Some time back, I did a review of LaMar’s Simple Solar Homestead, a great (and inexpensive) ebook created by LaMar, the great thing about LaMar, is he is actually LIVING this lifestyle, not just spouting theory.

>>Keep reading “LaMar’s Simple Solar Homesteading videos”

Marese: don’t be a sheep! I volunteered to work on a farm because there was no chance of a job in my part of America after I graduated.  In the 1950s, 20-somethings went on a European tour. In the  1960s we dropped out.  In the 1970s we protested, and in the 1980s we got a job. The 1980s then stayed with us right up until the credit crunch. Now the age of greed and  individualism is over at last, what’s the next step?

For about $25 each, we can buy  two-year memberships in Workaway.info, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), and Help Exchange (HelpX), all Web-based directories of hosts seeking helping hands in exchange for room and board.
>>Keep reading “What to do, now there’s no jobs”

Come to sunny Karamea A remote off-grid community in New Zealand has outed itself in an appeal for more residents to come and join them.

The scattered collections of a dozen houses and cabins near Karamea on New Zealand’s west coast, relies on solar power rather than pay the $40,000 per household it would cost to connect to the grid.
>>Keep reading “Western New Zealand”

Off-grid equipment has until very recently been focussed largely on devices for individual homes. But increasingly companies are offering technology aimed at off-grid communities. Here are three new devices designed to help small communities, hamlets and villages sustain themselves free of mains services.
>>Keep reading “New generation of off-grid products for communities”

Philosophy of Off Off-Grid We are pleased to welcome writer and thinker Michael Bunker to the pages of off-grid. net over the next few weeks.  We are serializing his new book, a work in progress about the theory and practice of off-grid living.

There will be a link from this page to each new chapter once it goes live.
>>Keep reading “Surviving Off Off-Grid”

Where to next Xavier? The “world’s sexiest vegetarian” is selling his A$2m off-grid home near Melbourne.  Singer, songwriter Xavier Rudd is selling his Jan Juc joint, at the end of a long, winding driveway, over a wooden bridge and nestled in among the gum and tea trees, only a short walk from one of the world’s best surf beaches.

The Bells Blvd property has off-grid solar power, rendered straw-bale walls and solar hydronic water and space heating.
>>Keep reading “Xavier’s eco retreat”

Charlotte & Erron Hello to everyone at off-grid.net!

We are new contributors here and are very excited about the opportunity to share our thoughts, experiences and lives with others.

We are a couple who has decided to start the move to being truly off the grid. Some things have already been accomplished. Soon, we will add the few posts we had on our old blog, which will be completely moving here.
>>Keep reading “A quick hello”

Mary Mattingly The artist who invented  the “Wearable Home,” is now preparing to spend months in an off-grid floating home off Manhattan.

In 2005, Mary Mattingly proposed the idea that an all-weather jumpsuit equipped with solar panels and a water purifier might be all the shelter a person needs.  Now the  30-year-old sculptor and photographer from Queens, is about to move,  with several others, to a 30-by-100-foot barge moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
>>Keep reading “NY off-grid experiment”

Moon & the Sledgehammer There is an appalling new documentary doing the rounds at the moment: The Age of Stupid is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time.  It hardly deserves to be called a film – just a pasting together of some badly chosen snippets about global warming.  

Meanwhile The Moon and the Sledgehammer, an oddball 1971 documentary about a British family living in Sussex without mains power or water is enjoying a revival in London and New York.
>>Keep reading “The Moon and the Sledgehammer”