trump had nominated Mr. Pendley to fill the position on a permanent basis in July 2020 but withdrew the nomination this month.

“Pendley has served and continues to serve unlawfully as the Acting B.L.M. director,” the judge, Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, wrote in a 34-page ruling he issued on Friday.

Judge Morris added that Mr. Pendley’s ascent “did not follow any of the permissible paths set forth by the U.S. Constitution.”

The ruling also prevented Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who appointed Mr. Pendley, from picking another person to run the bureau.

Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, who filed a lawsuit in July against Mr. Pendley and Mr. Bernhardt, called the ruling “a win for the Constitution, the rule of law, and our public lands.” Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee for president, cheered the decision on Saturday, National Public Lands Day.

The ruling was a significant victory for Mr. Bullock, a former presidential candidate who is running for the United States Senate in a tight race against Steve Daines, the Republican incumbent.

The Bureau of Land Management has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Neil Kornze left in January 2017. Since then, five people have been appointed to the position — and none received Senate approval.

Conner Swanson, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said the ruling was “an outrageous decision that is well outside the bounds of the law.”

“It betrays longstanding practice of the department going back several administrations,” he said in an email. “We will be appealing this decision immediately.”

The department noted that under President Barack Obama’s leadership, Mary L. Kendall, the department’s former deputy inspector general, served as acting inspector general for years even though the Senate never confirmed her appointment. Ms. Kendall resigned in 2019, shortly after her office opened an investigation into ethical complaints about Mr. Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and agribusiness industries.

“The department is unaware of any Democrat voicing similar concerns related to this issue during

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People

Celebrities Quarantining In The Countryside

Celebrities are fleeing urban coronavirus hotspots for quarantining in Wyoming, Montana, and other Western rural regions. Experts are criticizing this move as dangerous to those who live in those areas year-round. Fearing their relocation may cause added stress to an already severely limited healthcare infrastructure.

These include celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, and Kelly Clarkson to name a few.

“These moves have been a huge concern for us,” Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of  NRHA, told NBC News. “It’s such a bad idea for upper-income urban people to hunker down in these areas. It potentially places added pressure on a health care system that was for primary care and general surgery, not for pandemic surge response.”

Morgan said that as of Friday afternoon, there are more than 16,000 cases of coronavirus scattered across rural counties nationally. Hospitals in these areas have one to two ventilators on site on average, he said. More than half of the rural counties in the United States have no intensive care beds at all.

Celebs moving to the countryside

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel were the most recent celebrities to come under fire for the phenomenon. Some have branded “disaster gentrification” after Timberlake recently revealed that the couple has settled into their home in the Yellowstone Club. It’s a 15,200-acre private community west of Gallatin County, to wait out the coronavirus outbreak. Kelly Clarkson has also decamped to her Montana ranch during the pandemic.

“To be honest, we thought the best way to kind of do our part was. We have a place in Montana and so, we came up here,” Timberlake said in an interview with SiriusXM Hits1 on Wednesday.

Travel from urban centers spreading coronavirus to rural areas

Gallatin County is among the top 10 rural counties with the highest reported COVID-19 cases, according to data obtained by NBC News from NRHA. In comparison to the surge of cases, there are currently eight ICU beds available in the country. There’s just one for every 2,141 residents aged 60+, according to Kaiser Health News.

“In Utah, in Colorado, all around the country, we’re hearing the same stories,” Morgan said. “People are moving into these understaffed, underfunded areas that are tinderboxes for the outbreak. Many of the populations in these communities are exactly those who are least equipped to get the virus. Basically older, sicker people with preexisting conditions who can’t afford to be exposed to it.”

Coronavirus Data

Jessica Carson, a research assistant public policy professor at the University of New Hampshire, recently conducted a rapid response project that appears to corroborate Morgan and the NRHA’s assessment that continued travel from those who do not live in rural communities is causing the spread of COVID-19.

After analyzing data from the New York Times, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service and the U.S. Census Bureau, Carson determined that the nation …

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Community

Reuters Foundation turns on to off-grid

Here is a recent Reuters Foundation report on off-grid real estate:

Often called survivalists or “preppers”, many escapees twin an expectation of impending doom – or outright social collapse – with a deep disbelief in the government’s ability to cope.

Buying land — or “bugout” property, derived from military slang for a retreat — is a priority, with real estate networks compiling national lists of “prepper lands”.

Most survivalist land purchases are in the mountains of the U.S. northwest, primarily Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

In 2011, a blogger and former U.S. Army intelligence officer named James Wesley, Rawles – he includes the comma in his name – wrote a widely circulated post urging “freedom-loving Christians” to move to the region as a safe haven.

He dubbed the area the American Redoubt and urged followers to “buy land that will maximise your self-sufficiency.”

It is unclear how many heeded his call, but the Economist magazine estimated they numbered in the “thousands of families”.

Idaho in particular recorded a big influx, says Reuters Foundation.

The state had one of the top U.S. growth rates in 2015-16, driven in part by escapees from California and neighbouring Washington state, according to Boise State assistant professor Jeffrey Lyons.

Disaffected Californians make up a substantial number of clients for Black Rifle Real Estate, which says online that it helps people “Flee the City to the freedom and safety of Rural America and the famed American Redoubt.”

Broker Todd Savage said his business is at an all-time high, driven by frustration with how many U.S. cities are governed.

“Most of our clients are now looking to sell their postage-stamp size properties … and make what we call a ‘Strategic Relocation’ to a free state,” Savage said in an email.

Driven by new demand, the company is expanding outside of the so-called Redoubt — to Arizona, which Savage said enjoys lower taxes and far looser gun controls than liberal California.

“Arizona is the new Idaho for many seeking relief from the tyranny in California,” he said.

EMBRACE LAND

Conservatives are not alone in the new land rush.

Haynes said his clients in North Carolina are evenly split between survivalists and “homesteaders” — young, liberal, less affluent families seeking peace, quiet and a sustainable life.

“When I started out in 1973, the big thing then was the ‘back to the land’ movement,” said Neil Shelton with the Ozark Land Company, a developer active in Missouri and Arkansas.

What he is seeing now is a “new iteration” of that movement, he said, and one driven by innovation: the pre-built ‘tiny home’, typically 400-600 square feet.

Small structures have made home ownership more affordable, he said, for some accelerating the new mood of escapism.

“This tiny-house movement is the biggest thing I’ve seen since” the 1970s, Shelton said.

Kim Moore, 63, said she and her husband had bought nearly 60 acres …

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¡Comunidad Francesa necesita un nuevo líder!

¿Te gustaría experimentar las montañas francesas viviendo en nuestra comuna? ¿Te ves viviendo en una sociedad inclusiva y creativa? ¡Ven a colaborar con nosotros! Tu sabiduría y talento a cambio de ser parte de nuestra pequeña comunidad.

 

La Catfarm francesa es una comuna Off-grid para viajeros y creativos que nos visitan para experimentar un estilo de vida enfocado en la comunidad, sustentabilidad y creatividad.

 

Ahora buscamos a un nuevo miembro que comparta nuestra visión de construir una comuna sustentable Off-grid en lo antes era un viñedo al pintoresco sur de Francia, donde el verano dura ocho meses y la playa esta solo de un par kilómetros. Ofrecemos la oportunidad de vivir aquí gratis y convertir este en tu nuevo hogar. Serás capaz de utilizar un taller lleno de herramientas (desde tractor hasta martillo), y tener un espacio para explorar tu expresión y creatividad, mientras simultáneamente compartes esta experiencia con otros voluntarios.

 

Qué esperamos:

  • Un compromiso mínimo de 6 meses
  • Sentido fuerte de liderazgo
  • Experiencia con herramientas
  • Capacidad de planeamiento y organización
  • Claro/a para comunicarse
  • Experiencia viviendo Off-grid
  • Lado artístico y talento para escribir son un extra

 

Lo que ofrecemos:

 

  • Vivienda gratis
  • Comidas
  • 1/3 de las rentas que generamos en primavera
  • Comisión por ser cocinero en entrenamientos de Erasmus.
  • Espacio para trabajar en tus proyectos independientes
  • Taller equipado
  • Una gran comunidad llena de personas encantadoras

 

Para mas información checa nuestra pagina web www.catfarm.net

Para descargar la forma de aplicación https://bit.ly/2ooTNkd

 

Este artículo es una traducción directa del original en inglés https://off-grid.net/catfarm-needs-community-leader/

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Hispanic

Millonario fuera de la red renta su casa de Hawaii en AirBnB

Cada navidad, Graham Hill experto en tecnología vuela a Hawaii donde al principio se hospedaba en lugares pequeños como en un cabaña en Maui y pasada las tardes surfeando vela en la playa de Ho’okipa.

Luego le ofrecieron un terreno de 2.2 acres. Como fundador de LifeEdited, una consultora inmobiliaria de Manhattan que vende viviendas sencillas y de espacio reducido, no tenía planes de mejorar, sino que vio una oportunidad. Construiría una casa ecológica experimental que sería similar, aunque diferente, a los dos pequeños apartamentos que ya había creado con Life Edited.

“Al principio no tenía planes para la tierra”, dice, “pero Hawaii es un gran lugar para vivir fuera de la red”. Hay mucho sol y viento, y donde estoy en Haiku, hay una cantidad decente de lluvia. También es la temperatura perfecta, por lo que no se necesita calefacción “. Combinó sus fuerzas con la empresa de arquitectura e ingeniería local Hawaii Off-Grid y pasó un año creando una casa de vacaciones de 1.000 pies cuadrados que es totalmente sostenible y genera más energía de la que utiliza.

Unos paneles solares delgados como una oblea, casi invisibles, cubren el techo, las baterías de litio en el garaje almacenan su energía, y un tanque gigante en el jardín contiene hasta 20,000 galones de agua de lluvia. Los dos baños cuentan con inodoros compostables y todo el espacio está equipado con el mismo tipo de mobiliario flexible y funcional que llena el micro-apartamento de Hill en Manhattan.

Tres de las cuatro habitaciones cuentan con camas plegables y pueden cambiar la función; uno se convierte en una sala de juegos, otro se transforma en una sala de cine y el tercero se convierte en una oficina. La terraza de 330 pies cuadrados está equipada con mesas y tumbonas que giran alrededor de la mesa del comedor.

Cuando se la empuja al máximo, la casa puede ser anfitriona de ocho y atender a 20 personas, y cada habitación ofrece vistas al océano y a las montañas del oeste de Maui, que cambian de forma bajo los cielos siempre cambiantes.

Gracias a dos start-ups de Internet, Hill, de 47 años, ya era millonario antes de fundar LifeEdited en 2010. La primera era una empresa de diseño web, que vendió en 1998 por $ 10 millones; el segundo fue el sitio web de sostenibilidad TreeHugger, que se compró por la misma suma en 2007. Éste sitio web cubre temas desde cómo construir un gallinero, hasta los últimos autos sin conductor, por esto, TreeHugger representa problemas ecológicos en un lenguaje millenial.

“Muestra que ir “verde” y hacer el bien no tiene que ser sin fines de lucro”, explica Hill, cuyo mantra, “Diseña tu vida para incluir más dinero, salud y felicidad con menos cosas, espacio y energía”, a repetido al hablar en conferencias TED.

Es un territorio nuevo. La tecnología eólica y solar está corriendo …

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Prepping, prepper, survivalist, survival, off-grid, expo,
People

A Survivalist’s Top Prepping Tips

Last month hordes of prepping enthusiasts and survivalists turned out for the Survival Expo in Richmond, Virginia. Vendors like Preparedness Essentials were present selling prepping  products from long term food storage solutions to solar power to tactical gear. One of the vendors was Joe Fischer, a firefighter and air force veteran turned business owner who promotes survivalist training. His business USURVIVEALL also sells survival equipment like the Firestarter which retails at $25.00.

“Preparedness is a way of life.”

Joe is a strong advocate of versatile items in a grid down situation. The essentials in the trunk of his car include pouches of tuna, rice and beans and tea lights. But two key pieces are his bandana and some black tape. Why? They are versatile! A bandana can protect your face from bugs, act as a water filter and be used as a bag to carry berries or other food. Whereas, black tape can be used as a bandage, for repairs or lashing things together to make a shelter or some other construction.

Fischer doesn’t prep for civil unrest, economic collapse or the end of the world, he simply wants to be ready for a particularly bad storm, tornado or power outage. Versatility he believes is the key to surviving.

His top prepping priorities are:

  • Fire – not only for heat and cooking, fire is an important resource for purifying water. It also has soothing abilities; anyone who’s sat by a crackling fire knows how calming it is. Therefore, it helps put you at ease, as Fischer points out, “every animal on earth is afraid of fire”.
  • Knife – common sense prevails, this is an extremely important tool for any survival situation and can get you out of some sticky situations.
  • Shelter and water – a product like a mylar blanket not only keeps you warm but can be set up as a shelter. It can also be used to collect water. Plus, it’s cheap and easy to pack, folding down into a small square for transport.
  • Cordage – something that doesn’t cross everyone’s mind, but is just as important urges Fischer. Cord can help you string up a shelter or a rain tarp. Not to mention if you need to do some climbing (up or down) this can be the difference between life and death.

The next Expo coordinated by RK Prepper Shows is being held in Springfield, Montana on June 24th and June 25th. Tickets are priced between $12 – $14.50 for adults and $5 – $7.50 and can be purchased online.

Surviving societal collapse

Even though Fischer doesn’t believe in prepping for end-of-the-world scenarios, two South Carolina law makers have a different view. Josiah Magnuson and Jonathon Hill have set up the “Virtue Solution Project”, a group which aims to save America… or survive societal collapse. Based on a mix of religion, …

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Tiny House, off-grid, build your own, retirees, retirement, small, mini, houses, homes, self sustaining
Community

Ten Tiny House Companies you NEED to know about

There’s no doubt about it, the tiny house movement has well and truly taken off. Please let us know your favorites (news@off-grid.net). Extreme downsizing has become very popular, with a smaller space offering easier upkeep and lower utility bills. The average tiny house is 186 square feet – truly tiny! With prices of building your own tiny home being around $23,000 on average (remember Joseph’s upcycled shipping container home?) it’s not hard to see why it’s so popular. Even having someone else build you a tiny house, prices start around the $45,000 mark. This is a great deal cheaper than the price of the average American home which runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Therefore, a good many tiny house owners do not have a mortgage, giving financial peace of mind.

A survey conducted in 2015 by TheTinyLife.com found that retirees are becoming a large proportion of tiny house owners. The results showed that 30% of just 2,000 respondents were aged between 51-70 years. Of course this makes sense, as people reach retirement age downsizing is common practice – and you can’t downsize much more than a tiny home! When looking for a tiny house when you’re not as young and nimble as you used to be, it is important to look out for certain features. These include: easy to reach storage to reduce awkward stooping and stretching; a single storey tiny house, or a main floor bedroom – avoid loft sleeping areas with ladders! Accessibility is also important; whether this be wide doorways, walk in showers, ramp access or building low to the ground.

Here are ten tiny house companies, offering retiree appropriate (and non-retiree) products which could very well seal the deal for you!

 

Zyl Vardos Inc – Washington State

Based out of the Squirrel Hut mini-office in Olympia, Washington, Zyl Vardos builds unique and customisable small structures. The tiny house products offered vary in price from $45,000 to above $96,000. Currently their website showcases 10 of the tiny houses offered, but if you fancy having one designed to your own specification, that is also possible.

Their “Little Bird” Basic option is one of build options available. Coming in at $68,000, with a  22 ft x 8 ft floor space, this home has a copper roof and cedar exterior. With a single French door, 6 windows and a kitchenette, this tiny house has everything you would need. The bed nook happily fits a queen mattress, with room to spare, and a flush or compost toilet can be fitted.

If you would like to upgrade to the “Advanced” option of the Little Bird you can – for an extra $10,000. This upgraded model includes a tiled bathroom floor, oak floors, double French doors, expanded kitchen storage amongst other features. Custom options for a retiree such as wider doorways and a raised toilet can be …

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Events

New American homesteaders – author

In new book “The Unsettlers:- Buy it on Amazon” , three American families go beyond ditching the Utility companies –they also walk away from supermarkets, cars and even banks — to define authentic living for themselves.

For “the Luddite curious,” says the LA Times “The Unsettlers” offers a compelling account of diverse Americans living off the grid. These homesteaders in Missouri, Detroit and Montana show us how the other other half lives.

Author Mark Sundeen will appear at Visit Skylight Books this Sunday at 5 p.m. Sunday, spoke to LA Times from Moab, Utah, where he himself spends time off the grid.

You begin with Ethan Hughes and Sarah Wilcox, a young couple who created an intentional living community in Missouri. Why them?

I’d decided that just living off the grid was no longer true dissent. I was curious to hear from people who could go all the way — stop using cars, stop using the banking system.

An intentional living community that forgoes cars, cash and electricity feels pretty radical, and yet you note similarities they share with libertarians and right-wing Christians, some of whom are their neighbors. Was this common ground surprising?

Totally surprising … and totally inspiring. I was so impressed that they were able to find that common ground. That’s something that I think’s important now that Trump is president. The divisiveness that he engenders, it pits people against each other who actually have the same values. Liberals and conservatives both want to live with moral integrity, but they have separate names for that. The right says, “We want to have Christian values, family values,” and that’s interpreted as anti-other religions or anti-single parents or anti-same-sex couples. Liberals say, “We want to end racism, we want to end bigotry, and we want to save the planet,” and that’s another way of living with integrity. I think there’s a lot more commonality than we tend to think.

You never suggest that the reader should renounce her worldly possessions and head to the farm — but are you hoping to influence people?

I’d specifically like the well-intentioned liberal to ask questions about their consumption and not just about their political stance. People say, “I’m going minimalist, I’m going to get rid of all my books and CDs and records and just use a smartphone.” Well, OK, I’m glad that your house is less cluttered, but you’re actually using more fossil fuels and doing more harm with that smartphone than you would with a whole library of books.

Each family’s commitment to the good life is inspiring but intimidating. For those of uswho are inspired to make a change, where do we begin?

I don’t think you begin by depriving yourself of things you love. On the one hand, this book is about the ethical boycott of destructive industries, but on the other hand it’s about following …

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