Bonne chance – Terre-bateau Good news for Eurogreens who want a zero impact home but lack the skills to build their own. The man who constructed the mainland continent’s first Earthship, –  an off-grid ecohome — has put it up for sale for less …
>>Keep reading “French Earthship for sale at less than cost”

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”

Nice place but pricey A multimillion-dollar house on the back of Aspen Mountain went on the market this summer.  Is there such a thing as an Eco  McMansion?

The 3,600 square feet house on the New York Lode patented mining claim is completely off the grid, with a geothermal system providing hot water for heating and domestic use, and a five-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system providing the electricity.
>>Keep reading “Eco-McMansion in Aspen”

Canals and forests, going, going….goneHaving nationalised the banks, Britain’s Labor government looks set to sell off the country’s forests and waterways to private buyers, in an attempt to balance the books ahead of the next election.

The Forestry Commission which manages the country’s forest stock and British Waterways,the body that manages Britain’s rivers and canals, both control huge swathes of land that would be ideal for off-grid living. In the event they were sold, these possibilities may disappear, although they may also move up the agenda as the new owners attempt to maximise profitablity.
>>Keep reading “UK forests & rivers may be sold”

This land is their land – Ogles on a hikeROCKBRIDGE, Ohio — Charles and Melanie Ogle have lived happily off the power grid for 17 years in their solar-powered log home perched on a ridge in the Hocking Hills.

They don’t want or need electric lines, but it seems that a power line is about to be strung outside their house anyway.

The Ogles are fighting a plan by American Electric Power to take some of their land by eminent domain to build an overhead electric line to power a telecommunications tower that the utility is building about 1,500 feet south of their house.
>>Keep reading “Fight to halt power line”

Sponsored ecolife NEARLY FOUR YEARS AGO, Off-Grid founder Nick Rosen began traveling around Britain in a veggie-powered RV to meet off-gridders and highlight the simple life.

Now he has a host of flattering imitators. The New York Times featured a clutch of them last weekend, including Sara and Matt Janssen who moved from a 1,600-square-foot home to a tour the country without harming the planet — i.e. they took up residence in a 36-foot recreational vehicle fueled by used vegetable oil.
>>Keep reading “NY Times features Eco-RVers”

Patagonia’s McDivitt If you want to save the planet, better buy it – before the bad guys do.

In the latest example of moral status anxiety, millionaires are snapping up vast tracts of wilderness in underdeveloped countries to preserve it for posterity.

Sebastián Piñera, one of the richest men in Chile, has created Parque Tantauco on one of South America’s largest islands, Chiloé, off the coast of Patagonia.

Piñera bought the land in 2005 and set about protecting the offshore habitat of blue whales and the inland virgin forests.
>>Keep reading “The Goldman Sachs eco-system”

Gerald: an example to us all Matt Gerald’s business is growing – flowers, that is. This semi-hippie capitalist/sort of back-to the-lander/child of the ’70s likes watching his gardens grow. And boy, does he have gardens. He also grows vegetables in abundance.

“There’s nothing like wading through a snowdrift to collect your own fresh vegetables.” says Gerald.
>>Keep reading “Flower power”

Consider this

Q: What links Spain with New York’s Mohawk River Valley, 240km-long, beginning just west of the state capital, Albany? A: They have both seen a sudden rush in eco-developments.

Safflyn Corporation is planning a $53m housing project with 100 solar and wind-powered homes surrounded by athletics fields, walking trails, a golf course and driving range.

Manhattan-based Caledonia Advisors picked urban Utica on the Upper Mohawk, 370km north-west of New York City.
>>Keep reading “Eco second homes”