While living off the grid might not be possible for everyone, more and more Americans are actually choosing to unplug. In fact a couple years back, Home Power magazine estimated that over 180,000 homes in the U.S. were generating their own power.

So what does it mean to truly live off the grid?

Well it’s not as simple as running a couple light bulbs off a solar panel. To truly say you are living off the grid, you have to find a way to generate your own power, water, heat, and yes even your cable TV.

So how do you unplug?

Slow and steady wins the race: While, pulling the plug may seem like a pipe dream, there a few things you can do while you wait for your earthship to be built.  Most of us waste more than we actually use. Being mindful of how you use your resources is the first step towards energy independence.

• Turn it Off - Sounds simple, but turning off your computers, lights and other electrical items can dramatically reduce the amount of power you use.
• Use Power Strips – Turing it off doesn’t necessarily mean it’s really off….. Did you know that the electrical gadgets in your house are probably using power even when they are turned off?  By plugging them into a power strip you can cut off their power supply by simply flipping a switch.
• Pull water from thin Air – Believe it or not you can actually generate fresh drinking water  from the air in your house.  Check out this cool piece of technology that produces water from the humidity in the air…..  EcoloBlue 28 Atmospheric Water Generator

Other Resources & Stories for living off the grid:

• Urban Homesteading – Living off your land even in the city
• One man living off the grid in the desert
• Alone in the Wilderness – Richard Proenneke
• Living the high life off the grid

Earthships use 6 basic design principles. They are built to generate their own power, harvest water, treat and contain sewage and are heated and cooled without using any kind of fuel. Earthships are built to be small self contained eco-communities, from growing your own food to harvesting rain water, these weird looking homes are changing the way people live.

Additional Information & Resources:

• Earthship: How to Build Your Own, Vol. 1
• Off The Grid Homes
• Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series)
• Building With Earth: A Guide to Flexible-Form Earthbag Construction (A Real Goods Solar Living Book)
• Earthships
  

Teardrop trailers are a great option as an add on to your B.O.V. They are extremely light and can be pulled with something as small as a V.W. Bug.

Check out some of these custom Tear Drop Trailers:

photo by  j.s. clark@Flickr

Top 2 Photos by mountain_man_ny_2@flickr

photo by freshelectrons@Flickr

Teardrop Trailer Resources:

• Teardrops and Tiny Trailers
• Ready to Roll: A Celebration of the Classic American Travel Trailer

Now I know that they sell gizmo’s that do this already, but the point of the video is to show you what you can do with a little bit of work. Knowing how to do little jobs like this can help you make do with what you already have.

This family lives entirely off their little piece off land, and the whole family lives on under $30,000 a year. This is a really cool video and it shows how you can really survive without the so called “modern conveniences”

Check out this video which shows you that even in an urban environment you can do things to get off the Grid.

It documents The original Survivorman, Les Stroud as he and his family take the journey of living off the grid.

Check out these other Survivorman Favorites

• Survivorman
• Survivorman: Collection 2
• Survive!: Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere–alive

Small Scale Off Grid Power solutions:

• 500W 12V Hybrid Wind Turbine – Off Grid Small Residential Solar Wind Generators with solar/wind output
• 775W 24V Hybrid Wind Generators – Off Grid Small Residential Solar Wind Turbines with Wind/Solar Output Capability
• 40 Watt Solar Power Panel Model GP-40-12 Battery Charger Polycrystalline Photovoltaic
• Sunforce 50044 60-Watt Solar Charging Kit
• Sunforce 44444 12Volt 400Watt Wind Generator

Building with bales of straw has become very popular and can be seen in many areas of the Southwestern United States.  Straw is a renewable building material and is a great insulator from the elements.

Strawbale Homes

Strawbale Resources:

• Strawbale Home Plans
• Buildings of Earth and Straw: Structural Design for Rammed Earth and Straw-Bale Architecture
• New Strawbale Home, The
• Small Strawbale

Additional Information & Resources:

• Earthship: How to Build Your Own, Vol. 1
• Off The Grid Homes
• Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series)
• Building With Earth: A Guide to Flexible-Form Earthbag Construction (A Real Goods Solar Living Book)