A very good case for living off grid This is taken from a story on Yahoo.......Kinda reminded me why i made the choice to go off grid... "The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says there is nothing natural or inevitable about what’s considered a "normal" 40-hour work week today. In its wake, many people are caught in a vicious cycle of work and consumption. They live to work, work to earn, and earn to consume things. Missing from that equation is an important fact that researchers have discovered about most material consumption in wealthy societies: so much of the pleasure and satisfaction we gain from buying is temporary, ephemeral, and mostly just relative to those around us (who strive to consume still more, in a self-perpetuating spiral)". Thanks to everyone on this forum, for helping me realize what this lifestyle is about, and that "All that glitters, is not gold"....... rsbhunter
living off the grid for when "SHTF" My wife and I of thirty years just finished building a house that is completely sustainable and "off the grid". It is called an "Earthship" We produce our own electricity with fourteen 220watt photo-voltaic panels on the roof of house. It is backed up with a 48 volt battery back-up for low solar days. We produce our own hot water, we have our own well which is not shared. We heat the house because of a South facing direction and very large windows and thermal mass of the Earth acts as an insulator and wood heat. And this is sitting in the middle of 47acres in Western North Carolina. We have fowl for eggs and meat, and are planning to fence in part for Goats for milk and meat also. Is anybody out there that has done similar thing for sustainability of life when "SHTF"? I don't know if this is a reply to the previous thread of living off the grid of buying useless items or not or the start of a new thread but this is my idea of living off the grid.
Trigger, did you or are you going to add a generator for those really long no sun spells during storms ? Other then that, sounds like you are off to a really good start on your "project" Congrads !
People derive no satisfaction from their stuff because they are not involved in anything more than writing the check (makes me sound old). If they actually built some thing or grew something they might just learn to enjoy being human. I took some time off over Christmas. Instead of working, answering phones and responding to emails, I spent an entire day pruning my small orchard. It was heaven. I took what ever time I felt I needed to complete each tree. Almost as grand as fishing.
Musings about why going off grid I often think of the Eagle's song "Life in the Fast Lane", because of my several years as a suit and tie and briefcase in the big city. This past week I went back for a couple of days, met with a former partner who had changed businesses; went out to his ranch 60 miles from the city and spent the night to wake up just prior to sun rise; saw the morning red sky over the fog in the valley; discussed with my friend how we both enjoy being back to a rural life over the big city; discussed attitudes of some of our other friends' attitudes of us and our decision to leave life in the city; those city boys don't have a clue what life and work is outside of the city; they won't survive in our world. Hated the traffic in the city, continued growth, surprised of the continued building of shopping centers, restaraunts, concrete in the sky, more uneasiness of the youth and their coming attitudes when the economic wall comes crashing down on them. Saw a GREAT portable cabin at a show. Was ridiculously overpriced, but gave me some ideas for a one or two bedroom cabin, similar to a trailer house, that could be well built and moved to a remote site. Glad I'm back home, being a farmboy.
Jealous For those of us who have started the journey into the outdoors, you express the dreams and hopes that we base our future on.......For the few, who have not lost the vision of sunrises, sunsets, and a sit in the woods, the journey that has begun, breathes life into souls that have become dimmed by the smell, haze, and general depression that creeps into one's soul from living in the cities.....But the dream is alive, and totally obtainable.....if the desire and need is great enough...Thanks for reminding me of the end goal of life.....rsbhunter
One of the greatest things about where I live is the quiet. It is so quiet until you hear a bunch of yoties yapping from making a kill. Never have cars driving by and not many party types either. Corse' when it snows, it gets pretty bad, but never missed the city life and/or the coporate jungle either. It is a great feeling to be out here.
I am looking for property in the Camp Verde area or surrounding areas for retirement. I am attempting to locate in an area in Northern AZ with mild winters. Thanks for posting
Nadja, if you ever do start to miss being around people, I'd suggest spending a day in Phoenix wandering around since yer in Arizona. For me its Charlotte here in North Carolina. Like me when yer day is done you'll be shaking when you leave & desperate to get the hell out of there!!! I can barely stand to even drive in Charlotte ever!!! It tweaks my nerves sumthing fierce. Worse yet, NC doesn't have a hunting season for idiots so yer not allowed to shoot them or the Game Warden will be on yer arse!! =(
Property in Az. 30 years ago, Camp Verde was a pretty nice area. Not so much now. Phoenix keeps growning and the only way it can go is north. A lot of people from mich and back east area's consider where I am at to be mild during the winters. -25 is the lowest so far in over 16 years and the most snow at one time is about 3' Spring winds have been recorded at 112 mph but average is about 60mph. The reason people back east don't know about it, is simply we are such a rural and small area we are not newsworthy. You also have to be very very careful when buying property here as there are a lot of places with no water at all. We are "lucky" in that our average well depth is about 300-350' Quite expensive to say the least. Yes, it also gets hot and humid here in the summer. Our high's are generally about 104 deg and when the humidity kicks in it gets downright uncomfortable.
Phoenix Area About 4 years ago, had a visitor come over from England to stay with us a couple of weeks, so had to drive down and pick her up at the airport. I am still nervous of some of the traffic and idiots down there. Next time I will take two guns instead of one.
Cool stuff, but I have met a lot of people that talk of 'moving to the country' to get away from the city and all the hassle/crime/etc that seems to reside in the city. Very few place that meet that ideal exist anymore, at least in any real measurable. Rural crime, drug labs, pollutions from the cities (a real export there, eh?) have driven many former city types crazy - not realizing that in many ways, they brought their 'problems' along with them. I'm happy that a good hospital is just a couple of miles away, that we have modern fire and police departments here. Up the road some 60 miles, say - near Willow AK, it can take 30 minutes or more for the volunteer ambulance to show up. House fire? Goodby house. I still get great sunrises and sunsets and lots of wildlife wandering thru the yard, the crime is no better/worse than the more rural areas and I can have a steady supply of clean water, sewer system and natural gas to the house. I've lived on the farm, in Podunk, larger villages and now a right-sized burg. I guess everyone has an idea of their dream home.... (I still have most the acreage and a deep well back on the farm, just in case - I may be lazy, but I'm no fool)
DKR, bad news. Those that are talking of "moving to the country" really just mean moving to a rural housing development. You know, the kind where the Developer buys 20 acres, & puts a few roads in, & sells it in Half Acre Lots.
If I did not have to travel the 20 miles to town 3x's aweek for my job, and stay right here in the hills , I would be blessed in deed.. Oh. And there is nothing like controlling how well the road is plowed in the winter and how deep you leave the ruts for the summer. Keeps the yahoos out mostly.
Agreed. Some people do not realize what living in the country really means. Like yourself, about 15 yrs. ago my wife and I left the country life in the hills and moved into a small rural farming town to raise our family. Finding the right town to fit our needs and have the best of both worlds can be difficult but not impossible. Little did we realize that where we grew up was exactly where we ending up moving back to. I swore I'd never live here again when I graduated from high school 29 yrs. ago. I consider myself fortunate in where I live, as I do not have to travel far to find the solitude I require to re-energize myself and enjoy the country atmosphere I left. All I have to do is go visit a few farmers I know down the street. Once we are empty nesters (6 yrs. and counting), we are out of here and headed back to hills. The only thing I will do differently this time, is take that lifestyle to the next level and go Off-Grid. Hopefully 6 yrs. from now won't be too late to do so. Sad isn't it, I know a few people like that. I never understood how some of my friends would move from the town I live in and do just that. Buy a bigger house in an area that is in the country but it's in a housing development. WTF. They left same thing they used to live in to buy a bigger house, only now they drive farther to work and have to live under the stranglehold of a Homeowner's Association. Some peoples idea of country living is a bit obscure. Here's what I mean about what they left: 1st picture is from in front of my house. 2nd and 3rd picture is at a farmer friends place at the end of the road (10 blocks) from where I live. 4th picture is the area my wife and I moved from about a 45 minute drive from where I live. 5th picture is one of my favorite spots I hike into to re-energize myself, not far from where we used to live. http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/9232/town002.jpg http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/3369/mthood009.jpg http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/9899/mthood010.jpg http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/655/spics308.jpg http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/3552/spics477.jpg
CC, If you could get a place near that falls, you would have plenty of Off-Grid Power available to run a small community.... Lovely Pictures.... Thanks for Posting them....