Dismal UK energy prospects will boost DIY power
Off-grid energy boosted after new UK report warns of bleak energy supply prices over next decade
Tough Times Survival Guide vol 1 – book review
Reading, learning, it’s what I enjoy doing. Before the internet, I would go to the three local libraries in my hometown, I would check out
Greed cheerleaders sleaze splurge
Tracey Emin and Simon Cowell flaunt their wealth – are they out of step with the times or are we still living in the greedy 80s?
Grow your own tobacco – book review
A while back, I had some trouble with the government about buying cigarettes from outside the country (USA), it is WAS perfectly legal (at the
Preening or Greening?
Which celebs are devaluing the green movement? We divide them into fakers and sincere green campaigners
Chia pets or survival food
Remember those silly little Chia Pets? Little did we know then that those strange little seeds painted on those cheesy terracotta pots shaped like animals
Energy demonstration project – RFP
Pulling together a team to create a government funded off-grid community
Grandma goes TEOTWAWKI
I ran across this article today, it’s about a grandmother who has made the active choice to protect herself by prepping for an uncertain future.
Winter’s coming, get ready now
It’s the middle of August, smack in the middle of summer, and it’s time to start thinking about winter. Yes, the cold air is coming.
The new-old way to cook / book review / video
Retained Heat CookingHave you heard about hot box, hay box or cook box cooking? It’s the new-old way to cook that saves energy, improves flavor
Clinton:do as we say,not as we do
Clinton accepts US share of responsibility for global warming in encouraging 3rd world to cut carbon emissions
Alive and well-updates
Alive and wellHere is an update on what has been going on in our off-grid life. I know I haven’t written in a while, I
We’ve come a long way baby
I’ve been going back over the first pictures we took of our cabin, before it was renamed the sky castle, it’s hard to believe we
UK to subsidise off-grid power for all
Off-Grid in the UK? Govt will pay you 41pence per KW for power you generate
Our 4th of July Weekend
Moving to energy Independence. Starting to build our off-grid home.
Why I won’t fly to America
Academic planning an off-grid village a media hero after taking a stand against eco-campaigners who jet round world to save the planet.
Michael Jackson’s Earth Song
The pop superstar was always an environmental pioneer — full lyrics and video of the song
Comfy camping gear
Looking for those few essential items to go off-grid? Try the camping store: heat, food and shelter are the pre-requisites, and campers can buy them
Updates and the new shed
Here’s an update on what has been going on with us. Things have been going pretty well, we have been living here, 100% off-grid for
Forbes gadgets suck
MiFi is a superb product – but Forbes wrongly pushes its competitor – and don’t buy Solio – it sucks
DIY laundry soap – video
Today I made another batch of laundry soap. I had ran out about a month ago, I was using the leftover powdered store bought soap,
Sign of The Times
Find where to get work as an intern on an organic farm….everybody’s doing it
Europe’s Burning Man
Europe’s answer to Burning Man kicks off in July. Plan your trip now
Dumb idea
Rerev boss in his low-carbon shirt AP reports that the campus gym at the University of Oregon has installed dynamos on each of its running
America’s bad dream
Time the propagandized “Ideal Lifestyle” from commercial architecture magazines is recognized for the sales pitch it is
Aniston – green or just mean?
Sketchy news stories about Jennifer Aniston’s eco-makeover don’t ring true
Save our Mountaintops
Judd PalinThe clean-up crews are slowly moving in to deal with the smoking craters and ecological detritus of the Bush years. The latest teams actress
Apple’s solar strategy
It’s possible that Apple’s future just got sunnier. Employees at computer, phone and software company Apple have filed a patent to place solar cells on
Next-gen info processing
If you are reviewing your carbon footprint, consider a data storage and retrieval system now being sold on the internet. The product does not need
Oscars not green this year
Sheryl Crow at Green bash The Oscars ceremony has abandoned last year’s pretence of being “green” – whatever that meant at the time. With the
Survivalist shopping list
Financiers and business people name the key things you will need to help your family survive the next two years
Maverick millionaire
Exclusive interview with founder of Lush cosmetics who funds protest groups others would not touch
Steven Chu Interviews
In his first interview, energy secretary-designate, Steven Chu, says “we have to immediately start decreasing the amount of energy we use”
Simple Solar Homesteading Book Review
Before our big move off the grid, I did a lot of research to learn everything I could about living off-grid. I used the internet
Eco Innocence
We are living through a massive extinction of species on Earth The true innocents are the planet’s endangered species.
In New Hampshire: the only lights in town
An off-grid home in power-starved New Hampshire is the only building for miles with heat and light. Now lets feel smug about being off-grid
Boston prof goes off-grid crazy
Top writer and academic Lou Ureneck opts for an off-grid holiday home
Now Oprah pushes off-grid message
Oprah Winfrey’s magazine will feature a wholesome off-grid couple from Florida – the off-grid movement is taking off
Insulating your vehicle
Building materials work differently in a van than in a home – learn which is the best insulating material for your live-in vehicle.
Junk Mail
Found this in my junkmail – it looks like rubbish to me but maybe someone out there in Britland was going to pay full price.
Pure water without mains
The hideous chemicals like steroids which are in all our mains drinking water could be banished by a new gadget that sucks moisture out of the air and turns it into drinking water
Top shop says next step is off the grid
An organic farm shop praised as the best environmental retailer in the UK has announced plans to go off-grid
Fujitsu Siemens – bad people to do business with
Never buy a computer from Fujitsu, especially a Lifebook. Deathbook would be a better name. Fujitsu also operate under the name Fujitsu Siemens – and
Kiwi theater goes off-grid
A theater in Wellington stages a fully off-the-grid production. Others will follow.
How eco-activism has changed
The lawyer whose life forms the plot for “A Civil Action” gets stick from his kids because he fails to put out his recycling. He can’t wait till they are old enough to drive to the dump
Micro-nuclear plants for local power
A large off-grid community can be established anywhere with full power supply, now company launches mini-nuclear-power plant
Tiny Begley steps
Advance details of Ed Begley’s inspirational speech to a green convention this weekend.
Eco show homes
Photo: Visitors explore the back yard of the Wired LivingHome in Los Angeles. The $4 million prefabricated house has an automated energy system. Photo: Wired
Fujitsu Siemens – bad people to do business with
Never buy a computer from Fujitsu or Fujitsu Siemens – here’s why
Cell-phone base stations
The phone industry’s efforts to put cellphone base stations everywhere is spurring advances in renewable power
Perrey Reeves, naturally
Perrey in red, and mum in white Perrey Reeves who plays Mrs. Ari Gold in Entourage on HBO is in real life no power-hungry toady,
Let’s toast organic living
Lucky Colleen in front of home Colleen Stewart has a job many would envy – she is in charge of hospitality and wine tastings at
Eco-homes for $70,000
Your own architect designed eco home for as little as $70,000. Yes really, and coming soon to a tourist resort near you.
Return of the Cold War
Bush-Putin herald a return to the fears of the 1970s – superpower aggression for them, and cowering in out-of-town fallout shelters for us
Memo from Turner
Laura: did she really need 5000 ft? Welcome to EcoManor, built in Atlanta by Ted Turner’s daughter. At 5,000 square feet its about as eco
Yogiversity goes green
Maharishi University plans greenest ever educational facility in Iowa
Daryl admits “I was naive”
Biofuel has had some unfortunate side-effects, like the use of corn to make ethanol, admits Hannah,one of the main campaigners for biofuel over the past five years.
Elephant Tree House
Trees are the theme of three new shows near Philly, and a motif for the year in the US
Off-grid aid project blasted
Amboanga City – Two people were killed and 21 injured yesterday when suspected terrorists detonated a bomb outside a USAID project office near an air
Garbage in, Garbage out
Review of the new Oliver Hodge documentary “Garbage Warrior,” about architect and Earthships inventor Michael Reynolds
UK hideaway
Off-Grid Farmhouse in the Pennines offers exceptional value at $60 per night including vegetarian breakfast
Get a green roof
A green roof reduces flooding, increases insulation and makes you feel good.
Prefab heaven in Canada
A range of prefab homes for remote locations costing between $20-$100,000
USAF to go off-grid with Nuclear
The personal nuclear reactor just got a step closer. A senior USAF spokesman revealed the Air Force wants to order one now, and have them at every base in the future to prevent dependence on vulnerable grids in nations around the world.
Going up: Hedge fun – Going down: Hedge fund
Woodland is booming and the value of commercial holdings surged by up to 40 per cent in the past year. Buying woodland is becoming an increasingly astute move for people wishing to find a haven for their cash.
Why I took my kids back on the grid
A mother and four children found life in Ireland with a mini wind turbine too tough, especially when kids from the local school arrived wanting hot meals and TV.
Earthships – Another Recycling Frontier
Earthships are earth-sheltered autonomous buildings made of tires rammed with earth, which are usually arranged in “U” or horseshoe shaped modules. Each tire is rammed
How to survive almost anything
Robbie Rubbish sleeping bag Ever needed to spend the night in a sleeping bag made by stuffing unwanted paper into a pair of bin liners
Off-grid? We were never on
Poster power Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the take up of off-grid technologies, says the Wall Street Journal Asia, could be their rapid success. Rising
Home insurers pay us to go off-grid
Two leading insurers now offer rebuilding poiicies that allow you to make your house better (ie greener) than new. Plans set to be law before the next election.
Build a summer cabin for $2000
All the materials you need to build a cheap small cabin in the woods plus an estimate of the costs
Invention Nation A Show To Catch
Christmas Eve the Science Channel ran an all nighter on their new show Invention Nation. With only six episodes so far it is definitely a
Cheap power for all
New micro nuclear reactors from Toshiba will be deployed worldwide from next year. The first will be installed in the isolated township of Galena, Alaska, which has been negotiating a license from the Federal Government since June 2005.
Whither The Utopia Experiment?
Inside story of the Utopia Experiment and why the volunteer recruits have taken over the project.
Eco-celeb twitter
Kevin Spacey, Uma Thurman, Kylie Minogue, Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox, Al Gore, Melissa Etheridge, Paris Hilton (yuk!)
Simple in the City 2 – Window boxes
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Saffy back on the grid
Actress Julia Sawhala ends her off-grid relationship and leaves the solar panels behind.
Dystopia Experiment
The UK Utopia project split widens, as the founder leaves to finish his book, and volunteers take over the running.
For women in need of a loan
Natalie Portman fronts FINCA -micro-loans for female third world entrepreneurs.
Future House now
Brief tour of a multi-feature, state of the art, architect-designed home.
We love “It’s Not Easy Being Green”
We just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the BBC show “It’s Not Easy Being Green”, since it really helps to see someone making
Guy Grieve’s survival tips
The story of an ordinary guy who built a cabin in the Yukon in winter and survived
Diamond rush in Greenland
Diamond mining is booming in Greenland as more of this remote island’s surface is exposed by global warming.
Thomas Dolby goes off-grid
Singing the off-grid song Synth-pop and music-technology icon Thomas Dolby will shortly embark on a new album project, recorded totally off the grid Auto Amazon
Green=protectionist?
Debate emerges over whether protectionists are trying to snatch green policies for their own ends.
Sunday Times Editor goes off-grid
$260,000 “shack” has newspaper editor praising Thoreau and crowing about his manliness.
Renewable energy stocks
The planet isn’t the only thing heating up because of climate change. We name the hottest renewable-energy stocks.
Off-grid lighting competition, $200,000 prize
Let there be light The Development Marketplace team of the World Bank today launched a competition, to reward project ideas that address the various off-grid
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