Communities

Periogen trial and review

I am finally ready to give Periogen a final review (though there may be followups in the future), I must say that I am very happy with it, it does what it says it does, it is removing the tartar from my teeth.

Living off-grid and making very little money, dental and health insurance is pretty much out of the question, so being proactive about my dental health is something that has really become something important to me. I know that many health issues are directly influenced by the state of your dental health, mainly from bacteria and infections that might be simmering just below the surface.

My dental history:
Growing up, no one of my family went to dentists, it was just too expensive. We must have had pretty good teeth though, none of us had any dental problems or emergencies. When I was 16 years old, we were unceremoniously taken to the dentist for the first time. I have to say, that dentist had a terrible bedside manner, this was my FIRST trip to the dentist, of course I had a tartar buildup, he decided the best thing to do was deride me about it, making rude comments and making me feel very bad. Needless to say, it was many years before I went back to another dentist.

As an adult I decided I needed braces, I had very crooked teeth and knew if I wanted to take better care of them, they needed to be straight, and of course there was a bit of vanity in there too, I wanted to smile without feeling self conscious. Well, 5 years and many many many hundreds and thousands of dollars later, I had straight and healthy teeth.

I loved going to the dentist, not to see my dentist though, I had a great hygienist named Beverly, she really knew me and my mouth. All too soon though, she moved away and I just wasn’t happy with anyone else. No one would spend the time she did, no one would baby me like she did, and I need babying when it comes to my teeth and mouth, I tend to be a major wimp about my mouth. I eventually stopped going to the dentist all together.

Move ahead 15 years and even though I still have pretty good teeth, but I had a major buildup of tartar, I knew this wasn’t a good thing, I worked on it myself from time to time with dental picks but that only got some of the worst buildup, it didn’t do a thing for what was below the gum line and between my teeth. I started looking for products that might help remove tartar, I had even looked at some of those tartar removers for dogs, yes I was that desperate. I know I should go to a dentist, but I already know …

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Communities

Off-Grid alarm system

Where we live is pretty far off the beaten path, which means it is either very safe or not so safe depending on how you look at the situation. There either aren’t going to be many people wandering around looking for mischief or when that one does show up, there will not be many people around to witness said mischief or call for help.…

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Communities

Cabin Porn

A web site where readers around the world post large high-res pics of remote or abandoned cabins? Surely, it will never catch on? Yes it will – with 40,000 Facebook likes, and articles in The Times and Altantic Magazine, FreeCabinPorn has big arty photos – no ads and hundreds of reblogs. Check it out. Strange that the cabin pics rarely include any people – like a cautious publisher who does not want to risk turning off potential readers in the cover design, so this Web site is long on style and cannily short on content.…

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Communities

Australia falling for Earthship marketers

Boasting an outer shell made of stacked car tyres packed with earth, an Earthship claims to be a cutting-edge, sustainable green home made from recycled materials. In fact there are serious design flaws: from off-gas from the tyres to overheating in ultra-hot places like Australia. All in all, having an Earthship in your life is like having a particularly sensitive pet – which needs constant feeding and excercise.
But that has not stopped shameless American architect Michael Reynolds touring Australia’s North Coast, preaching his particular brand of Earthship.
In Melbourne, he is in league with the Ceres community in Brunswick East which has a small project where you can pay to experience Earthship construction techniques. The Group, which always relied on volunteers to build its empire, has now found a marvellous new idea – get people to pay $160 ozzie dollars for a weekend ramming earth into old tyres.

Reynolds, who did not invent the Earthship concept, says its “a vessel sailing on towards tomorrow.” …

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Communities

No Name Key- battle to save renewable community

After two decades, a tiny Florida island where 43 households live off the grid may be forced to accept Utility power.

The lure of enhanced property prices has persuaded some residents of No Name Key to switch their allegiance.  Recent arrivals on the island have provided the main impetus, but strong support still exists for those wanting to remain off the grid.

“Why isn’t the (local) power utility supporting solar use?” asks Deb Curlee in a letter to her local paper, The Key West Citizen.…

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The hows and whys of going off-grid

So you wanna go off-grid… now what? How far do you wish to go? There are lots of decisions to be made when you are deciding your future. Are you on your own or do you have a family? Are you at the beginning of your adult life are are you in your twilight years? Do you have lots of money to spend on this or are you wondering how you’ll pay this month’s bills? Do you want to do this on your own or do you want to start or join a like minded group?…

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Seed catalogs

It’s the middle of winter, cold, dreary, but something I start receiving in my mailbox makes me long for the warm days of spring, the seed catalogs. Those shiny, colorful pages full of picture of ripe fruit and veggies and herbs. I have already started buying some things, a week ago, while on one of my rare trips to town (it’s a 3+ hour drive to town), I was in a Sam’s Club store, I was about to start heading for the check out lanes when I spotted something green and leafy sticking out from an odd aisle.…

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Communities

Off the grid in Canada

Over the next few months we will be running regular stories and photos of Canadian off-grid men and women. Please send us your photos and videos.…

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Communities

Upgrading a small solar system – video

I just love learning how other people live off-grid, especially when they are doing it in a very similar way to how I live. LaMar Alexander has done all of this and more, we may be in different places, but we both started out with small and simple systems, cobbling together this and that, building an independent life one piece at a time.…

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Communities

Slab City for a warmer winter

CBS Evening News has reignited interest in Slab City – the off-grid community near Los Angeles. It is celebrating its 20th anniversary and is growing steadily as a result of foreclosure victims looking for a place with few rules, where they can get on with life undisturbed.

The 2000 residents are gathered in the desert around concrete slabs placed there during WW2, living in tents, trailers, elderly mobile homes and other dwellings made from found materials.…

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