From the category archives:

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

The accidental environmentalists

by Alexbenady on January 24, 2010 · 0 comments

in SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Barnett and Hearne dig ground source

Barnett & Hearne: ground source

It’s hard to live off-grid, disconnected from mains electricity, gas and water, in a small, densely populated country like the UK. That’s why off-grid living in this country has hitherto been limited to travellers, hippies, dedicated greens, and unsociable eccentrics.
But finally it seems that the appeal of the life off-grid is going mainstream as increasing numbers of perfectly conventional people choose to live sustainable lives unfettered by connected amenities.

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Humanure – sawdust toilets

December 13, 2009
Humanure – sawdust toilets

Sit, flush and forget, that's what most of us do, multiple times a day. We use perfectly good, drinkable, potable water to flush our waste, what a waste it truly is. After we flush, we don't think about all the water that is used/wasted to process the sewage that is created, chemicals are pumped into our water system, the water we DRINK, so that we can do it all over again. I'm starting to sound pretty green aren't I?

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Off grid update

December 8, 2009
Off grid update

What a great early Christmas gift, I know that to those who get snow every winter, it's not that exciting, but for those of us that live in places with little to no snowfall, it transforms everything into a winter wonderland.

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Off grid questions

December 1, 2009
Off grid questions

Every now and again, I get an email with some great questions, this evening I received such an email from a new 'net friend, Marcy. She has recently taken the plunge to live completely off grid. She is starting out in a rather primitive way, much like we did. I found her questions very good and decided I would post the email exchange here. Thanks Marcy, enjoy!

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Possum Living-How To Live Well With (Almost) No Money

November 16, 2009
Possum Living-How To Live Well With (Almost) No Money

I wish I could say that I had read this book way back when, and that was what inspired me to live my off grid life... but my earliest inspiration was the Grizzly Adams series. If I had come across Possum Living before now, I know it would have also been a great inspiration for me. It  was written in the 70s by a very smart young lady, Dolly Freed. She and her father lived in a regular house, on a large lot by today's standard, though ...

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Shoestring Survivalism – book review

October 20, 2009
Shoestring Survivalism – book review

This is the third book I received from Paladin Press to review. I appreciate the chance to read and review these books, I have enjoyed them immensely. This book is about survivalism on a budget. Being on a budget is a full time occupation for most of us.  With these uncertain times, it's good to have backups, ways to get along if things go wrong. It's ludicrous to think the government will step up and take care of us, your best bet is to be your own best advocate, take care of yourself and your family. With the knowledge gained from this book, even someone on the tightest of budgets should be able to implement many of the ideas in this book with little or no financial output.

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Ellen Page on Perma-culture

October 10, 2009
Ellen Page on Perma-culture

Juno star Ellen Page recently took a break from Hollywood to study permaculture design in an eco-village near Eugene, Oregon.

Teen Hollywood reports that Page "spent a month living on the settlement and learned how to live more simply -- and how valuable urine can be."

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Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review

October 8, 2009
Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review

Reading, learning, it's what I enjoy doing. Before the internet, I would go to the three local libraries in my hometown, I would check out as many books as each on would allow, take them all home, read-read-read until I had gotten through all of them, then I return the books to their respective homes and start all over again. I tended to read non-fiction, I preferred them over fiction most of the time. With the exception of a few notable authors such as Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, and such…

With the advent of the internet and ebooks, I mostly read what I can get in digital format, including audiobooks. So these last couple of books I’ve read, I have held in my hand, turned pages, it was quite old-school for me. J I love it. Now, on to the book review.

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Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance book review

October 3, 2009
Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance book review

I typically do reviews on eBooks, but a while back I was contacted by James Ballou to do a review of a hard copy, Makeshift Workshop Skills for Survival and Self-Reliance, published by Paladin Press. Of course I was thrilled to review his book; honestly I had seen it previously and had been interested in reading it, so I jumped at the chance. It turns out that my instincts were correct, this is a great and useful book!

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