Land

Land

Fantasy Island

A holiday is in the eye of the beholder. No Swimming pool, no tv, no minbars For those who want to truly off-grid when they take off, Petit Byahaut, located on St.Vincent in the West Indies, would be far from the madding crowd, rather than just maddening.

Off-grid Cove
Tranquility is a human right

So what do you get? An Eco-resort that offers five Frangipani surrounded guesthouses with corrugated-roofed open-air bedrooms, natural beauty products, and fresh seafood hauled daily form the sea. But the most appealing aspect for the vacationing off-grider, is that whilst you let your body gradually unwind, your conscience can take a break too.…

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Warm indoors

What’s the most effective way generating enough off-grid energy? Try not needing quite so much in the first place. According to the National Energy Foundation, in a typical UK home a third of the heat produced by a central heating system is unnecessarily and rapidly lost. As winter makes its hasty approach, try taking a few of these heat saving techniques to make sure you will be like the proverbial bug in the rug…

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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.…

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Land

Pod Life

Off-Grid loves any excuse to kick back and enjoy the view, and design team The Collaborators have made it possible to do that just about anywhere. Their Pods come in all shapes and sizes, and they allow you to create your own space and relax, wherever you can find a place to hang your pod.

Lover's pod
Life’s a Pod

Transported in its own flat carrying case and coined “The seat to watch the apocalypse by”, all you have to do is find a nice tree or girder and swing whenever you feel inspired.…

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Fund your Off-grid dreams with OPM (other people’s money)

Wouldn’t it be lovely if someone offered you between 400 to 5000 to cut your bills, help the environment and get off-grid?

Following the success of the Clear Skies scheme, aimed to provide householders and communities with grants and advice to help reduce the amount of fossil fuels used and realize the benefits of renewable energy, the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI) has announced additional funding of  2.5m, and extended the scheme until March 2006.…

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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.

Charlie Luxton
Luxton – wants planners to permit ecohouses

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7 steps to a successful self-build home

Don’t let anyone tell you that building a house is easy, whether you are off-grid or not. You must surround yourself with the right experts, get the best advice and take it slowly.

All about Self-build by Robert Matthews (Blackberry Books 22) is a step by step guide through the jungle of self-build — from buying the plot of land through to getting the final product signed off by the Local Authority building control department.

Here are the key steps to take BEFORE you even start building. They are based on the experience of the author, plus some tips of our own.…

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Free electricity, from fryer grease

Green Trust, a renewable energy research center, powers their facilities with waste vegetable oil. Their 12.5 kw Detroit Diesel 2-71 generator (the VeggieGen) happily slurps used fryer grease instead of diesel fuel. It’s clean burning, renewable, and a recycled product that normally gets landfilled. See the details at www.green-trust.org

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Community

Greenbuild Expo

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2004 in Portland, Oregon on 10th to 12th November – 3 days of workshops, talks and exhibitions for anyone involved in green building. There’ll also be tours of green buildings.

Exhibition

Fees vary depending on how many events you want to attend.
For more information and registration see the website

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Food

How to grow a vegetable garden

10 easy steps to start a vegetable garden

– Select a good spot for your garden: make sure the soil’s well drained, not too shallow, not too rocky and avoid shady areas. Remember vegetables can be grown on terraces too.

The Garden

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