Tag Archives: Solar Thermal
The Off-Grid/Green Myth, Part II
By Cam Mather When Professor and Canada Research Chair Phillip Vannini came to visit us recently as part of his research on people who live “off the grid” he had just come from an off-grid home north of Toronto. This couple had indicated to him that they had gone off grid for “environmental reasons.” I …
Professors, Performing Monkeys and the Off-Grid Green Myth – Part 1
By Cam Mather We recently had a professor come to visit us. Professor and Canada Research Chair Phillip Vannini is doing research on people who live off grid. He is an “ethnographer.” http://communication-culture.school.royalroads.ca/dr-phillip-vannini According to Wikipedia “Ethnography is a qualitative research method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system …
My Recent Reality Checks
By Cam Mather Once again I’d like to thank everyone who reads and comments on the blog. Yesterday I had one of those personal epiphanies thanks to our reader Amy. She was commenting on the video blog that we posted about how our chickens had faired this winter. She wrote: “What a great video! I’m …
The Year of Magical Walking*
By Cam Mather I have written a few too many ranting blogs lately, ranting about the impending collapse of the dollar and my unexplained angst about being a solar early adopter (I haven’t posted that one yet), so figured it was time for something lighter. It’s not hard to write a positive blog when I …
Time to Stuff the Nuclear Genie Back in to the Bottle
By Cam Mather I was reading an article in the paper the other day about how France’s nuclear industry is trying to dispose of its nuclear waste. France has a lot of nuclear waste because 80% of its electricity comes from nuclear reactors. Many years ago, when the U.S. was preparing to bury its nuclear …
Our Books and DVDs Make Great Gifts!
By Michelle Mather The readers of this blog have found us through many different ways; google searches, podcasts, news stories, etc. Many of our blog readers aren’t aware that we have published 7 books and produced 5 DVDs, so today I thought I’d describe our books and DVDs and suggest that if you are looking …
Judging a Book By Its Cover
By Cam Mather Michelle and I are pretty pumped about our new book “Little House Off The Grid.” It was 14 years in the making. It looks at the ups and downs of moving from the city to the country and, in our case, off the grid. Since we took turns writing sections of it, …
The Living Sustainably and Independently, Ready for Rough Times, Hands-on, Solar-Powered, All You Can Grow Workshop Wrap Up
By Cam Mather A couple of Saturdays ago we had 12 people come to Sunflower Farm for “The Living Sustainably and Independently, Ready for Rough Times, Hands-on, Solar-Powered, All You Can Grow Workshop.” It was a blast. It was a really great group of people and I think everyone had a great day. I know …
“Little House Off the Grid” is Now Available!
For the past few years, Michelle and I have been working on a book to share the story of how we left the city and ended up in an off-grid home on 150 acres in the country. For a while we were calling our book “Off The Grid Without a Paddle” as a way of …
Article by William Kemp in the Latest Mother Earth News Magazine
The October/November 2011 issue of Mother Earth News contains an article by William Kemp (author of our book “The Renewable Energy Handbook.”) He talks about his steps to use as much renewable energy and as little fossil fuel as possible in his home. Bill and Lorraine Kemp have been living off the grid for 20 …
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