Category Archives: sustainability

Life Styles Of The Off The Gridders – Gentle to the Earth

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This article speaks for itself.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/living-off-the-grid4.htm

How Living Off the Grid Works

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Off-the-grid Lifestyle

You’re excited about going off the grid now, right? You’re set to get your solar panels and septic tank. You have the well driller booked and you’re ready to say no to utility bills. Before you follow through on all these moves, you need to think about the lifestyle changes that come with going off the grid.

Even with solar and wind power, you’ll still need to limit your use of electricity. Most people interested in living off the grid do so at least in part to live a greener life, so conserving power goes hand-in-hand with this decision. With adequate solar and wind systems, you should be able to operate most of your electric appliances and gadgets, but not necessarily at the same time. If you’re using a hair dryer, avoid using the microwave. If you fire up the blender, unplug your space heater. Major electricity users like washing machines should be operated at night, when your other power needs are minimal. True disciples of the back-to-land movement wouldn’t use a washer and dryer anyway. Washing clothes by hand and using a clothesline is a rustic alternative.

The same goes for your water use. With a cistern system, in periods of little rain you might need to let the dishes pile up for a couple of days or limit your toilet flushes. Some people go so far as to turn off the shower water while they lather or wash their hair. Collecting additional non-potable water in rain barrels is a great way to water plants, wash dishes and keep your pets hydrated without dipping into your well or cistern.

Energy Star appliances are the most efficient on the market and a good way to save money on your bills. Look for the yellow stickers on the appliances when you buy them and compare the ratings. In addition to saving energy, the government offers rebates on Energy Star appliances, so you’ll be saving money as well. You should­ also switch your light bulbs to the energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Building A Cob House – It is not what you think

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When I first saw the headline of this next site, I thought: can this be? I had heard of actual corn cob houses in rural America. They are basically slatted walls filled in with corn cobs and then finished inside and out. They are sort of a variation of hay bale houses. But this is way different.

http://www.livingoffgrid.org/building-a-cob-house/

Building a Cob House

By Off Grid Ebert

In a time in which we are increasingly hearing scary statistics about the fate of our planet, the way forward in the field of sustainable, green building may just be to go backward.  This is certainly the case for people demonstrating a growing interest in building earthen homes and structures using an ancient method known as cobwork or cobbing.  Cobbing, believed to have originated in the Maghreb as early as the 11th century, spread into wide usage across many parts of the rest of Europe as the main building style for homes.  The name of this style of building comes from the word cob, which is the name of the building material itself, formed of a mixture of earth (such as clay, sand, and other soil), straw, and water.  Despite what the materials may imply, this substance, when dried, is fireproof.  It is also inexpensive, and naturally cool in the summer heat and relatively easy to heat in the winter.

Many homes built of this material centuries ago still stand and remain in use.  Pictured here to the left is a cob house in England, believed to have been built in the late 1700s. (Photo by Tim Green, http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/4927564858/) These homes typically have thatched roofs, while small but efficient fireplaces with chimneys provide warmth when the weather is cold.

The appearance and texture of cob varies from region to region, depending on the available natural resources and their characteristics.  As such, cob is one of the most versatile building materials on earth.  It can be molded and shaped into whatever form is framed by the builder.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Off The Grid – We move into survivalist land

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Like I said in the beginning there are many types of people that want to be off the grid. The rich do it because they can. Many people do it to save money. Some people, like Thoreau, like the solitude or are paranoid. Then there are the survivalists. I do not agree with their theories or their ideology, but they are a part of the mix and this site is pretty explicit.

http://offgridsurvival.com/preppingfriendsandfamil/

Talking to Friends and Family about Prepping

A number of readers have emailed me lately asking how they can convince their friends and family to start prepping.

To be honest this is a touchy subject, one that can often make even hardcore preppers feel a bit uncomfortable.

For some, the thought of talking to anyone about prepping fills them with feelings of anxiety. Just the thought of others knowing what preps you have is enough to fill anyone with a sense of paranoia . And who can blame them, lately it seems like every time we turn on the news another government agency is warning people about those dangerous preppers.

For those that do try to talk about the subject, trying to get their family and friends on board can be a headache to say the least.

From friends and family members that truly believe the government will save them in a time of crisis, to those that have been brainwashed by the media to believe that preppers are all  tinfoil hat wearing nutjobs, prepping can often be a touchy or even taboo subject to talk about. While we have touched on the subject in the past, I thought it was important to take another look at how we can help those we care about prepare for an uncertain future.

Dealing with those who believe the Government will help them in a time of crisis.

As a reader who recently wrote to me pointed out, 50 years of being programmed to believe that the government can help is hard to undo. We live in a society that is becoming increasingly reliant on the government to help them in every aspect of their lives. In fact over 67 million Americans now rely on government aid to pay for either housing, food, health care or education. That’s 1 in 5 Americans!

Most people simply don’t realize or believe that they are in any kind of danger. Most Americans live under the belief that the government will be there to help them in a time of crisis. So what can you do to change this mindset and protect those that you care about?

Use the Governments own advice.

Even the government advises people to be prepared. They will be the first to admit that during a time of crisis it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be able to respond in under 72 hours.

At the very least your friends and family should be prepared to survive at home without power, water and utilities for a minimum of 72 hours. While most of the governments advice is rather simplistic,  it may help you introduce the subject to those who depend on the government for everything.

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It is a huge site. Go there and read. More Tomorrow.

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Off The Grid Store – I am posting a hunk of his blog

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This blog for this store has one chunk dated January 25th of 2012 and the first post listed as January 13. There is nothing more. So I do not know much about the store or the guy claiming to be Darin. It hasn’t been open long. According to a phto shoot caption they opened in early December 2011. I never endorse anything I have not actually tried and I have never ordered anything from this site. So buyer bewarier. As a man with a new business I am sure that he is too busy to blog and I disagree with his probable ideology as well. However new small businesses are very hard to keep alive so here he is, the Off The Grid Kid.

 

http://offthegriddotcom.wordpress.com/

Me – Off The Grid as a kid

The first post is always the hardest post to write on a blog.  It’s like introducing yourself to a bunch of people and you can’t look them in the eye. I’m an eye contact person as I believe one on one communication is something this world could use a lot more of.  If people talked, they might be able to understand each other better instead of making blanket judgements based on assumptions.

I’ll give it my best shot.  My name is Darin and I’m the Owner of OffTheGrid.com.  I’m a 40 year old guy with 3 little ones, grew up in the woods of Northern Arizona.  Caught my first fish before I could tie my shoes and tell my boy hunting stories instead of bedtime stories.  I’m  a Patriot and believe that the United States is the greatest nation on earth but I don’t think we’re perfect.  I know we have a great foundation for this country (the constitution) but I’m afraid of what country my children will inherit if we continue down the road we are currently on.  I hope our country gets back on track and focuses on the principles of what makes us great.

I’m a former radio talk show host from Phoenix, Arizona.  In my previous career, I spent most waking hours following the news, watching what was happening and then talking about it to a large audience.  As I researched topics I was going cover on my show, I noticed that many times the mainstream media left out crucial details and portrayed the story in a way that wasn’t entirely accurate by my standards.  Eventually I became aware that in order to get the real story, it was important to look at all angles and formulate my own opinion versus just taking what I was seeing/hearing/reading as fact.

My “awakening” has led me to this adventure.  I hope the preparations I am taking will never be used in an emergency situation.  I hope the food, tools and other equipment I have accumulated will only need to be used when I am enjoying the great outdoors on my own terms.  But, my first priority is my family and I feel it is my responsibility to make sure my wife and kids are in the best possible position should a disaster strike.  They are relying on me and I will not let them down.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Living Off The Grid Has Gotten Sexy – Thanks to Natgeo’s Preppers

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I have only seen one episode of Preppers so I am no expert. The show did seem intrusive because many of the “preparing for catastrophe” types are really sensitive to outside interest.  Some fear laughter, others fear exposing their hoards to people who might try to take them away from them, and others are just by nature isolationists. Also many of their theories about the impending “end of the world” are just plain incoherent. Thus painful to listen too. Most the off the grid people I know are not Preppers, they are, like me, cheap. They hate giving money to the utility companies.

http://www.off-grid.net/

What is living off-grid?
by LINDAM on FEBRUARY 11, 2012 – 1 Comment in OFF-GRID 101

The literal definition of living off-grid (or offgrid or living off the grid) is living without Utility power or water or waste disposal.

It can go further than this, to include being disconnected from the infrastructures that make life convenient, including roads, banks, schooling, doctors and so on. Even the Internet is a grid of sorts. Wikipedia has an extended discussion

In the absence of Utility electricity, energy needs are often supplied by solar, water or wind energy. (more…)

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.
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Going Off The Grid Used To Be Hard – And many times ugly

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I mean this for the average Joe. Going off the grid for rich people was always easy. You buy a solar designed house and attach generation too it. Done. But for anybody without an open checkbook, especially in the 70s and early 80s, you had to kinda make it up. And it almost always involved burning some sort of wood. Even in the southwestern part of the US it can get cold sometimes. Now there is a whole cottage industry dedicated to the stuff. Here is a part of a piece from one of those websites.

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/01/30/so-is-it-global-warming-or-an-approaching-mini-ice-age-some-scientist-say-the-sun-will-have-the-last-word/

Global Warming or Approaching Ice Age? Scientists Say the Sun Will have the Last Word

Jan 30th, 2012 | By Tim George

LONDON – Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit recently released data from 30,000 measuring stations that reveal there has been no global warming in the last 15 years. In fact, the findings suggest the earth might be headed for a mini ice age similar to one in the 17th century.

Several leading climate scientists told the UK Mail that the sun is transitioning from the unusually high levels of energy seen throughout the 20th century toward a “grand minimum” in solar energy output. Such a minimum promises colder summers, extended bitter winter, and shortened crop seasons.

The sun is entering the peak of another 11-year solar cycle. Termed ‘Cycle 24’ by solar scientists, this cycle continues a trend of lessening sunspots since a high in the 20th century. Experts at the University of Arizona and NASA have been studying magnetic-field measurements from 120,000 miles beneath the sun’s surface and predict ‘Cycle 25’ will peak in 2022 even lower than the current cycle.

Europe experienced such a lowered cycle of solar output from 1645 to 1715. The coldest part of that period, known as the “Maunder minimum,” came to be known as the “Little Ice Age”. This period causes severe disruption of crop growing seasons and occasional famines.

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I know, I know the article has nothing to do with going off the grid, but going off the grid does not mean losing touch with what goes on in the rest of the world.

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Go there and read a bunch. More tomorrow,

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Couple Tries Life Of Sustainability – In response to Peak Oil

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I am not sure that I believe in Peak Oil. At one level it is actually a distribution problem and the chaos that results when that distribution systems capacity is exceeded. Not an issue of how much oil is left. I think that global warming will get us much more quickly than Peak “any resource”. I also have my doubts about the sustainability of global capitalism and the devastation that may occur when it falls apart. But seriously, whatever the reason, living an uncomplicated, simple and frugal life is such a good thing. If we all did that the world of consumerism would go BOOM overnight. As always I have issues with videos. So:

http://peakoil.com/consumption/a-young-couple-find-freedom-in-simple-living/

A Young Couple Find Freedom in Simple Living

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn3AX540j20

Rather than follow the customary American dream, Tammy and Logan sold their home and car, and moved to a bikeable/walkable neighborhood in Sacramento, California. After reading Derrick Jensen’s writings, this couple used Your Money or Your Lifeas a means to get out of debt and, they feel, regain their lives and their future. While they recount the psychological challenges of facing a future of declining resources, the catalyst that continues to move them forward is a dream of living in an affordable tiny house within a supportive community. (rowdykittens.com).

Listen to audio. Read in Janaia’s Journal about our visit to tape them.

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I found the video on Youtube and put the link in the story where it would be in the brief piece. But the video was posted 2 years ago and that means that it is probably older than that. Why is Peak Oil going with old content. Go there and read. Peak Oil is an interesting site. More tomorrow.

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Cuba Moves Ahead With Alternative Energy – Will they move ahead of the U.S.

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As rediculous as it sounds, Cuba could very easily overtake the U.S. in its use of alternative forms of energy. Why? Because like China they have a planned economy.

http://peakoil.com/alternative-energy/cuba-on-the-road-to-clean-energy-development/

Cuba on the Road to Clean Energy Development

More than a decade ago, solar electricity changed the lives of several mountain communities in Cuba. Now this and other renewable power sources are emerging as the best options available to develop sustainable energy across the island.

“If the world’s clean energy potential exceeds our consumption needs, why do we insist on using the polluting kind?” asked Luis Bérriz, head of the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (CUBASOLAR), a non- governmental organisation that promotes the use of alternative and environmentally-friendly power sources.

According to his calculations, the amount of solar radiation Cuba receives is equivalent to 50 million tonnes of oil a day.

“If we covered the 1,000-kilometre-long national highway with solar panels we would generate all the power currently used, without using fossil fuels or occupying a single square metre of agricultural land,” Bérriz said to IPS in an interview.

Moreover, “nobody can block the sun; it belongs to all of us,” he added.

Bérriz is a researcher and long-time advocate of renewable power sources who prefers to talk about “reversing” climate change – which he says is caused by “the destructive actions of today’s societies” – instead of “adapting” to it.

In his opinion, adapting to what others destroy sounds more like “conformism”. Industrialised countries are responsible for 75 percent of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which cause global warming. The leading GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2).

For Bérriz, the best course of action is to move from oil to clean energy sources, which exceed power needs. The way to do this is to develop the knowledge, technology and industry necessary to tap into the various renewable energy sources most available in each area, he says.

Key components of this process, Bérriz argues, are the training of scientists, technicians and skilled workers to cover human resource needs, and the creation of an energy and environmental culture that will raise the awareness essential for the development of solar power based on “fairness and solidarity”.

 

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It’s a big article, so go there and read. More tomorrow.

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Rightwing Rant From A Probable Oil And Gas Stock Holder – Or is it coal

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I normally would not put up a rant against alternative forms of energy which I believe are the energies of the future. But I love how they all make the same mistake. We as a society must use the CHEAPEST forms of energy. Yet we as a society get to SAY what kinds of energy are used and then it is up to businesses to get on with what they do best – steal us blind. Resources are not free to those that just dig them up and they can not be allowed to destroy the world while they are at it. This shouter and denier from Northern Wisconsin is all about preposterous side arguments that are not even true in his political wet dreams.

http://madisle.info/2012/01/30/renewable-green-energy-yields-very-poor-results/#axzz1lLKfgK9z

Renewable “Green” Energy Yields Very Poor Results

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Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re tired of me telling you “I told you so,” but once again, as usual, I am right and you are not.

Why we’re even fiddling around with this green alternative energy crap is beyond me. It doesn’t work for the most part, and what does work is extremely expensive and highly inefficient.

Renewable electric energy from nonhydroelectric sources — chiefly wind and solar — contributed only 3.6 percent of total U.S. generation in 2010 — yet received 53.5 percent of all federal financial support for electric power.

And wind power alone, which provides 2.3 percent of generation, received 42 percent of all support.

Wind and solar renewable energy have failed to thrive despite government support because they face substantial “market impediments,” according to Benjamin Zycher, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

“Energy policies in the United States for decades have pursued energy sources defined in various ways as alternative, unconventional, independent, renewable, and clean in an effort to replace such conventional fuels as oil, coal, and natural gas,” Zycher states on the AEI website, and “renewable electricity receives very large direct and indirect subsidies from the federal and state governments.

“These long-standing efforts have, without exception, yielded poor outcomes.”

 

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Go there and read the rubbish. More tomorrow.

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2 Nuclear Power Plant failures in 2 Days – So nuclear power is still safe right

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So in the Illinois case an INSULATOR fell off a transformer and shut down the plant. This is a little bit more than a missed inspection. This is more like they ignored the problem until it broke. Not very encouraging if you ask me. In the case of the California plant, it sprung a little leak. I mean really it leaks. Shouldn’t someone stick their finger in it till they get it fixed.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/31/146137547/illinois-nuclear-power-plant-shuts-down-unit-after-power-loss

Illinois Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down Unit After Power Loss

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Backup diesel generators are powering one of the two nuclear reactors at the Byron Station facility in northern Illinois. Unit Two came offline yesterday after it inexplicably lost power. The facility’s operator, Exelon, declared the incident an “unusual event” – the lowest of four emergency status declarations set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Fire crews were called to the site, about 25 miles outside of Rockford, as smoke was seen from the top of the facility building, according to WREX-TV. But the NRC told the Chicago Tribune the smoke was from a transformer and fire crews didn’t find a fire.

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/unit-shut-down-at-san-onofre-nuclear-plant.html

San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm

L.A. NOW

Southern California — this just in

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San Onofre nuclear power plant unit shut down after potential leak

January 31, 2012 |  6:54 pm
Officials at the San Onofre nuclear power plant shut down one of the facility’s two units Tuesday evening after a sensor detected a possible leak in a steam generator tube.

The potential leak was detected about 4:30 p.m., and the unit was completely shut down about an hour later, Southern California Edison said.

“The potential leak poses no imminent danger to the plant workers or the public,” utility spokeswoman Jennifer Manfre told The Times.

 

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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