Posts by — veg-head

Base camp for gadgets

Some survival gadgets are on display at CES, and a handful of them are surveyed in this report from outdoor website Gear Junkie.
I love a gadet as much as the next guy, but I notice my own list of must-carry gear includes things that need no battery or charging cable, so don’t qualify for CES. Here’s the top ten – what would you add? (more…)

What harm could this do?

“Proud to be a hutter”, is the slogan of a new campaign called A Thousand Huts which has sprung up to champion and revive hutting as a way of life. Widespread in Scandinavia, its supporters say hutting promotes low-impact, ecological living and rural regeneration, and puts city dwellers back in contact with the countryside.

In 2012, hutters, landowners and environmental activists will launch a new Scottish hutting federation to spearhead a campaign aimed at reforming planning and land rights laws, to give hutters proper status in the planning system and protect them against eviction and exploitation by landlords. (more…)

As the housing crisis continues to inflict havoc on families across the USA and Europe, the option of living in a vehicle is sometimes the only one available.

For a good, reliable intro, check out Roll Your Own: The Complete Guide to Living in a Truck, Bus, Van, or Camper.

Matt Howe’s web guide to Van living is refreshingly practical.

His key advice: stay organized. “Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find something you desperately need and not being able to because your van is a mess.”

A YouTube film features a guy who lives in a Walmart parking lot going over the details of his van conversion, from carpets to extra lights.

(more…)

The pile is taking shape

The Glennon family’s next home looks like a stack of shipping containers of all different colors from the outside.

That’s because it is a pile of shipping containers.  Once it’s complete, it will be a sprawling, 5,000-square-foot, four-storey building – two levels above ground, a walkout basement and another level below – with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a games and media room, garage and workshop, and two enclosed decks.

It will cost about $150 per square foot –  well below the (more…)

Cruel Nat Geo series even makes fun of children

This TV show first aired in the US last summer and arrives in the UK this wednesday on an obscure cable channel.  It is the latest in a long line of attempts by the mainstream media to poke fun at anyone who chooses to live off-grid because of the fear that the system may be on the verge of collapse.

Watching Doomsday Preppers, one soon realizes that the use of the term “doomsday preppers” is somewhat misleading. None of these families indicate they believe the end of the word is at hand. Instead, they plan and prepare for anticipated large-scale, near-term disasters, natural (CME) and man-made (EMP strike, financial crash). This use of “doomsday” is like the situation with Apocalypse PA, in which having “apocalypse” in the title was merely a marketing ploy. (more…)

This event is a real bonus

Outline of Today’s Public Hearing:

• 09:45 Guests and Panel are seated
• 10:00 Introduction to A People’s Hearing, Tony and Sandra Nurse, Occupy Wall Street
• 10:10 Opening Statement, Dr. Cornel West
• 10:20 Background of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Chris Hedges
• 10:20 Witness Testimonials
• 11:00 Proposal of Verdict
• 12:00 A Call to Action – March to Goldman Sachs

Liberty Square, NY — Today (Thursday, November 3rd) the People, the 99 percent, will hold A People’s Hearing of Goldman Sachs in Liberty Square Park and march on Goldman Sachs.

The people will bring to justice perhaps the single most egregious perpetrator of economic fraud and corruption in the United States. (more…)

Outside woodburners deliver cheaper heat

With cold weather approaching and household budgets tight, homeowners are looking for ways to lower their heating costs.

The often-heard advice to make sure windows are completely sealed, change furnace air filters and turn down the heat when you’re not home isn’t always enough.

To cuts costs, some are looking to new technology, while others are reverting to older methods, but with 21st century twists.

Wood-burners are now highly engineered to consume every last ounce of energy from their fuel, and outside burners can be fed with huge logs, cutting cost and effort.

New heat pump systems are now using solar panels to warm entire homes, with the unused energy routed to pay for additional utilities. (more…)

One of the oldest methods of preserving foods, canning is experiencing a resurgence — with sales of home-canning products up 35 percent in the past three years.

One of the best of hundreds of blogs is Canning Granny. Coming next month is the first Can-It-Forward Day, when home canners can connect through a national circuit of parties and social-media activities.

“I think canning goes with the interest in home arts, knitting, homesteading,” said Jeanne Sauvage, founding member and editor of Canning Across America, a nonprofit group committed to the revival of home canning. The group, started in 2009, is among the participants in Can-It-Forward Day.

“It also intersects with the local food movement,” Sauvage continued. “What canners do is they get fresh local produce and preserve it for times when they can’t get fresh local produce.

“It’s all part of the concentration on local food.” (more…)

Better without the Towers

Help persuade National Park Service (NPS) to block massive powerlines across Everglades National Park.  Our voices are definitely being heard.

The deadline for electronic submission of public comments is next Monday, July 25th, at midnight.  Comment form is here:

http://m1e.net/c?86992467-OI.yp3JDVmPx6%406643204-IJ3mSNbgWPMxo

Some things to consider with regard to submitting comments.  Everglades National Park contains remnants of a completely unique planetary ecosystem.  In addition to being the first “biological park” in our nation’s history and by far the largest designated wilderness in the eastern United States, the park is also a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, and a Wetland of International Importance.   (more…)