Posts by — isuru

New veg-box scheme

The world’s first portable, containerised vegetable garden is set to be delivered in April. The scientifically developed  “vegetable factory”, from Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp. is an insulated 40-ft shipping container, equipped with water-circulation system and LED lighting.

Reacting to a scandal caused by the importation of pesticide-tainted dumplings from China, Japan is seeing a number of designs emerge for small vegetable factories in which crops are grown artificially. Many are cultivated hydroponically in tiers of shelves under energy-saving LED  lighting.

Some are so small that they can be installed in a floor space equivalent to a “tatami” mat (2 metres square). (more…)

Taking control

Gary Lavalette is saving $3500 a year in heating and electricity costs since he installed renewable energy.  At this rate his investment will have paid for itself by 2018. From then on his heat and light are nearly free….forever.

Over the past four to five years, the Massachusetts plumber made the switch from traditional to alternative energy sources in a series of steps including solar hot water, photovoltaic panels and a wood gasification unit in the backyard.

The result? (more…)

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has warned of a new financial bubble fueled by banking greed and called for urgent, far-reaching reform of the world’s financial system and foreign exchange markets so they serve the people and productive economic investment, rather than the other way around.

The Unctad report questions the extent to which there is a genuine self-sustaining economic recovery going on, arguing that falling wages present a huge danger to the world that is being too often ignored by many economists and policymakers. (more…)

Prefab cabins are the quickest way to a luxury off-grid existence.  Prices can be relatively high compared to doing it yourself, but the pay-off is somewhere quick, andjust as beautiful as the surroundings.

There has been a mushrooming of interest from architects in designing prefab off-grid homes in recent years.   (more…)

Everybody’s doing it The New York Times reports that many more students this year are looking for rural internships – gardening and organic farming are top of their list. (Some links to farm work apprenticeships are on the next page)

Erin Axelrod will be living in a tent, using an outdoor composting toilet and harvesting vegetables on a farm near Petaluma, Calif.

Gina Runfola, an English and creative writing student, was selected from over 20 applicants to intern at 3-Corner Field Farm in Shushan, N.Y.

Ms. Runfola, who grew up on the Jersey Shore and has never even gone camping, will plot her next move from a small trailer parked a half a city block away from the Internet connection in the main farmhouse.

(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…)

Educators A building and educational project in Saskatchewan is bringing together Grade 10 students, community leaders and environmental building experts to create a unique off-grid-ready home.  Grade 10 students at Charlebois Community School in Cumberland House, the oldest permanent settlement in western Canada,  teamed with professional engineers, alternative energy and building specialists, and local trades to build an environment-friendly house.

Dubbed the Pisim Project (Pisim is Cree for sun), the house is based on the same footprint as homes of a century ago, while using local materials and modern technology to produce an efficient, low-cost home capable of existing off-grid for up to five days. (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…)