Off the Grid

What's it like to live off the grid? How can I reduce my "current" (pun intended) use of the grid? Where can I learn more about building my own solar/wind/biomass (and more) power system? This issue of Cedar Mill Reads should help you answer some of those questions - and come up with more of your own. Explore, enjoy - and perhaps go off the grid - even if only in your mind...

-Becky, Adult Reference-

Measure Your Energy Use with a Kill-a-Watt Plug this device into your household appliances and electronics, and find out how much energy each thing uses. It also readily identifies "vampires" (no, not those you might see in Pioneer Square!) - devices that continue to use energy even when they're turned "off". And yes, you can check them out (just like a book) at your library! Find out more at the Energy Trust of Oregon: http://energytrust.org/library/build-energy-awareness/kill-a-watt.aspx

Home Power Magazine: the hands-on journal of home-made power
Each issue contains comprehensive, technical coverage of solar, wind, and microhydro electricity, energy efficiency, solar hot water systems, space heating and cooling, energy-efficient building materials and home design, and clean transportation options. Available at Cedar Mill Community Library. Find some articles online at the Magazine Website.

Countryside & Small Stock Journal
Countryside is the truly original country magazine (established 1917) serving that branch of the Voluntary Simplicity movement seeking greater self-reliance (homesteading), with emphasis on home food production. This includes gardening, small-scale livestock, cooking, food preservation, resource conservation, recycling, frugality, money management, alternative energy, old-time skills, home business, and much more.
Countryside features reader-written personal experiences and photos straight out of family albums, making each issue just like a long letter from friends who are living the good life, beyond the sidewalks. Available at Cedar Mill Community Library.

Hobby Farms Magazine
Hobby Farms^® is the magazine for rural enthusiasts – hobby farmers, small production farmers and those passionate about the country.  Hobby Farms caters to all aspects of rural life – from small farm equipment, to livestock, to crops.  Hobby Farms highlights “rural living for pleasure and profit.” Available at Cedar Mill Community Library.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Solar Power for Your Home By Ramsey, Dan With Hughes, David 2010-04 - Alpha Books 9781615640010 Check Our Catalog This third edition helps readers understand the basics of solar power and explore whether it makes sense for them, what their options are, and what's involved with installing various on- and off-grid systems. …More

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills By Gehring, Abigail R. 2008-04 - Skyhorse Publishing 9781602392335 Check Our Catalog Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills--and enjoy a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle--need look no further than this eminently useful guide that features hundreds of projects and old-fashioned fun. Full-color and b&w photographs throughout. …More

Twelve by Twelve: A One-Room Cabin Off the Grid & Beyond the American Dream By Powers, William 2010-05 - New World Library 9781577318972 Check Our Catalog Part Annie Dillard, part Bill McKibben, this book offers riveting armchair travel through a landscape rich with clues to personal and global healing. …More

Walden By Thoreau, Henry David Editor Fender, Stephen 2009-04 - Oxford University Press, USA 9780199538065 Check Our Catalog Walden is Thoreau's classic autobiographical account of his experiment in solitary living, his refusal to play by the rules of hard work and the accumulation of wealth, and above all the freedom it gave him to adapt his living to the natural world around him. This new edition traces the sources of Thoreau's reading and thinking and considers the author in the context of his birthplace and sense of history--social, economic, and natural. An ecological appendix provides modern identifications of the myriad plants and animals to which he gave close attention as he became acclimated to his life in the woods by Walden Pond. …More