Go on, flip the switch

If you cannot wait until Earth Hour on 27 March to switch off power in your house, try making this weekend your  Power Off Weekend.  That is what a group in the UK are doing.  The Power Off movement  chooses random weekends to switch off all power (yes, including the freezer), and play games by candlelight.

“Power Off is all about having time to have fun, play games, talk to people, have friends and neighbours round, spend time with your children,” says Malcolm, who has started the Touchwood project in the Orkneys to popularise the idea.  Of course if you turn off the power in the Orkneys at night, then it gets really dark, unlike London. But the freezer wont melt in a single weekend because its normally too cold.

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Time Magazine has called living off the grid “one of the most important ideas of the next ten years.”

Time  Managing Editor Richard Stengel, says of the article “this isn’t a matter of just scaling back but also of reconceiving how we live. “   Reihan Salam writes about how in the 2010s, more and more people will live off the grid, working in a new underground economy that will fill in the gaps of the old one. In a separate article in the special issue,  Christopher Hayes writes passionately that “it’s not just the market that has changed. The entire edifice of trust in authority that supported American life has been shaken.

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Powell: Hypemaster-General

More details of the Bloom Box have been revealed at a carefully managed press conference in California.  The much-hyped off-grid source of cheap electricity  will not lead us all to disconnect from the grid tomorrow, but it is undoubtedly disruptive technology, and very exciting for the off-grid community.

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Skorpios: snap it up...or squat it

The Greek government is being urged to sell its uninhabited islands to bail itself out of bankruptcy, and the UK is likely to find itself in the same position in the near future.  What better time to explore the possibility of buying an island together with a group of friends, and setting up an off-grid community there with your own laws, government and even currency?

Interested parties should advertise themselves on LandBuddy, indicating roughly where they want to go on the Google Map that is part of the free service.

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Mayfield - doing the right thing

One of the UK’s most successful retailers ,The John Lewis Partnership, which owns Waitrose supermarkets and John Lewis department stores, is to open its first ‘off grid’ (his words) retail store, this year.

It will be located in Norfolk. Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership Charlie Mayfield, said in private talks at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in London today The store will be large —  between 15,000 and 20,000 sq ft. and powered by a mix of technologies, including combined heat and power.

Mayfield said the new off grid store would deliver carbon savings of 60 per cent compared to one opened “two or three years ago”.

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The company recently raised $5m, a step forward  in its aim to become a major corporate player in the solar panel  market.  But this tiny start up is making some inflated claims.

1BOG sounds to British ears like a good name for a toilet.

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I currently live in Rochester Hills, MI and i know for a fact that thi isnt what mankind was set on this earth for. I want to live with all living orgnisms as equals. I dont believe that man should hve power over anything! and that nobodies “destiny” was supposed to be something famous! I believe in oneness and consciousness. I love to love others and help them and thats all that matters to me. I wanna be in nature and truly letting life live inside of me. my dream would be to live in a community near the beach in nice sunny weather, hunting, growing, living off the land and everyone live as one.

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We have a 16 acres land with over 800 feet of private white sand beaches and lagoons. Our lots are located in a private island of the Bahamas which has also a private 3000 meters airstrip for Jet and small aircraft landings.

We would like to either open a Eco-Resort (The first above-water bungalows in our 2 lagoons like in Bora Bora), and/or if we do not find an investor or a partner, we will build private creole style homes for resale (1500 Square feet max).

We have the best well-water of the Berry islands, so no problem for water, but we do not have access to electricity, so we need to get a off grid system (Solar & Wind) to power our project. We will be 100% sustainable, as per the power (Solar and/or Wind), water with well-water osmosis filtration system, organic farming on site, sun compost toilet systems, water recuperation, etc.

If you are interested in knowing more about it or you want to be part of the construction of this site, bringing your knowledge and help, please email us, we would be glad to speak with you:

EMAIL: patrick@email.com
Phone: 407 915 4598 (FL, USA)

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we have found land in yale WA that is flat with water far out but can still get to work in 30
minuts to vancover WA there are 9 .10 acer plots each for 100thousend we are working on geting one is there others that woodlike in there is a lot more we can do such as spin weav sheere sheep and llamas milk cows and goats email me for more diannamarsolek@yahoo.com

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I am interested to know if there are offgrid people in jungles. :D

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small parcel for rent on the North Bend trail Pennsboro WV 150 mo.

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I live in Seattle, WA, am close to the green cultural heartbeat, and am looking for other folks, close by, who are interested in meeting to talk about how to go off-grid in Seattle.

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