Green living: Off the grid families pioneer sustainable energy lifestyles

Christian Science Monitor ^ | August 7, 2010 | Kari Lydersen

[the invisib1e hand]

i think the reason people scoop all the dog crap in little plastic bags off the sidewalks of this city is ‘cause they use it to make little fires to cook soup and stuff at home.

[Drango]

while still not cheap – living off the grid...

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

[Sacajaweau]

Pleeeezzzz....He’s living in the woods...Obviously doesn’t have a job...or a family.....or responsibilities. He’s a friggin’ hermit...

[DonaldC]

One can live off grid and have all the modern comforts. This article makes it sound like some kind of sacrifice.

[dr_who]

Living off the grid typically requires a significant investment. Hall figures that once the hydropower system is finished on his property, he will have invested about $15,000 on energy systems. Most North Carolinians spend several hundred dollars a month for electricity, water, and heat. So the Halls will have paid off their investment in a decade.

Yeah, and how much will it all cost to maintain the system one decade down the road?

[sionnsar]

How clean-burning is the wood?

[DainBramage]

Im trying to gradually get off the grid. So far Im down to 25 sheets of toilet paper and two flushes per dump.

[Sacajaweau]

This enviro cr** added $100,000 to the cost of his house. Dumb and dumber. Pssssst...He’s got a cell phone. Read the article...You’ll like what these folks do for a living!!

[posterchild]

He’s living in the woods

He's not living in the woods, he's 'nestled in a temperate rain forest.'

[posterchild]

If he want’s to spend his own money I’ll be glad he’s doing it if it reduces the tech costs in the future.

[editor-surveyor]

CS Monitor.

‘splains it all.

[DonaldC]

“Most clean-energy experts don’t see off-grid living as the solution to the nation’s energy crisis. “

Experts don’t like it when ya can’t meter it. LOL

[posterchild]

He’s doing it for the ‘universe.’ When a black hole consumes the matter that used to be the earth the universe will be glad that a minor oxidation reaction didn’t take place prematurely a few billion years prior.

[super7man]

I’m going off the grid.

I just installed a 47KW diesel generator.

Woohoo......

[editor-surveyor]

“How clean-burning is the wood?”

.
100%

Burning wood produces all natural substances, all of which are beneficial to the environment.

[wally_bert]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVQIxK_R3kI

[posterchild]

I like the idea of living off the grid, but not for ‘environmental’ reasons. I also like growing some of my own food and doing my own house repairs and doing a few other things that are transactions not taxed.

[editor-surveyor]

“powered with electricity that comes exclusively from solar panels mounted on a wagon that they wheel around the property to catch the best rays.”

Wow!

This is “high tech” at its best.
.

[cicero2k]

I just installed a 47KW diesel generator.

Now that's more like it. Plus you can start a small co-op with that kind of power.

Running the economy on alternative energy is like running on fairy dust. As if by magic everything will be all right.