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School teacher’s tiny home build
When I was a little girl, my dad had converted our single car wide garage in our home into a dining room on one end…
Freezing week
A great deal of the USA went through a major deep freeze, we were not spared here in far west Texas. We got dumped on…
- Energy ·
Florida: People vs. Utilities
A battle is developing in Florida between the solar power movement, and some of the most venal and vindictive utility companies in America. At stake is the…
Montana Music Man
Greg Grant, born in New York, has spent the last 21 years living in his self-built off-grid home in Montana. In this clip we interview…
Chopping and stacking wood
Chopping and stacking wood is a pastime where the world makes sense once more. Because our relationship to fire is so ancient, so universal, in…
- Land ·
Cold War launch center for auction on Ebay
There are silos and missile bunkers for sale all over the USA, but California investor Russ Nielsen can assure you that the hardest work is…
- Energy ·
Queensland farmers battle “Ergon rip-off”
State-owned energy companies in Australia are gouging their captive market – farmers and companies that depend on energy to make their profits – and employ…
- Energy ·
Putting the Pee into PC
A new form of recycling is about to hit Silicon Valley. The eco-friendly technology uses urine to power a computer. The technology is the next…
Why young people are moving to canals
The freedom and tranquil bliss of canal networks are attracting young people to take up a transient life on the water. With a comfortable, live-on-board…
Do you see what I see?
There are many things we can live without and still do pretty well, but eyesight isn’t one of them. I know there are many folk…
- Land ·
South Dakota ghost town – ideal for staging off-grid reality show
The South Dakota ghost town of Swett is once again for sale, and this time the asking price is a lot cheaper. Swett in the…
Heat my Homestead
There are many ways of staying warm in your off-grid home without the aid of the sun. Here are some tips on how to keep…
Handy gadgets for your bug-out bag
Its vacation time – and here we are – on the road again…and wanting to travel light. We thought we would share with you a…
Rainwater Harvesting: Global Storming – Bring it on
Installing a Rainwater Harvesting System (RHS) could be a major step in achieving your ideal, eco-friendly home. You could be collecting your own water through…
A post-consumerist speaks: I HAD IT WITH THE MAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INDPFCztnaI Amanda Gang is weary of consumerism – appalled at the way her own parents are such avid shoppers. She just wants out. so she…
Free energy
A few years before we moved off-grid, I had discovered an energy drink that I liked and worked, it was 5 Hour Energy, I didn’t…
- People ·
Brad Pitt’s latest role: a smart off-gridder
Brad Pitt is the smartest man in Hollywood, says the Toronto Globe and Mail. You may scoff, but it’s true. Not many actor-producers could have…
Slab City – American Dream Deserted
Off-Grid living is the American Dream manifest: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. For the residents of Slab City, an encampment in the Sonoran…
- Events ·
National Grid fined $3m for allowing boy’s death
UK Utility company National Grid has been fined $3m (£2m) after safety failings caused a young boy’s canal death. National Grid owns a huge swathe…
Blustery December
Winter is officially here, we have had a few hard freezes, it even snowed a bit the other day, fortunately the snow and other weather…
Carolyn Chute living in the woods – she couldn’t be happier
Catch our video visiting one of America’s greatest living novelists as she does her daily chores the Maine backwoods? She just doesn’t trust the system…
Cabin Porn – the official book
You loved the Cabin Porn web site – now Buy the book from Amazon US. Its amazing how Tiny Homes in general and remote cabins…
Learn to love what you already have
Going off-grid also means living in a simpler manner, learning to be free. In this article we’ll give you tips on how to love what…
- Events ·
Power to the people says Jeremy Corbyn
UK Labor Leader comes out for Distributed Power Says Britain must empower citizen suppliers and direct private investment into green technology “This week world leaders…
Home & Away star goes off the grid
Home and Away’s Lisa Gormley is in the middle of building an off-the-grid eco cabin in the Tasmanian rainforest. She is looking forward to spending…
Interview: Remote, exurban homesteaders in Alaska
Mark Zeiger has been living with his family in an off-grid homestead in Alaska for over a decade . This is episode 2 of our…
Eviction Notice for Amish Family Living Without Electricity
An Amish family in Wisconsin woke up one morning last week with an eviction notice on their front door. It was for refusing to fit…
Experience a Tiny House – No Strings Attached
Perhaps you’ve thought about ditching the concept of the traditional house and living a full off-grid experience, in a tiny home? But you haven’t…
Replacing our 12 volt water pump
Most of the time, items are replaced when they fail, break or quit working. We decided to get a jump on replacing a critical piece…
Cutting your Carbon Footprint
Suppose you believe that man-made Carbon emissions are bad for the planet. What do you do about it? Some eminent experts say that individuals can…
Printable Solar Cells
The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium in Australia has started to showcase solar cells made with a 3D printer. According to Fiona Scholes, senior examination…
How Rob Greenfield lives off-grid in the City
Today I talked to tiny home YouTube sensation Rob Greenfield for his tips on how to go off the grid. Greenfield by name and Greenfield…
- Urban ·
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…
- Energy ·
‘Poo power’ to combat climate change
(MENAFN – Gulf Times – Wash DC, Dec 3) IKn a development which will give hope to the Climate Change talks in Paris, the stench…
Encyclopedia of homemade tools website review
I am always on the lookout for websites where you can learn about DIY, I recently found a fun site all about homemade tools, this…
- Food ·
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…
Solar myths debunked video
Solar power myths and outright lies, learn the truth here.
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,…
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.…
5 Cool things for your Bug-out Bag (or off-grid stocking)
What do YOU think should be in the best bug-out bags this year? Please let us know by commenting on this article. Send us videos…
- Energy ·
Caught without a Charger? Here’s what we recommend.
https://www.off-grid
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…
- Urban ·
Final Frontier – the Bathroom
https://www.off-grid
Thankful
https://www.off-grid
- People ·
Clooneys build an off-grid shack
https://www.off-grid
- Events ·
Gary Snyder at 85 talks about his off-grid life
https://www.off-grid
Truck follies
https://www.off-grid
- People ·
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…
- Water ·
Natural swimming pools
https://www.off-grid
15 Security tips for off-grid homes
As the financial crunch continues, property crime is on the rise. Living off-grid you are more vulnerable to opportunist thieves – people who happen to…
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…
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…
- Urban ·
“I paid Sydney Water $800 a year — now I get it for free”
Living in a city it can seem hard to kick free from the grid, but in Sydney Australia, Newtown resident Kylie Ahern will soon become…
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,…
- Solar ·
Editorial: Don’t hit small solar with new fees in California
Those solar panels you’ve seen glinting on your neighbors’ rooftops throughout California? If the state’s investor-owned utilities get their way in negotiations with the Public Utilities Commission,,…
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…
- Land ·
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…
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…
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…
- People ·
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…
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,…
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,…
Decentralised power in Syria
An obscure American Anarchist inspires a new way of government in Syria
- Energy ·
Obama endorses off-grid energy (finally – but only for Africa!)
White House Press Releases And Documents FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Joins with Public and Private Sector to Increase Access to Off-Grid Clean Energy and the…
What to consider before going off-grid
How do you start when you are wanting to go off-grid? How do you decide where to live? There are many different directions you can…
Reminiscing and a blog update
Each autumn as the weather turns cool and the days get shorter, I think back on our first year living off-grid, eight years ago this…
YouTube’s off-grid stars….. go on the grid
Working almost non-stop as young professionals, they knew something was missing. “We were both working a lot of hours – 80 hours per week —…
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…
Would you live in a parking garage?
There is so much unused space, especially in the USA, space that was created for one purpose but with fresh eyes, can be used for…
- Energy ·
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…
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…
Oz The Grid – world’s first town plans to unplug
Tyalgum in Australia wants to make a name for itself by becoming the first town in the world to voluntarily disconnect from the electricity grid. The New…
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…
Off-Grid making millions for some
The hottest shows on cable TV these days are about people who have no TV. As the TV industry wakes up to this, expect plenty…
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,…
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…
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…
- Energy ·
Cost of Solar below Grid in 2017 – says UK Grid
National Grid finance chief Andrew Bonfield says solar panel costs are falling so rapidly that energy from the sun is expected to be one of the most cost-effective ways to…
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…
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…
- Energy ·
Energy industry views off-grid as normal
More than a third of energy executives in Europe believe that it will become common for customers to self-supply energy and go off-grid by 2020,…
Tiny home on wheels in Chattanooga
More and more commercial businesses are getting into the small home or tiny home business, this company based out of Chattanooga, has gone above and…
How the Do It Yourself World came to be
Several years back, I found a YouTube channel featuring Troy and his Do It Yourself World, he posted videos about going off-grid on the smallest…
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…
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…
- People ·
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…
Tiny House Hunting review
For those of you who follow me here, you know I write a lot about tiny homes or tiny houses, I have lived in small…
- Events ·
UK Channel 4 new off-grid show — secrets revealed
The Cyber Security firm behind a new Channel 4 show has revealed some of the secrets behind the series in which volunteers try to avoid…
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…
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…
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…
Low-energy rotisserie made from scrap
The chicken cooker went live, this is something PB has been working on for a few months now, I might have thought it wouldn’t be…
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…
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.…
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,…
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…
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…
Do what you love, love what you do
What is your passion? If money were no object (and just what does that actually mean anyhow???) what would you be doing right now? Now,…
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…
Rainwater harvesting, and a teaser!
Shelter, food and water are the trinity of life, actually that should be in the reverse order, water absolutely comes first, without it, there would…