Campaigning For UK Solar Owners Underpaid By Utility Companies
The London Times has exposed shockingly low rates paid by some Utility companies for surplus PV power generated by their customers. And Solar panel owners
Grid On The Skids
The UK national grid is in danger of total collapse during national emergencies according to government tests carried out to prepare for a national emergency.
Heating bills UP in SoCal storms
Residents of Southern California have endured months of droughts, followed by floods, and now face brutal increases in the cost of home heating. That is
Van dwelling in rural UK
Fuelled by a desire to break free from mortgages, rent and commuting; searching for the simple life, in beaches and beauty spots a largely invisible,
Extinction Rebellion protests continue
Climate activists Extinction Rebellion continued their global “summer rebellion” in London and Munich today. In London, the target was London Concrete, the British capital’s biggest
Teri Hatcher living in a van for her YouTube series
In a great piece of self-promotion, actress Teri Hatcher first encouraged and then denied the story that she was down and out and living in
Stealth camping in the city
Most of the people I know of who live in their vans or other vehicles are travelers, they camp, they don’t tend to live in
Stealth van build and tour
Could you live in a van? I could if I had this one, it’s designed to be a “stealth van”, it has loads of space
Perfect little fixer-upper – $13,000
It’s an historic cottage in Wales, a listed building, that will make an ideal, tiny off-grid home for someone who is very handy with DIY.
Van living is road to freedom
“Living in a van, I can make money, be an artist, and travel three continents,” says Nathan Murphy, an accomplished amateur rock climber from Cornwall
Living here vs there
When we left the big city, well more like the outskirts of the big city, we lived in a trailer park on the edge of
Truck garden
Growing up I had heard of truck farms, usually small family farms, when the produce is ready, the farmer takes the produce to a farmer’s
Australians realise they are overhousing themselves
Over a century ago, Australia’s 1911 census registered the average household as 4.5 persons, compared to the average today of 2.6, yet Australian homes have
Soaraway Sun plugs 3D printed homes
Britain’s Sun newspaper is known as narrow minded and bigoted. So it was a surprise to find it extolling the virtues of off-grid, 3D printed
Breathe easier: new tech monitors urban pollution
One of the many appeals about living off-grid is breathing in that fresh clean air. It’s safe to say the air quality in any city
Pellet Power: Fossil-Fuel-Free Heating
A clean, cheap and carbon neutral way to heat your home – sounds good. Its a reality for thousands of families and businesses in Europe
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
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
Sea Bubbles: Off-Grid Travel in the City
Ever wanted to book a flying water taxi to take you to your destination? If you’re in Paris during the summer you could do just
Preppers can relax now that Trump is in
I typically steer clear of politics and religion as topics for me personally to discuss here, not that I’m anti religious or not political, quite
Will The Donald endorse Off-grid living in Tiny Homes?
Let’s make America Tiny again – like it was back in the days of the orginal settlers. As the kleptocratic corporatocracy tightened its grip on the
The Art (and fabulousness) of Sleeping in Your Vehicle
By Diane Kois – car-dweller, car-lover A few months ago when I made the decision to dwell in my Jeep, instead of continuing to pay
British supermarket takes one block off the grid
British supermarket, Sainsbury has taken it’s first store off-the-grid. What took them so long? The Cannock branch, West Midlands has unplugged from the National
off-grid living is good for your skin
Pollution is waging war on your complexion, new research shows. While our bodies are getting younger from careful eating and better exercise, our skin is
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
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
“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
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
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
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
Win a Tiny Home ($100 purchase necessary)
Social Entrepreneurs at SustainaFest have announced the Tiny House Essay Contest, which will make one person’s dream of sustainable living come true. The winner of
Why Australians are getting off the grid
New South Wales, 22 Feb – Dr Kristin Alford, a futurist and founder of Adelaide-firm Bridge8 which consults to governments and the private sector, describes
Campaigner moves to tiny home
* Rob Greenfield from San Diego purchases ‘house’ measuring 5ft by 10ft * The environmental activist will live in the 50sq foot box for the
Interview with America Unplugged character
Sportsman Channel are running a great series about ordinary people who live off the grid or off-grid ready – meaning they COULD go off-grid if
Greenpeace “loses $5m” of donations
Greenpeace, the environmental charity that lost its way over a decade ago, has announced it has also lost money – over $5 MILLION dollars of
Tiny Homes – the Big Picture
OFf-Grid News reports on the booming Tiny Homes movement. The houses are the size of a regular settee or a little bigger. They are painted
Shop the bunker
The Spectator newspaper reports that an architect who usually designs Manhattan skyscrapers was recently asked to pitch for a far more interesting project. The client,
Another cool tiny home
If This House Doesn’t Look Like Much To You, Wait Til You Go Inside. I Love Everything About This. After spending years in the rat
Inequality is why so many want out of the system
The war on drugs sends thousands of poor kids to prison for using the same illegal substances that rich whites can often get away with;
App uses social media data to make avoiding people easier
A new iPhone app allows users to harness the power of social media to become as anti-social as possible. Cloak lets users view a map
“$1m” Tree House under threat
A family in Wenatchee, WA have been told they can only keep their tree house if they takes out a $1M insurance policy in case
Not prepped at all….
During this last major cold snap, I heard a story on NPR (National Public Radio), it’s the only radio station we can pick up out
Living inside the box
This absolutely falls under the “How cool is that!” category… I have seen lots of sheds, workshops and homes made out of shipping containers, some
Private Underground Shelters
Disaster preparedness is big business in the USA. The big banks all have shadow rooms, vast cavernous buildings on the edge of New York and
Taking an urban apartment off the grid
London, Ont., Roommates Stephen Szucs and Dave Pope are living with no fridge, air conditioner, stove or hot, or running water this summer after deciding
Doomsday Prepper arrested with live alligator
A “doomsday prepper” who was arrested Tuesday after Dallas police found bomb making materials and a Glock in his car has been kept in federal
Slums – testbeds for new ways of living
We should not romanticise slums, but informal settlements can teach us a lot about society and the economy of resources. Its amazing , for example,
Sydney discovers off-grid
The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia has been telling its readers about the joys of living off the grid. Life couldn’t be more different for
Sensible shoes makes sense
Shoes, ladies I know you think about them a lot, and some of you guys too, but how many of you wear shoes that would
First Algae-powered building goes up in Hamburg
Phys.org reports on a completely self-sufficient apartment building revealed at the International Housing Exhibition in Hamburg, which produces renewable energy by harvesting micro-algae. The 15-apartment
Fast-growing Urban forests
Bangalore, April 22nd — Planting miniature forests in cities sounds like a job for a government department rather than a small entrepreneur. Although these “forests”
Can lone females live safely in inner city vans?
a “little Dodge Caravan” plus “volunteering in exchange for meals and a shower”
Turn off your power for a week… what would you learn?
So, you are sitting in your climate controlled home, with lights, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, heaters, fans, TVs, computers, home theater systems, running water, sanitary
Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid
Even as we own more and more gadgets, and spend increasing amounts of time using them, the average energy consumption in American homes has dropped
Mitsubishi Smart House
Service promises to keep energy bills down and an eye on grandma Is today’s smart home technology, which connects a household’s appliances to the Internet,
9 simple ways to a greener home
Simple rules to prepare yourself for an off-grid life while still inside the system
Affordable Green Homes
China’s government just announced it will allow financial institutions to provide lower mortgage rates for buyers of environmentally friendly housing (see below for more detail).
Vancouver preppers get their own store
For Vancouver residents who want to eliminate the global industrial food complex from their diet, help is on the way. Rick Havlak’s Homesteader’s Emporium, is
Williams-Sonoma move into urban homestead market
Urban homesteading, growing or raising a portion of your own food, has become so fashionable that upscale cookware company Williams-Sonoma introduced the Agrarian collection, a line of tools
EPA $1m to Colleges for off-grid research
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $1 million in grants to 15 university and college teams for innovative off-grid solutions.
Future high-end homes
Los Angeles, the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the California Institute of Technology are running a poster child for a new generation of smart
Searching for community, family or couple that lives off-grid
Filming to start in September 2012
Powering your cell phone
I know, I know – how do you call yourself off the grid when you have a cell phone so rooted to your ear that
Australia falling for Earthship marketers
Boasting an outer shell made of stacked car tyres packed with earth, an Earthship claims to be a cutting-edge, sustainable green home made from recycled
Doomsday business is booming
Be it the Mayan prophecy, Peak Oil or Global flooding, there is big money in the coming collapse
A day in the life of snoops and corporate marketers
Your every move is diced and dissected, repackaged and resold by electronic spies embedded in all our lives
Urban Danger
“Civil unrest could be a very high probability,” says a ten-term US congressman from Maryland. “….those who understand, need to take advantage of this opportunity when the winds of strife are not blowing to move their families out of the city.”
BG & E – you can kiss my gasstove
Baltimore woman goes off-grid after her power bill doubles
In an Emergency, do I head for country or city?
The conventional wisdom is that if the system breaks down for reasons of economic collapse, or some sudden natural disaster, then the best place to
Australian off-grid home design
Its not quite a McMansion, as its appearance is too distinctive, but is this $500,000 home a case of greenwash, or just naive?
Man Maketh the Clothes
Make your own clothes – Book review of Through the Eye of a Needle by John-Paul Flintoff, about a middle class guy who makes his own Y-fronts to prove he has not been infantilised by consumer society
Your Money or Your Life
Your Money or your Life – which would you choose – earning money or having fun?
Men need Garden Sheds
The Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA), has been beavering away for some years now, trying to help depressed, lonely males. They call themselves Shed Men
Poland Off the Grid
Dear readers of Off-Grid.net, My name is Krzysztof Lis, I live in Poland, and since 2005 I am interested in off-grid living. My off-grid journey
Urban Bushcraft
A new book, How to predict the weather with a cup of coffee: And other techniques for surviving the 9-5 jungle, takes the survival tips
Off the Grid and the prepared
So, just what does that mean? I can tell you from personal experience and from the responses I have received from people over the years
US Embassy in London to be off-grid ready
For decades the residents of elite Grosvenor Square in London’s Mayfair had to contend with overbearing security along the entire side of the square occupied
Foreclosed? Move to Rio Rancho
Architecturally, the dwellings run the gamut — railroad cars, travel trailers, plywood shacks, doublewides and two-story ranch-style homes.
Here in Rio Rancho outside Albuquerque, residents are beyond the reach of power lines and piped water. A few have solar panels or small wind turbines. For others, like a shanty built by Liz Owens, 57, the cost of renewable power sources and drilling a water well is prohibitive. Generators and plastic water tanks are common yard features.
The local County is concerned about the proliferation of informal development. Sandoval County’s long-term planner said home styles in the area range from railroad cars to travel trailers, plywood shacks and ranch-type homes.
Magniwork scammers unmasked
Magniworks plotters named but the internet was their very willing accomplice
Whole Green Catalog
Click to buy There is too much information around about how to go green. Many are left wondering who to trust and just how they
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
Victory in 25 year permit battle
Stick to your beliefs, fight hard and dig in – this story proves you can live anywhere off-grid if you put your mind to it.
A Freegan week (sounds like hell)
Boss of the Freegan movement details his weekly chores – we’d rather work for Gordon Ramsay
Smart Grid ploy to grab stimulus funds
The battle is on to prevent the so-called Smart Grid from becoming a license to heist the stimulus funds
Pay it back!
The financial community should repay their bonuses for the past decade — the profits were illusory. That money could be used to bail out failing banks and insurers
Make money, save planet
Make money, save planet Show me the green We are always being told how to save money and save the planet – but here’s how
Green Gifts? Try Freecycle
Exclusive interview with Deron Beal, founder of Freecycle, plus listing of some reccomended Green Gifts
Simple ways of saving energy
Its easy if you try If you live on the grid and want to reduce your energy consumption, there are plenty of simple ways of
How to disappear in America
Artist Seth Price has a new book inspired by internet musings about dropping off the system
10 ways to beat the Depression of 2008
This is what to expect Off-gridder Lamar has researched the great depression and “gleaned much info from my parents that lived through it” to come
Coping with the downturn
How two ordinary families are struggling, and failing, to overcome the US credit crunch