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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Homesteading Challenge
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diane5000
Member
# Posted: 28 Mar 2010 11:09
Reply 


Hi Folks,

We are living the green life and for us this means self

sufficient, simple and solar. As of Dec. 2009 we set ourselves

up for self-sufficient living by Thanksgiving 2010. We heat and cook with

wood and use a propane counter top as backup. Our self installed

solar system provides us with electricity for lighting, water pump,

laptop etc.

In efforts to free ourselves from undue dependency of the

establishment, we are living a life of voluntary simplicity and loving it!

Diane and Warren
http://frombeyondthegrid.com

larry
Member
# Posted: 29 Mar 2010 21:08
Reply 


i am so envious. if i may ask, what do you do about money for the things you may need to buy?

knottypine
Member
# Posted: 29 Mar 2010 22:45
Reply 


I'm sure if you buy the EBooks, you'll get all the details

larry
Member
# Posted: 31 Mar 2010 07:21
Reply 


i guess that answers the $ question

diane5000
Member
# Posted: 31 Mar 2010 17:12
Reply 


larry


Hi Larry, Thank you for your question. When we buy, we buy

used. Even when I was living the yuppie life, I loved my thrift

shops and garage sales. As to your question about money, we use

what little we get from our old age secuity. We are in our sixties. Our

E Book helps bridge the gap. I would never want a lot of money, it

would except me from living this life I love. Diane

larry
Member
# Posted: 31 Mar 2010 20:44
Reply 


thank you for you answer, i wish i were able to do what you have done. i recently returned to work after 5 months of being with the wife and 2 girls (work injury) and it just stinks. but i guess i will just have to make the best of it ....for now. best of luck. sorry if i insulted you, it was not my intention.

lawnjocky
Member
# Posted: 2 Apr 2010 08:38
Reply 


Welcome to the site.

I poked around your site a bit and found it interesting.

I do have some trouble with the whole "green" attitude. First I am always puzzled about the lack of discussion of the CO2 production by wood fire heating. Don't get me wrong, I use wood heat. I just find it odd the people who try to be green use wood heat.

When you get right down to it we are probably destroying more of the environment that our urban brethren. We just have the luxury of being in a nice place with more space. We do this because we are self seeking and it gives us pleasure. If our true desire is to be green we would just commit suicide, instant recycling.

I built my place as an escape from the modern world, my motives are purely selfish. In my day to day life I try to be responsible and not buy into the world of consumption too much.

Jocko

Kithera
Member
# Posted: 3 Apr 2010 18:35
Reply 


Well, the wood part is easy, as long as you burn cleanly, there is nothing more "carbon neutral" that burning wood. The CO2 produced from burning is completely indentical to the CO2 consumed by the plant life.

Thee believe that a backwoods life is more wasteful than city life is pretty much just wrong. It just so happens that most of the true costs are hidden behind the shelves of the local discount retailer.

Scott_T
# Posted: 6 Apr 2010 15:22
Reply 


If one's cabin is in addition to the suburban home that one owns then clearly the "carbon footprint" of that owner will be larger than the individual that lives year round in an off the grid small cabin. This website http://www.woodheat.org/ URL has some useful information about wood as a "green" fuel.

larry
Member
# Posted: 6 Apr 2010 23:02
Reply 


great sight Scott. just spent the last couple of hours reading through it and discovering some causes of a few of my troubles.

RickandRandy
Member
# Posted: 13 May 2010 00:53
Reply 


just a quick note about burning wood, when a tree falls and decomposes it releases all its CO2, and then other trees growing in its place re-absorb the CO2, so burning the wood is essentially accelerating speeding up that process, so it is considered renewable in that sense.

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