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…
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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…

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…

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…

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…
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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…
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…

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…
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 –…

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…

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?…

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…

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…

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…
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…
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…
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…
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…

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…
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.…
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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

Dump your camper in the lake?

Would you drive your camper into the lake or river? You would if you owned an amphibious RV! I’ve seen “redneck” versions where they put…

Barn living, level-expert!

I’ve seen many barn conversions but this is the best one I’ve seen to date! I LOVE the sliding barn doors that completely cover the…

Tiny homes for veterans

All too often, our veterans are being left out in the cold, literally, there are many who are homeless for a variety of reasons, and…

Last Minute Gifts to Unplug with

So, what’s in your off-grid Christmas gift kit? If you’re having some trouble choosing what to get for your off-grid someone, here are five suggestions to…

Here we go again…

I’m very conflicted, I just signed up for a “service” that I would ordinarily want to have, especially at the monthly cost I’m going to…