Rosen, Nick (2010) Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America
Off-Grid
LIVING
an alternative lifestyle
“Dedicated to all of those who are willing not only to dream big, but also have the courage to make their dreams come true.”
What is it?
“Living off the grid” can refer to
two different, but similar, ideas.
The term has become
a mainstream way to designate a more
self-sufficient lifestyle;
1.
In a more literal sense, it
means becoming energetically independent, as "off-grid" refers to the utility grid, therefore, you are not attached to a utility grid for any of your power needs.
2.
I
Why go
Off-Grid?
should
Terri Reid
on The Everything Guide to Living Off the Grid
How
did
it start?
The movement began in the 70s, in the USA, followed and impacted by the Hippie movement (60s) who share the same values when it comes to reduce the human impact in Nature, to go back and connect with land, while disconnecting with the society demands.
Nowadays, it's widely spread worldwide and due to the necessity to get away from the city life, it has popular again.
The back-to-the-land movement was having its first flowering when Sequoia settled in Greenfield in 1972. The five-thousand-acre ranch is one of many [...] back before solar panels had been invented and before land prices shot up dramatically. And it was harsh—no roads to speak of, no cell phones, no Internet. It was unthinkable. Thousands moved in from San Francisco, New York, and everywhere in between—hippies and yippies, grad students and artists, dreamers, schemers, CIA spies, draft dodgers, and psychos. They built homes from trees felled on the spot. They hauled in five-hundred-gallon tanks to catch the rainwater, powered a few lights with generators or car batteries, grew some pot, and tried to grow food. Anyone still here forty years later has a right to be considered among the most practical, self-sufficient, hardy, and ingenious Americans.
Going Off-Grid is life changing.
It's taking out the safety net you've always been used to all your life and start over.
The decision depends on the why you want to move off-grid. Whether you looking for a "greener" life; a more simple lifestyle; or you are obligated to change due to financial problems, your decision should rely on that and take in consideration the big picture
when it comes to going off-grid. You might want to take a look at the advantages and disadvantages and adapt to your situation.
Based on "The Everything Guide to Living Off-Grid"
to
-
'Off
Grid'
How
101
These are a variety of examples of what a typical
Off-Grid home can look like.
What 'Off-Grid' can look like
10 Reasons to go 'Off-Grid'
According to The Everything Guide to Living Off the Grid
*hover mouse for cons*
1
To create a more self-sufficient lifestyle for you and your family;
You don't need to go totally
Off-Grid to achieve this
To be more conscious of the environment and your impact on it;
This realization comes before moving out to live an Off-Grid lifestyle
2
To feel more secure away from the issues associated with urban areas;
Some Off-Grid houses are more isolated than others and sometimes that implies a security issue
3
4
To be the master of your own destiny;
Don't treat this decision lightly, beware that it's a choice and you have that power
To have a simpler, more satisfying lifestyle;
You should consider that maybe this lifestyle won't suit or satisfy you
5
To raise your own vegetables, fruit, and livestock;
You can do this on a On-Grid lot and still have an Off-Grid garden
6
To live free from debt and learn how to be frugal;
Yes, you will save in utility bills, but Off-Grid lots have a higher mortgage and insurance costs than regular houses
7
8
To know that no matter what happens
in the world, your family is prepared;
If your only reason to go Off-Grid concerns this issue, maybe look up 'home bunker' for an imediate solution
9
To learn to live off the land;
You should do some research on this subject to ease the process
10
To give your children a legacy of independence.
You should prepare for the fact that your children might not want to pursuit this lifestyle
It's an experience, doesn't have to be permanent choice;
This 10 reasons, as of now, are a bit outdated and are not very inclusive, as they often refer to "a family moving out" opposed to a childless couple or a person itself, for example.
So this are reasons I find more interesting when it comes to an 'Off-Grid' lifestyle:
Connect deeply with the land and the Nature;
Focus on your spiritual growth;
You get to learn how to be trully independent and resourceful;
Without the constant visual polution, your creativity will go through the roof;
Living 'Off-Grid' can be an achievable goal, the ultimate change we need to "know what real life is"; to wake up; to experience some uncomfortable situations while adding elements to make our off-grid home more comfortable...
It's easy for 'us'
(judging that this 'us' refers to people with a house and are interested in this way of living)
to choose to take this step...
And what about those who didn't choose
to live this way?
those that seem invisible to the society
The Power of Choice
After learning about what 'Off-Grid' living is all about, there's an important issue to go over:
The Choice
We are used to make choices everyday. Starts right in the morning when you trying to pick an outfit, which shoes go best with it, what to eat, etc... Most people have the power to choose because choosing implies having "more than one option" and probably, we are in a comfortable position to do so and choose.
What if your choice is ripped off you and you are left with circumstance?
The Homeless:
Off-Griders by circumstance
The Municipal, an American magazine, is designed "to bring the best in information, products, services and equipment to America's municipalities", reaching "over 35,000 municipal executives and decision makers".
The article «Living "off-grid" by choice or circumstance» has very relevant data and information about how "Off-Grid" works in
The USA, as it also goes over a critical
problematic that is the increasign of home-lessness, the"off-griders" by circumstance.
Hopefully, judging by the numbers of people that The Municipal claims to reach, this issue has been given the proper thought, as it has passed over 2 years since the article was posted, and that these people had their power of choice restored.
Most people who choose to live off the grid — either for financial or environmental reasons — do so outside of city limits because most municipal zoning ordinances require those living in the city limits to be connected. [...]
However, a more common and growing problem for many cities and towns is the homeless population, several of whom create “tent cities” within city limits.
Homelessness increasing
Homeless people, on the other hand, are living off the grid more by circumstances in their lives versus by choice. Bankruptcy, health issues and alcohol or drug addiction are some of the reasons people find themselves without a home, and many city officials will admit that it’s a growing problem in their community.
Federow, Denise (2018).
Article Living “off the grid” by choice or circumstance
on The Municipal
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Slab City:
the last free place in America
Slab City is an off-grid community, situated on the Sonoran Desert, California. It used to be a military training camping, and now is "a lawless land, inhabited with drug addicts, eccentric, army vets, hippies and just plain old weirdos. Slab City is referred to by its residents as «the last free place in America.»".
It is a true tourist gold mine, for those who want to experience but not compromise. In Slab City, there are residents who willingly moved to live in this off-grid community, and others who end up there due to financial issues and otherwise would be homeless.
Also, the city is covered in art of any type: murals, sculptures, installations, etc...
The isolated desert community was created by transient, freedom-seeking people like these, all living off the grid in trailers, tents, lean-tos, and broken-down school buses in a remote patch of the Sonoran Desert, on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea.
Amanda Ulrich (2020).
Article: As Slab City grows, the community of outcasts, squatters, and desert dwellers grapples with the cost of its unique freedoms
Photo by: Amanda Ulrich
Photo by: Amanda Ulrich
Photo by: Amanda Ulrich
Photo by: Amanda Ulrich
Triple Island // Mary Mattingly
2017/2018, Jana Sophia Nolle
2017/2018, Jana Sophia Nolle
2017/2018, Jana Sophia Nolle
2017/2018, Jana Sophia Nolle
Nolle, Jana Sophia (2017/2018)
Living Room
Work
Artistic
Living Room // Jana Sophia Nolle
2017/2018
Nolle is a german artist that is based in Berlim and San Francisco. In 2017, she decided to work on a project that showed the contrast in the city of San Francisco, "so much wealth against a backdrop of very visible poverty and homelessness, people living in makeshift structures and tents" - she stats.
She studied materials used by homeless people, heard their stories and recreated some of them on real people living rooms, that offered their space to house a house. Nolle wanted to create a "home within a home (...) separated from their original location and remade in a foreign environment."
2013
"Triple Island is located on Pier 42 in Lower Manhattan" and it was born after a flood caused by Hurricane Sandy, in 2012. It is, more than anything, an experience for the residents who choose to live there. It's a total off-grid shelter, that goes hand-to-hand with the apocalyptic obssession that Mattingly has and the concern about the future resources.
"It is a scalable and amphibious ecosystem that acts as a temporary habitat for residents. As a public experiment, Triple Island is an approach to living in a future New York replete with an acceleration of environmental challenges. We want it to address the importance of decentralizing our basic resources by creating a regenerative living system that provides food, power, shelter, and water for its inhabitants from natural systems. We hope it can encourage community-based interdependent networks to further establish means of resource and skill sharing in our daily lives."
Flock House // Mary Mattingly
2012
Still with the work of Mattingly, the project "Flock House" reimagines the future of the urban space, by building "a cross between a tent and geodesic dome" scattered around the city. This had to do with the increasing growth of population and Mary Mattingly's concern about what it can be done, due to the fact that infrastructures can't support that.
"By constructing them, she seeks to enhance community-based interdependence, resourcefulness, learning, curiosity and creative exploration.".
Later on, in collaboration with the Ohama Community, the "Flock House Project" was born as a residence for artists. They can develop their work while living on these houses and experience the future of the urban space
"The pod-like Flock Houses can go beyond attaching to one another – they can attach themselves to city buildings, siphoning their heat, utilities or energy like a parasite. The Flock Houses can also subsist on their own, collecting rain water, growing a canopy of edible plants, and deriving power from solar panels and human sources.
But Mattingly doesn’t intend for the Flock Houses to be completely autonomous- with a stone soup mentality, each Flock House benefits by joining with the next and sharing resources- a lesson Mattingly hopes the future will bring."
Mary Mattingly (2012)
Mary Mattingly (2012)
Mary Mattingly (2012)
Mary Mattingly (2012)
Mattingly, Mary (2012)
Flock House
Article: Parasitic Geodesic Flock House Pops Up in Battery Park
(2012)
The bus that was the home of Alexander Supertramp for several months.
Into the Wild (movie)
2007
Into the Wild portraits the story of a real life man
in 1990, Christopher McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp, in his 2 year adventure exploring the Alaska. He had a pretty stable life
and was wealthy, but his anger towards society
was bigger and he took off whitout telling his
family. McCandless's kept journals that document this adventure.
His adventure ended in a bus, known as "The Magic Bus", a very popular attraction for hikers and fans of McCandless's way of living, that was his home for almost 2 years and also his last adress.
It's relevant to point out the power of choice he had, he chose to give up his old comfortable life, to live accordingly with his values and drive.
"No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild"
Alexander Supertramp (May 1992)
My personal opinion
The whole subject of "Off-Grid Living" has been in the back of my mind for a couple of years. I really do daydream a lot about embracing this movement, be part of something greater than me, maybe because I'm an impulsive person that needs constant change to feel like I'm alive and living off-grid can add the unpredicta-bility I look for in my daily life (even though I like to plan things out and get frustrated if things don't go according to my plans...I think it could be a lesson to learn how to live without expectations).
I must confess that the problem I ended up coming across - the homeless - really caught me off guard. It has never crossed my mind, before stumbling upon the article, this issue. I've always fantasized this lifestyle and I realize now how lucky I am to be able to choose to live that way; how lucky I am to have a home, despite being on or off the grid.
My heart really aches for those on the streets, their life circumstances weren't the best and it all led up to an unfortunate situation. It also bothers me how easy it is to look away and how well we sleep comfortably in our beds without thinking about those who don't have one.
Rita Oliveira (2020)