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”

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”

I’d like to think that we have entered the post-consumer era – a time when gross flaunting of wealth seems passé and we are more concerned with community and integrity than an 80s style dash for cash.

But when Simon Cowell of American Idol, and British artist Tracey  Emin, agree on something, you had better listen. Both of  them got famous by knowing which way the wind was blowing, and both these media luvvies have just proudly come out as greedy, loudmouth  show-offs,  infatuated with their own wealth.
>>Keep reading “Greed cheerleaders sleaze splurge”

Sarkozy and wife: Growth is happiness France is set to become the first country to adopt a radical new approach to calculating its national wealth by including ‘soft’ measures such as happiness, and sustainability.
>>Keep reading “French redefine wealth to include happiness”

Remember those silly little Chia Pets? Little did we know then that those strange little seeds painted on those cheesy terracotta pots shaped like animals were actually GOOD for us… It turns out that they are, they are high in vitamins, minerals, loads of fiber and it’s a better source of omega’s than flax seeds are. This is a very good survival food.
>>Keep reading “Chia pets or survival food”

Kate Moss – Glamping When Fashion jumps on the off-grid caravan, is it time to be afraid, very afraid?  The dumbing down has started, you may think.

On the other hand,  if it brings the idea of off-grid living to thousands who would not otherwise consider it, what can be the harm in that?

British supermodel Kate Moss is renowned as a canny trend-spotter who has revived her career time and again with new looks and new boyfriends.
>>Keep reading “Off-peg”

Retained Heat CookingHave you heard about hot box, hay box or cook box cooking? It’s the new-old way to cook that saves energy, improves flavor and increases the nutrition in your food, and frees up your time. All you do is heat up your food to boiling then retain that heat by insulating the hot pot of food until the cooking process is completed.
>>Keep reading “The new-old way to cook / book review / video”

Alive and wellHere is an update on what has been going on in our off grid life. I know I haven’t written in a while, I took a mini-break from blogging and writing, it was something I needed to do, but now I’m back. :)
>>Keep reading “Alive and well-updates”

Social Slave # It is possible to use publicly available data on state and date of birth to predict someone’s Social Security number, particularly if they were born after 1988 and in smaller states, according to an article published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The ability to use statistic inference to predict the sensitive data exposes the Social Security numbers to identity fraud risks on “mass scales,” the article said.
>>Keep reading “SS numbers are easy to fake”