Events Archives - Page 27 of 27 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Events

Giving is not just for Christmas

Beal – giving is “cathartic”

RECYCLING is part of the post-consumerism we advocate at Off-grid. But FREE CYCLING goes one better.
Freecycle founder Deron Beal calls it the worldwide gift economy.
At freecycle.org members give away things they would otherwise throw away. They also post want ads on their 1277 local web sites around the world. The (local) recipient collects – for free. The energy spent on transport is far outweighed by the energy saved in avoiding bringing one more item into a crowded world.…

November 30, 2004 4 Comments

Events

Ecover – the only ethical multinational

On an industrial estate ten miles outside Antwerp, the Ecover detergent factory sticks out like a sore thumb. The other buildings are nondescript sheds with gray or beige metal roofs. Ecover’s factory is topped with a bright green lawn.

It’s not the immaculate sward beloved of suburban gardeners, more of a meadow, really. But it blends in with the surrounding fields and it is a key feature of what is still, ten years after it was built, the world’s most environmentally-friendly factory.

Its products – household cleaners and detergents — can be used in off-grid homes with no threat of pollution to groundwater or gardens when the washing water is recycled.

Truly clean soap

…

November 30, 2004 No Comments

30 Organic suppliers in the UK

Here are some of the best UK Organic suppliers From the Sunday Times Organic Guide

1. Heal Farm

Good value for money. Farmhouse produce that’s home-reared or made in the farm’s kitchen. Multibird roasts include duck filled with goose breast and orange and walnut stuffing (38.75, serves eight) and turkey with chicken breast and cranberry stuffing (52.85, serves 10). Christmas in a basket is its biggest hamper (465 including delivery). Last orders Dec 9; 01769 574341, www.healfarm.co.uk.

2. Eversfield Manor
Organic farm rearing Aberdeen Angus and Romney Marsh sheep, pigs, free-range chicken and game. Its Christmas hamper (185.25 for orders placed in November) includes all you’ll need for a gourmet meal, such as goose or turkey, beef or lamb joint, brace of pheasant, smoked salmon and gammon, plus a Devon blue cheese, Christmas pudding, chestnuts and fresh herbs. Last orders Dec 15; 01837 871400, www.eversfieldmanor.co.uk.…

November 25, 2004 No Comments

Tony Juniper — how to be Off-grid

Tony Juniper cycles and walks whenever he can, but the Director of Friends of the Earth UK freely admits that it is not always possible to live a 100% pure green life. And he told Off-grid he was inspired by the spiritual environmentalism of the Southern hemisphere rather than the science-based analysis we use in the West.

Inspired by “spiritual” environmentalism

I am constantly challenged as to how to withdraw (from the world of mainstream consumption) he told Off-grid. And like a lot of people I am defeated. At home, we buy Energy from one of the green producers. It’s wind generated. And things like transport you can make a lot of difference walking, or bicycle and train.…

November 22, 2004 1 Comment

Events

Green and Gold

He’s the heir to business millions and she’s the former model who swapped the catwalk and high heels for wellies and a life down on the farm. Together they are, according to The Guardian the eco movement’s most glamorous couple.

Golden Greens

Sheherazade Goldsmith lives with husband Zac on a 300-acre organic estate in Devon. Zac took over editing the Ecologist from his Uncle Teddy in 1997, the same year in which his businessman father Sir Jimmy Goldsmith died. Uncle Teddy is still going strong — investing in Green companies, attending seminars on the Environment and holding forth unstoppably on all things Green. (Click below for more)…

November 18, 2004 No Comments

Looking to nature creates a second chance for Welsh Farmers

Faced with a dramatic 75% decline in farming through disasters as diverse as Chernobyl and BSE, many Welsh hill farmers decided to pack up and try a new line in work. Not the three families that make up the Cwmni Gwynt Teg (‘fair wind’ in Welsh) cooperative. When faced with disaster in 1997, this ingenious group looked to the the mountains for inspiration and harnessed the wind, on their own land. They now run the Moel Moelogan Wind farm, a profitable and growing business.…

November 16, 2004 No Comments

Nice little package

Imagine this. In the future, you get in from a long, hard day. You open fridge a take out a slab of pasta and pop it into the microwave. Soon it goes ping, and you happily enjoy it with a nice glass of wine. If that doesn’t seem remotely high tech; think about that scenario again. What’s missing from that equation is the guilt inducing mass of packaging a ready meal normally produces. That’s because if WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Program have their way, soon that packaging will be a thing of the past. And as they have just received 8 million from the government with the aim of reducing household waste by 310,000 tonnes by March 2006, it might happen sooner that you think.…

November 8, 2004 No Comments

Necessity is the Mother of Invention in India

By C.R.Bhattacharjee, 21/10/04

What happens when being off-grid is a necessity and not an option? India has nearly 25000 villages, located in islands or remote areas distant from habitation, where power from grid lines is not techno-commercially feasible. These villages, where population generally varies between 100-1000 are usually inhabited by financially weaker sections of society whose inability to pay for cost of power is a key factor. Their demand for power is primarily for lights to replace kerosene followed by small requirement for water supply.…

October 21, 2004 No Comments

Events

Campaign to change Planning permission

At the BBC they call him the Jamie Oliver of Architecture, but we think of him as the Corbusier of TV presenters: Architect Charlie Luxton made his BBC series on Guerrilla Homes last month the start of a campaign to change the planning rules (zoning laws in the US).

We want to join in.

Luxton – wants planners to permit ecohouses

…

October 10, 2004 2 Comments

Helping communities live off-grid

The Sustainable Village is a ‘social enterprise’ which helps set up microenterprise projects in developing countries for energy generation, safe water, long-distance communication, sustainable agriculture.

Setting up solar panels in
Honduras

They organise and provide all the ‘hard technology’ for the projects, from design and engineering, to supplying parts and developing websites.…

September 27, 2004 No Comments

Off-Grid Communities

If you’re planning to go off-grid, spending some time in a community can be a good way to learn the basics. Here’s where to find communities online.

We encourage comments, advice and questions, via the comments section at the end of this story (you will have to register first – takes 5 seconds).…

July 28, 2004 39 Comments

All you need to go off-grid

Events

Giving is not just for Christmas

Ecover – the only ethical multinational

30 Organic suppliers in the UK

Tony Juniper — how to be Off-grid

Green and Gold

Looking to nature creates a second chance for Welsh Farmers

Nice little package

Necessity is the Mother of Invention in India

Campaign to change Planning permission

Helping communities live off-grid

Off-Grid Communities

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