Community

REfugee camps are almost permanent and residents are putting down roots for a permanent off-grid life

Refugee camps are future cities

The growing number of refugees flooding into camps worldwide could drastically redraw urban areas, it has been claimed. Most camps are largely off-grid, with fires…
  • December 3, 2015 9:17 PM·
Foraging

Foraging gifts for the family

Foraging for food sounds difficult but with these tips you will get an easy start – and soon become an expert forager. Introducing foraging into your…
  • December 1, 2015 3:51 AM·
The trailer home of alleged killer Robert Dear who regularly had disputes with neighbors and women

The Off-Grid Killer

At first sight, Robert L Dear might seem like many thousands of other reclusive cabin-dwellers in deserted parts of America. In his late 50s, divorced,…
  • November 29, 2015 2:33 AM·
German battery company launches scheme to sell your surplus solar energy to your neighbour

Sharing solar power in Germany

BERLIN, Nov 25 (Reuters) – German battery maker Sonnenbatterie has launched a scheme to connect households with solar panels together with their neighbours, and other consumers.…
  • November 28, 2015 6:21 AM·

Huge Building in London Occupied

A 150,000 square foot building in one of London’s most exclusive areas was squatted two weeks ago by activists. Local residents had been complaining for…
  • November 23, 2015 1:26 AM·

Earthship project on CNN

The divisive figure of Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture, has been in the press again, this time on CNN. His company built 15 off-grid cliff-top homes in…
  • November 19, 2015 9:31 PM·

Don’t get sick

It’s that time of the year when people stop spending so much time outside, between the cold weather and the sun going down so much…
  • November 13, 2015 12:47 AM·

History all around me

Going off-grid for us meant moving some 500 miles west of the place where I grew up, but I am fortunate to still have a…
  • November 12, 2015 2:51 PM·
NC Outward Bound School Veterans

Veterans forge a wild kind of peace

Relationships begun on rope courses, rock climbs and backpacking treks translate into an ease around the campfire where many US Army veterans start to talk about themselves,…
  • November 11, 2015 11:30 AM·

Tiny home documentary

I really appreciate how tiny homes are becoming more and more mainstream as well as legal, though many still have to “get around” codes and…
  • November 6, 2015 12:32 PM·
Home and Away star makes off-grid plans in Tasmania

Actress Lisa Gormley builds off-grid

Aussie actress Lisa Gormley is in the middle of building an off-the-grid eco cabin in the Tasmanian rainforest. The 30-year-old moved to Tasmania with her…
  • November 5, 2015 3:54 PM·

Spy in your fridge

Individuals deserve a clearer understanding of the data that companies are collecting from the new generation of digital, connected devices, said Vinton G. Cerf, Internet…
  • November 4, 2015 11:39 PM·

Dry flush toilet

No matter how you choose to live, off-grid, in a tent, a tiny house, a dome, everyone has to go to the bathroom. That is…
  • November 4, 2015 12:19 PM·
off-grid in North Devon - animals make the money while you sleep

Off-Grid living on British TV

Channel 5, the smallest UK channel, is featuring a British off-grid family next month as part of a series which usually visits pioneers around the world. The show…
  • November 1, 2015 4:21 PM·

Knights Hospitaller

The fall and winter holidays are here, we just went through the first one, Halloween, it’s not something I have been really big on celebrating,…
  • October 31, 2015 8:54 PM·
UK commune siuccess story - Windosr Hill Wood leader Tobias Jones

Freedom through Community

Tobias Jones is a co-founder of Windsor Hill Wood community in Somerset. His book about his community, Buy “A Place of Refuge” from Amazon UK,…
  • October 30, 2015 12:44 AM·

Life in a small community

We are back on track now, after last week’s rain deluge, our little community really pulled together to help all of us. This is one…
  • October 17, 2015 12:19 AM·
Company with largest corruption fine in history is caught out again

Siemens NY power plant false claims

In an echo of the VW emissions scandal, a Siemens power plant paid for entirely with public money was built on the basis of false claims about its energy…
  • October 11, 2015 6:28 PM·

Stuck in for 3 days

Earlier this week, I only worked Monday and Tuesday, I had an unexpected “vacation” after that. On my way home Tuesday, I passed through a…
  • October 9, 2015 1:57 AM·

OPSEC

Just how much can you divulge? How much should you divulge? You want to be more prepared, you have become more prepared, you have a…
  • October 7, 2015 1:57 AM·

Homesteading with a family

Winter is just around the corner, I’m sitting here tonight, with drops of rain falling on the roof, it’s a chilly 55 degrees F outside,…
  • October 3, 2015 1:12 AM·
Escape to Crete - container living

Sold up and gone to Crete

Artist and carpenter Julienne Dolphin Wilding has recently sold her flat in Kings Cross and bought land in Crete. She shipped out all her possessions…
  • October 2, 2015 9:55 AM·

Living off-grid deemed illegal?

You would think that being independent, being more self sufficient, being able to take care of yourself, especially in this day and age, would be…
  • September 30, 2015 2:14 AM·

Must have fire

Here is another Bobbage project, we have a semi-enclosed deck space between the bedroom and the laundry room or whatever that room is this week…
  • September 27, 2015 3:02 AM·

Wife, me and tea tiny home

Tiny homes are all the rage today, once built, you have to find appliances and furniture to fit those small spaces, and you must utilize…
  • September 24, 2015 1:40 AM·

Two flats in three days

Two flat tires in 3 days, what are the odds? Well for me, apparently, pretty good. I was planning on buying new tires in the…
  • September 12, 2015 8:21 PM·

Improvements on the rotisserie

The chicken rotisserie has really been a hit around the SkyCastle, PB has been working on it, tweaking it, improving it, making it work better…
  • September 10, 2015 11:08 PM·
Elaine seated in her permaculture garden

Australian off-grid hero

Go back a few years and the media loved to laugh at people who went off the grid. Increasingly journalists wish they could be doing it…
  • September 10, 2015 4:56 PM·

Unplugged Nation review

As a couple, PB and I have lived 100% off-grid since Dec 22, 2007, we have lived pretty rough, doing everything ourselves on a very…
  • September 1, 2015 12:29 AM·

Updates in western Texas

Lately I have been working like a mad woman, and I’m not complaining, much ;), I would like to have a little more time around…
  • August 29, 2015 11:46 PM·

The Edge of Green tiny home

Another tiny home, I really like the layout of this one as well as the material it’s made of. I love how they incorporated the…
  • August 27, 2015 11:31 PM·

Underground housing guru

How many of you remember Mike Oehler and his “$50 & Up Underground House Book“? I have a copy of this book and if I…
  • August 19, 2015 1:56 AM·

Backup plan for internet

What’s your backup plan? Do you have one? I hope so, everyone needs one no matter where or how they live. Today I’ll discuss communication.…
  • August 14, 2015 1:19 AM·

Tiny home documentary

Most of the tiny home videos I find tend to be snippets, showing a 15 minute (on average) slice of life in a tiny home,…
  • August 12, 2015 9:34 PM·

Here I am

  My dream, it’s something I have had more or less since I was a very little girl, I’ve always loved nature, wild places, as…
  • August 8, 2015 11:19 PM·

The Lilypad

The Lilypad, love the name, love the home, it’s one of the cutest tiny homes I’ve seen, I know I say that a lot, but…
  • August 4, 2015 9:26 PM·

What are you doing?

Where do you see yourself next week, next month, next year, in a decade? Are you actively planning your life or are you merely floating…
  • July 28, 2015 11:33 PM·
Clean a dog or a fish or yourself

A Shower in a box

If you need a portable shower, or a way of cleaning food or dishes – or even dogs – on the move, RinseKit is a portable,…
  • July 23, 2015 9:16 PM·

Arvo off-grid

Arvo Thompson went from wanting to live off-grid to actually doing it, a step that sadly, not enough people actually do. He has been living…
  • July 16, 2015 2:40 AM·
Sandfire Resources, DeGrussa Copper Mine

Huge copper mine goes off the grid

Increasingly it is big business that is taking a leaf from the off-grid philosophy. Australia’s largest integrated off-the-grid solar power system will be up and…
  • July 15, 2015 1:29 PM·

Budget solar install

I love seeing how other people do their solar systems, especially those who create and maintain their systems on a shoestring budget, which is how…
  • July 14, 2015 2:06 AM·

Going tiny with a family

You take one ratty camper, tear it down to the frame, then rebuild it, now it’s transformed into a home, and not just for one…
  • July 9, 2015 5:24 AM·

Freezers and fridges in Africa

One of South Africa’s largest producers of household appliances has announced plans to offer solar powered fridges and freezers to 600 million low-income African families.…
  • July 8, 2015 10:42 AM·

Water issues

Living in our little rural community in the mountains, we don’t have many choices for over the air radio stations, the mountains block most if…
  • July 7, 2015 8:29 AM·

Transitioning to the Off-Grid Mindset

So you’ve picked out the perfect land for your needs. You’ve looked at the climate over the last few years; you are aware of all…
  • July 6, 2015 1:48 AM·

More details emerge on Tesla Powerwall

We previously reported on Tesla’s announcement of home power storage units. Now the company has released the price: $3,000 for seven kilowatt-hours or $3,500 for 10…
  • July 2, 2015 10:29 AM·

What is “off-grid”?

“How can you be off-grid and be on the internet?” “You use propane, that’s not off-grid…” “You go to the grocery store to buy food,…
  • July 2, 2015 4:52 AM·

And the pressure is on

Pressure cookers that is, yesterday while surfing the internet, I ran across an article on Mother Earth News about cooking with pressure cookers. It reminded…
  • June 29, 2015 3:42 AM·

Happy Fathers Day

Today is a bittersweet day for me, it’s Fathers Day AND it’s my mother’s birthday, both of my parents are deceased, my mother many years…
  • June 21, 2015 6:02 PM·
Pope Francis surrounded by crowds, but fails to recognise the population issue

Blatant Flaw in Papal Eco-Encyclical

*Humble Pope Blasts Market Economy *Adds Voice to Man-made Warming Arguments *But Fails to Address Contraception *Birth Control and Population Limits Not on Agenda ROME—…
  • June 19, 2015 1:16 AM·

Join our Crowdfunding campaign

*Documentary in Production featuring Noam Chomsky *Looking for volunteers to help us spread the word on social media *80% already filmed but professional editors need…
  • June 16, 2015 2:31 PM·