ramshackles
Well-known member
It has always been an ambition of mine and my wife to live in a sustainable home and take sustainability and self sufficiency as far as possible. The politics this year has also sparked a desire to simply run away from it all...
When the words 'off grid' or 'sustainable' are mentioned, I get the impression people often think of community 'living in the woods' projects such as Tinkers Bubble and the like.
While such projects are admirable, I often think that they can give a poor impression of the opportunities for sustainable living by entangling it with a rejection of modern life and 'simple living'.
I have often read articles about modern technologies, e.g modern electric cars, LED lighting, nanotechnologies, bioplastics, heat capture and reuse, bladeless wind turbines, energy producing homes, which coupled with sustainable building and living practices (simple stuff - using a bike, growing veg or baking bread) makes me believe the two desires - modern and sustainable life - are within reach.
What I don't read a lot about is more 'small scale' power consumption - e.g. your home appliances.
Is simply because electrical devices are constantly becoming more energy efficient in general and writing about it is boring?
Are any grand advances in something mundane as an oven on the horizon (or even possible?)
(When) will modern sustainable living become an affordable reality? Will it ever become just an accepted way of life?
How about audio? Are low-power/efficient devices possible without drastically compromising headroom, or other more subjective qualities?
When the words 'off grid' or 'sustainable' are mentioned, I get the impression people often think of community 'living in the woods' projects such as Tinkers Bubble and the like.
While such projects are admirable, I often think that they can give a poor impression of the opportunities for sustainable living by entangling it with a rejection of modern life and 'simple living'.
I have often read articles about modern technologies, e.g modern electric cars, LED lighting, nanotechnologies, bioplastics, heat capture and reuse, bladeless wind turbines, energy producing homes, which coupled with sustainable building and living practices (simple stuff - using a bike, growing veg or baking bread) makes me believe the two desires - modern and sustainable life - are within reach.
What I don't read a lot about is more 'small scale' power consumption - e.g. your home appliances.
Is simply because electrical devices are constantly becoming more energy efficient in general and writing about it is boring?
Are any grand advances in something mundane as an oven on the horizon (or even possible?)
(When) will modern sustainable living become an affordable reality? Will it ever become just an accepted way of life?
How about audio? Are low-power/efficient devices possible without drastically compromising headroom, or other more subjective qualities?