Community

UNESCO Credits SOIL Course

Last month I outlined the Permaculture course available at the School of Integrated Living (SOIL) in the ecovillage Earthaven (see here). Recently, this program has…
  • February 23, 2017 3:37 AM·
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Reunion in Rhode Island

Drivin’ on up! Eunice and I went on our very first weekend road trip last week! We went up to visit my Godfather, David who…
  • February 23, 2017 2:25 AM·

Se Nuestro Invitado

¿QUIERES UNA CASA DE PRIMAVERA PERO NO TIENES PRIMAVERA? DESVIAR EL AGUA DE UN ARROYO PEQUEÑO ES UNA OPCIÓN En la Parte I , cubrí…
  • February 21, 2017 7:59 AM·

UNESCO Acredita Curso de SOIL

El mes pasado describí el curso de Permacultura disponible en la Escuela de Vida Integrada (SOIL en inglés) en la ecoaldea Earthaven. Recientemente, este programa…
  • February 21, 2017 7:58 AM·

Crazy things Scott Pruitt said

The new head of the EPA has vowed to dismantle US environmental protections. No suprises there, given his previous record. Once he has laid waste…
  • February 17, 2017 2:34 PM·
Meg with husband in tiny house

Getting hooked on tiny houses

American architect and designer Meg Stevens was “immediately hooked” on tiny houses when she discovered them five years ago. She set a plan in motion to…
  • February 15, 2017 1:12 AM·

New American homesteaders – author

In new book “The Unsettlers:- Buy it on Amazon” , three American families go beyond ditching the Utility companies –they also walk away from supermarkets,…
  • February 13, 2017 4:10 AM·

Be Our Guest – Food Preserving Part 2

In Part I, I covered canning and smoking as food preservation methods. This article takes a look at refrigeration and dehydration. Freezing and refrigeration is…
  • February 12, 2017 5:21 PM·

Please don’t eat the bunnies

I’m really concerned about how people, especially young people will fare if/when TSHTF, I am right now, as I type, having a conversation with a…
  • February 12, 2017 5:27 AM·

Catch me if you Spam

Con man James Hogue, famous for impersonating a Princeton student in the 1990s, has been found living in an illegally built cabin on Aspen Mountain…
  • February 11, 2017 1:04 AM·

Off-Grid goes to Hollywood

Living off-grid isn’t just popular – it’s going mainstream. New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz is achieving worldwide sales with his Orphan X series,…
  • February 10, 2017 8:53 PM·

The Road to Self-Reliance

American families have been going off-grid for more than forty years, but for most it’s a gradual process, involving a lot of learning by trial…
  • February 9, 2017 8:16 PM·

Watching TV off-grid

One question I frequently hear is how do I get TV or movies while living off-grid. I will tell you that I have been living…
  • February 8, 2017 11:31 PM·

Tech 101: All about Batteries

New to off-grid living? Thinking about going off-grid? Have years of experience? Bet you’ve thought about batteries. Having a back-up store of energy for those…
  • February 7, 2017 1:42 AM·

Cooking from scratch

Cooking and eating are two (of many) pleasures in life for me, I learned how to cook from watching my mother who was a fantastic…
  • February 5, 2017 10:49 PM·
Will Obamas stay Democrats

Obamas depart Necker haven

Barack and Michelle Obama left their relaxing 10 days off-grid vacation last Thursday. They headed back to Washington and will remain there until their daughter…
  • February 2, 2017 6:34 AM·

My Favourite Off-Grid Place

This is the place that celebrity chef Nick Knowles goes when he needs to get away – please send us details of YOUR favourite off-grid…
  • February 1, 2017 11:09 PM·
Regen Villages, Off-grid, Sustainable, Eco-village, eco-friendly

Regenerating the Eco-village

Self-sustaining communities that can talk to each other; sounds like something from the future doesn’t it? But Regen Villages is making this a reality –…
  • January 31, 2017 6:59 AM·

Solar TV: Entertainment Everywhere

Living off-grid but want to keep dumbing down? Cello Electronics have introduced what they claim is the first LED solar powered TV. With a screen…
  • January 30, 2017 11:28 AM·

Bed shed in the bush

Given a handful of primitive hand tools, I mean a sharpened rock, a few sticks of wood and not much more, what could you build?…
  • January 29, 2017 9:12 PM·

Inside a Dutch Houseboat

The Netherlands has long been known for its magical and magnificent houseboats across its vast network of canals, but there is a serious problem for…
  • January 26, 2017 12:47 PM·

Legalities of tiny homes

You want to live in a tiny home, you have done your research, you love what you see, but now you are finding out the…
  • January 25, 2017 10:33 PM·

Off-Grid School Gets Top Marks

A cash-strapped performing arts school has traded a year’s worth of waste for 30 desks. The off-grid school collected its community’s recycling, as well as…
  • January 25, 2017 4:49 PM·
Tesla, Solar, Batteries, Powerwall

Powerwall 2 takes homes off-grid

Batteries to store the excess energy that solar panels capture have advanced only slowly in the past 20 years …until now. Tesla has come up…
  • January 22, 2017 10:47 AM·
boke and other possessions on board

Floating off the grid

Rachel Johnson loves it when people ask her where she lives ”and I say, ‘well…today its Broadway Market but next week its Victoria Park’”. Rachel…
  • January 21, 2017 10:58 AM·
Off-Grid, Course, Permaculture, Eco-friendly, ecovillage, Earthaven

Try Out Ecovillage Life

Want to test out living off-grid but don’t want to do it alone? If you have $6000 to spare you can by taking part in…
  • January 20, 2017 8:13 AM·
Solar hamlet - artists impression

(eco)Village within a Village

The Welsh Government is embracing low-impact housing with the unveiling of its first village within a village – the Pentre Solar “eco hamlet” within the…
  • January 19, 2017 4:38 PM·

Who do you use?

A few weeks ago, our internet service all but stopped working for nearly 2 weeks, I finally figured out it was apparently caused by the…
  • January 18, 2017 10:32 PM·
RV's just got futuristic: The Basecamp Airstream

The Open Road: RV Sales Boom

The all-American way to go off the grid is of course with a recreational vehicle – an RV. Buckle up. Open road. Highway 66. Freedom.…
  • January 18, 2017 6:28 AM·
Hut, Scotland, Building Regulations, Bothies, Off-Grid

Return of the Scottish Hut

If you fancy buying an inexpensive off-grid getaway in Europe – try Scotland. The government announced changes to their building regulations early this year. This…
  • January 17, 2017 11:49 PM·

Homeless and Roofless

By Jim Martin – Homeless Shelter Director, Delaware Every day in Southern Delaware, I work in the trenches and on the front lines of poverty,…
  • January 12, 2017 6:47 PM·

From a Caravan to a Community

Moving into a caravan in the middle of Hill Holt Wood in 1995 gave Nigel Lowthrop his roots. His purchase of the 22-acre woodlands in…
  • January 12, 2017 10:40 AM·

What happened to PB?

There are some things that can be (or look) fun about living off-grid, but there are many things that are less attractive, but still have…
  • January 11, 2017 8:58 PM·

Women off-grid

When you think of someone living off-grid, chances are you either think of a man or perhaps a couple (or even a family), but it’s…
  • January 8, 2017 12:32 PM·

Grid is over for least-developed nations

The cost of solar equipment is declining at ever-steeper rates, threatening a meltdown in Utility companies share prices and catalysing new projects and driving growth in developing countries.…
  • January 7, 2017 7:48 AM·

Not getting sick

With winter in full blast mode, people are sniffling, sneezing and coughing all around me, I work in the public, not necessarily with the public,…
  • January 6, 2017 11:56 PM·

Learn to live the old ways

Go to India to learn how they used to live, before power and water came to large parts of the country. Starting Jan 28, A…
  • January 2, 2017 1:22 PM·

Twenty seventeen

I am not believing it’s 2017 already, in just 3 short years, it’s going to be the year 2020, now that will take some getting…
  • January 1, 2017 9:00 AM·

Living in the Future

An ongoing documentary series celebrating sustainable communities and ecovillages around the world is promoting the off-grid way of life. Living in the Future hosts a free…
  • January 1, 2017 6:57 AM·

Tiny House Nation

Omaha, Nebraska Jan 1st – The TIny house movement is closely related to the off-grid movement.  IT makes sense to have a tiny home if…
  • January 1, 2017 5:52 AM·

Power from Tap Water

PBS News Hour just ran this report on an inventor who wants to extract the power from H20: HARI SREENIVASAN: Imagine a mini power supply…
  • December 27, 2016 8:39 PM·

Best Beats Unplugged

It is not often that large events can call themselves self sustaining. But two upcoming music festivals on two entirely different continents are bucking the…
  • December 24, 2016 5:54 AM·

Positively negative

I’m amazed at how the people in your life can become your biggest and loudest critics when you decide you are going to do something,…
  • December 21, 2016 11:54 PM·