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Living off the grid isn't easy, but living on the grid isn't sustainable—at least not the way the grid is currently set up. People have started going without it around the world, on the individual and group level and on short- and long-term bases, and many have found it to be a little addictive, as well.
Here are a few off-the-grid examples:
The Waterpod
A NYC artist decided to leave the grid by living on a barge at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Mary Mattingly, a sculptor and photographer from Queens, started planning to move with several others onto a 30-by-100-foot barge where they would grow (some of) their own food and barter with farmer's markets for the rest, compost their waste, purify rainwater for drinking, and use solar power, a 30-foot wind turbine, and bicycle power to generate electricity.
The Earthship
Ecoshack, a design lab that encourages experiments in off-the-grid design and alternative culture and lifestyles, helped to design an off-the-grid ecovillage "kit" that they tested in Nicaragua—it can cool itself, generate its own power, and catch and filter rainwater. Called the Earthship, the original idea came in the 1970s from architect Michael Reynolds, who was known for saying, "If you can't use the by-product, then don't use the product"—he built a house out of materials that were being thrown away, and the idea's been growing ever since.
The Ungloo
Basically an igloo for the desert—another creation of the Ecoshack design lab, this one in California's Joshua Tree National Park.
The Eco Cabin
A cabin made from old shipping containers sits on a Boy Scouts' campground on southern California's Catalina Island. It also uses reclaimed lumber, and relies on solar photovoltaics to power its LED lighting.
And more...
A couple in southwest Oregon have been living off the grid for more than 20 years. They have 5 KW of solar modules and a battery bank made of 12 two-volt "absorbed glass mat" cells—and they save energy with uber-efficient appliances and by doing solar cooking and using waste wood for fuel. Since they do a good job of monitoring how much energy is coming in and how much they use, they always have enough!
Off-the-grid communities have sprouted in New Mexico southwest of Santa Fe, in Iowa, it's gaining ground in Hawaii and countless other places across the country.
The first annual National Day of Unplugging was also held this year, and some who shunned the idea at first eventually gave it a shot, even extended it by an extra day because it turned out to be rewarding and even comical.
On top of helping the earth, there are plenty of reasons to live without electricity, including healthier circadian rhythms and increased appreciation for, or at least interaction with, people around you, as Jamie Lee Curtis noted after her family's accidental experiment of living without juice.
(For anyone interested in trying it out for yourself, plenty of off-the-grid resources and advice on things from generators to solar water pumps—even help finding off-grid real estate—are all available online.)
Related Posts:
Jamie Lee Curtis on the Benefits of Electricity-Free Living. Want to Join Her?
Staying Warm in the Winter Without Heating Your House: It Can Be Done (If You Really Want To Do It)
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