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SuperJoe

by SuperJoe on February 22, 2010 · 2 comments

in OFF-GRID 101

Awf-Gred Hockey?

The first off-grid classroom with a revolutionary solar-powered rainwater harvesting and filtration system, has been opened.  Exclusive Benenden School in the UK, a girls-only boarding school, launched the classroom last term as a place to conduct field studies of nature subjects.

Benenden provides the innovative teach space set amongst mature parkland. The unique education facility is designed to be entirely off-grid, relying only on solar energy for electricity.

»Keep reading 'Class of its own'

Here comes the sun

February 12, 2010
Here comes the sunBecause we live off the grid, people seem to think we live in a shack without modern conveniences. Totally not true, but we do have to be frugal with our energy usage. On sunny days, we can turn on all sorts of appliances at the same time, allowing me to vacuum and wash clothes while we brew coffee, heat stuff in the microwave, watch TV, and surf the Web.

»Keep reading 'Here comes the sun'

Land prices set to collapse

January 8, 2010
Land prices set to collapse Be prepared for the next phase of the recession and keep watching land prices - if you are nimble, there will be an affordable moment to pick up prime land for your bug-out location. "I recently spent a week sailing in the warm and sunny waters of the Caribbean on a FORBES investor cruise," reports one of the magazine's overpaid columnists in the latest issue. "Instead of being refreshed by the calming sea air and restful floating digs I came back even more stressed about the market than I was before I left." Poor dear. He is right to be stressed.  

»Keep reading 'Land prices set to collapse'

Economy Gastronomy is low stress

January 1, 2010
Economy Gastronomy is low stress Slow cooking is the best way to eat off the grid. Here is the philosophy for successful slow stews. It's an icy winter's day in west London and Allegra McEvedy's kitchen is filled with spice-fragrant steam. As she stirs a huge pan of gumbo, a richly flavoured sausage and prawn casserole, McEvedy, who recently starred in the BBC TV series Economy Gastronomy (buy the book in the US) , becomes increasingly evangelical. "The recession was the kick up the backside that people needed to eat better and waste less," she says.

»Keep reading 'Economy Gastronomy is low stress'

Sustainable Medicine, Cuba and Peak Oil

October 20, 2009
Sustainable Medicine, Cuba and Peak Oil Didi: Eco-doc Didi Pershouse is founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine in Thetford Center, Vermont. I have been in the world of alternative health care for almost twenty years now, five years in school and fifteen more in practice in the small town where I live. I started off in my twenties as a writer and editor in New York City. I was working in a department called Creative Services at New York Magazine: my job was half way between editorial and advertising, so I saw both sides of the system there. Sitting at an ancient computer monitor with smokers all around me in an office where the windows didn’t open, I developed headaches and back pain and all the usual office-job illnesses, so I ended up going to a variety of alternatives—chiropractors, homeopaths, acupuncturists, and yoga classes—to try to get better. Eventually I started studying alternative therapies and got certified as a yoga teacher and shiatsu practitioner, and then I quit my job

»Keep reading 'Sustainable Medicine, Cuba and Peak Oil'

Clochemerle in Quebec

September 13, 2009
Clochemerle in Quebec

Goodbye to all that A wealthy lakeside community in Quebec is being torn apart by a plan for a wind farm atop the green mountains that form its spectacular backdrop. The big power company behind the project is doing all it can to create fear and dissent in the community, including offering bribes to residents who support the plan, and threatening those who don't with a wind turbine right on their property line.  

»Keep reading 'Clochemerle in Quebec'

Wendell Berry in person

August 1, 2009
Wendell Berry in person

Berry: a calming effect What a coup!  Organisers of this year's Wisconsin Book Festival have secured a personal appearance by Kentucky farmer and nationally acclaimed poet and writer Wendell Berry.

Festival director Alison Jones Chaim said, there was a feeling of doom and gloom about the economy, but poet, novelist and essayist Wendell Berry is just the tonic the festival goers need.

He is clear that we all have to embrace a cut in living standards. As he told Progressive magazine earlier this year: "I don't think we can take (environmental reform)  seriously until people begin to talk seriously about lowering the standard of living. When people begin to ...

»Keep reading 'Wendell Berry in person'

Stay small to survive

July 14, 2009
Stay small to survive

Creekmore: neat and tidy Survivalist MD Creekmore used to be a a freelance handyman and part time gunsmith.  Now he's a full time blogger, so he never has to leave home 'cept to buy groceries and some more bullets .

»Keep reading 'Stay small to survive'

What next, eco-napalm?

June 30, 2009
What next, eco-napalm?

For you, the grid is over The US Defense Department (DoD) is preparing to make dozens of its key bases across America "off grid ready."  And apparently in 15 years, all Army bases are expected to be fully off-grid with renewable energy, say military sources - that's if we are still around in 15 years.

This is a step back from a plan to take all bases completely off-grid immediately, an idea promoted by many military energy experts on security grounds.  DoD's chief environmental official, Wayne Arny, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, told lawmakers two weeks ago that DOD is split over how far to take ...

»Keep reading 'What next, eco-napalm?'

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