Off the Grid Living Latest News and Info
The new Volts-wagens are a partnership with Toshiba (drive units, power electronics and lithium batteries), and the stated goal is to be the first manufacturer to provide a series of large scale production electric vehicles, under the umbrella “New Small Family”.
Bills in the House and Senate are proposing a federal standard that would require utility companies to get 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. A report from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that such a standard would cut electricity bills for consumers across the country while also creating nearly 297,000 jobs and reducing global warming pollution by 277 million metric tons per year.
There’s a lot of info on the net for building your own water filtration. One of our favorites is the Slow Sand Filter, because it uses every day common materials (sand, gravel and a container). Here is one design that is easy to duplicate using whatever containers you can find. I’d suggest 35 gallon drums. [...]
Have bad soil? Need portability? Want to try something novel? Build or buy an Earth Box. This planting box contains a self watering system, custom blended soil, and the ability to move it around depending on your needs. Build one per the instructions at http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-your-own-Earth-Box/?ALLSTEPS, or buy one for $60 at http://www.earthbox.com/.
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In our quest to be environmentally friendly, and cheap (I’m Scottish), we became a dealer for Diesel Craft Centrifuges. These units filter used vegetable oil (and motor oil) to a degree far finer than a filter can, and mounted onboard the Suburban, we can collect and filter as we go on a long trip, without [...]