Couple Retrofits Their Truck To Run On Wood!

At Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, villagers are always trying out new ways to reduce their impact on the planet. Two of my neighbors, Rae and Aaron, wanted to go on a road trip around the country to help with activism around stopping the use of fossil fuel. It seemed a bit hypocritical to be road tripping on gasoline though, so they built a system from scratch that would allow them to drive on a renewable resource–waste wood. They learned to weld and use a plasma torch, and they built almost everything from waste metal and materials. It’s not a simple system, but they were up for the challenge.

The Cheapest, Easiest Way to Produce Solar Power at Home

I’ve gotten some comments from people saying this is illegal in some places. This video is not meant to imply that you can just connect to the grid and feed back into it without an agreement with your local utility, it is just intended to show you one way you can easily grid tie and backfeed if you have an agreement or want to get one with your local utility to grid tie.

I thought I’d have to spend a lot of money, but it ended up being cheaper than ever to get my solar system feeding back into the grid.

It used to be that you had to invest a lot of money in a solar power system. Despite that solar panels eventually paid for themselves in energy cost savings, it was a really expensive initial investment. Then there were government tax credits for renewable energy that made solar systems much more affordable to the average American. This led to the increased production of solar panels and the driving down of prices. Now technological advance is bringing costs down even more, and the technical know how to set up a solar power system like this is simpler than ever.

If you are still using grid power from fossil fuel you are propping up people and corporations that are responsible for our current government and for the system we have that benefits corporate interests over the public interest. The best way to ensure that these people lose power is to stop giving them money by becoming energy independent. It’s never been easier or cheaper, so why aren’t you doing it?

The Homesteader’s Favorite Big Box Store: Lehman’s Tour

While visiting family in Ohio I had the opportunity to visit Lehman’s in Kidron, an Amish retail store that sell all sorts of products that help you be more self sufficient.  I love the store because they have products that can be hard to find otherwise, unless you order them through their website.  But here you can find them all right on the shelf and see how they work in person. From cheesemaking, to wood stoves, to old timey hardware, to non electric technologies of all kinds, you can find everything here.  I don’t usually recommend buying lots of stuff, but most of these products are about self-sufficiency, so they help you reduce your dependence on buying many other products and foods.