Manufactured entirely from highly sustainable, organically grown bamboo. Assemble in minutes.
We use them at Grow and Make. See all Sustainable Furniture
Grow and Make Rating:
Our editors love this headlamp. Solar Powered LED Headlamp provides light on-the-go! Lightweight solar panel attaches to headband, backpack, hat or other surface and charges as you hike, cycle, or run. You'll never have to buy batteries or dispose of batteries with this headlamp. See all Solar Powered Grow and Make Rating:
Our bamboo compost pail can sit handsomely on your countertop while collecting fruit and vegetable scraps. It is thoughtfully designed with a dishwasher safe removable liner for easy cleaning, dual charcoal filters in the lid to prevent odors, and a large comfortable handle for carrying the pail to the compost bin. See all Kitchen Composters
Grow and Make Rating:
We're excited to be rolling out a new line of Green
Cleaning Products. The BioKleen line is a product line we can get behind.
Our everyday cleaning choices affect our health, the health of our families, and the health of our planet. Biokleen products are concentrated in order to leave the smallest footprint on the environment.
* Concentrated products mean less packaging, fewer fillers and less energy used in shipping.
* Leaves the smallest “footprint” on the environment.
* Lower price per use, saving you money.
All Biokleen Products are Made with the Safest Ingredients Available:
* All Biokleen products are readily biodegradable and do not biodegrade to more harmful compounds. Ingredients have been reviewed by third parties.
* Natural extracts: grapefruit seed, lime, orange peel, and natural essential oils…no cheap substitutes, dyes, or synthetic fragrances. Complete ingredient statements on labels.
* No known carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, or pollutants.
* Non-corrosive. Non-flammable. Non-reactive. Reviewed by a Certified Hazardous Materials Management Inspector.
* Kind to those with chemical sensitivities and allergies.
Goat milk will be a lifesaver for you and your family in these years of tough times. We can put more money out there for food stamps, welfare or neighborhood food centers. These are important endeavors but those of you who would like to be more self sufficient and are fortunate enough to have some land to raise a few milk goats or meat goats on, please do so. Here are some hints for those of you starting to raise milking goats. The first thing you will need in your barn is a feeding trough. I found one at a yard sale and it really keeps the alfalfa up in the bin and off the floor so you aren’t wasting their food ,at $17.00 a bale. My goat friend told me to switch to oat or wheat hay which is cheaper and actually more healthy for them. I give them a handful each of oats as it is November and they need grain this time of the year. Make sure they always have clean water. You will need a milking stand and you can build your own. It is not difficult. I found a book in the library with instructions on how to build one or look on the net. The one utensil you will need when out in the barn milking will be a stainless steel 4-5 quart pan with a lid so you won’t get dust or hair in the milk. Once you have your milk you need to filter it. This will also keep dust and hair out of the milk. You can use disposable filters(store or catalogue). Or you can use sheets cut into 12” squares but be sure to wash and dry them as you want everything clean for a good flavored and clean milk. Filter your milk as soon as possible after milking and then get it into the fridge. Grow and Make provides resources for your Off-Grid and Sustainable Lifestyle needs
IN THE HOUSE
Have a large glass jar ready to put the filtered milk into.(a pickle jar works perfect). The milk can also be frozen or made into yogurt, cheese or butter. Make sure everything (utensils) are kept clean, washed, rinsed and dried to keep it free of bacteria. These animals are fun, sweet and a great way to be resourceful and sustainable. Happy goat milking!! Remember Grow and Make Lifestyle Store provides lifestyle products for greener living.
With the Thanksgiving Holiday quickly approaching, those who are looking for ways to have it be a bit green this year should read this article on < ahref="http://www.modernecohomes.com/blog/organic/eco-friendly-thanksgiving/">'Greener Thanksgiving'. While some of these suggestions are too obvious or part of any sustainable lifestyle, there are a few original ideas. The Grow and Make blog has many additional ideas for living sustainably, as does the Grow and Make Sustainable Living Newsletter.
Post by Grow and Make Guest Contributor Sharon Dickinson
If you are a fellow goat owner there may come a time when you’ll need to consult with someone who can help you and your goat through a medical emergency. Often a veterinarian is not available or you can’t afford it. There is a wonderful free service out there called GOAT911 (http://www.goatworld.com/911/). It is not a prescription from a professional but it is great advice from other caring goat owners who are willing to volunteer their time and knowledge. There is also a website where “goat sick” cases are handled online (http://www.jackmauldin.com/physical.htm). This is a totally nonprofit service that is offered in almost every state and in a few other countries. HAPPY GOATING
I think that most of us would agree that experience is the best teacher, and I learned about the value of organic products and green living in general through experience. I grew up in the 70's in the city in New Jersey, and my family had a lot of common sense that was relevant to urban survival at the time, but they were not what you would call progressive or environmentally aware. There was a particular commercial airing when I was a teenager that depicted a native American walking through a bunch of litter and looking over an expanse of traffic and pollution, and he had a tear in his eye. This was an image that really got my attention, and the advent of Earth Day was another thing that led me to considering the environment and the importance of green living.
The town that I grew up in is built along the Delaware River which separates Pennsylvania from New Jersey. One day when I was a little kid my mom was telling me a story about swimming in the river as a kid. She said there was a beach there, and she was actually a lifeguard as a teenager. I asked her why we couldn't swim in it then, and she said, quite off-handedly, that it was polluted. I asked her what that meant. She explained. I then asked her why people let the companies pour the chemicals into the river. She was silent for a long while, and the next thing that was said was on a different subject.
When some of my friends started to get their driver's licenses we would regularly take day trips out of the city and explore some state parks and I started to realize that I really loved being around, and in, nature. I was raised for the most part by my grandparents, and since they were second generation Americans they weren't very far removed from living close to nature in the old country of Hungary, and I think that they equated nature with poverty, and city life with having means. This being the case, they had little use for nature, so I had to find it on my own.
When I left my hometown I had the opportunity to live close to nature in a number of different places, but for the longest time I was still eating whatever they put on the shelves. I had suffered with allergies all of my life, and I had a conversation with someone who asked what I was eating. I said that I just ate the "normal" foods that "everyone" eats. He suggested that I start looking at the labels of the foods that I buy and avoid preservative and dyes, and he also said that I should consider buying organic produce.
I was sick and tired of living with sinus congestion, and what he said made sense on an intuitive level. I also stopped eating meat because I learned that it was full of antibiotics and hormones, and because of animal cruelty concerns. I saw an improvement almost immediately, and after a week or so there were no symptoms of the allergies that I had struggled with all of my life.
This was never a problem for me, but I have heard people say that they had "skin conditions" for years that went away as soon as they started using natural washing machine soap. Natural and organic products can have an extraordinary impact on our own health and well being simultaneous to having a positive impact on the environment.
The word "organic" sounds fancy, but all it means is "real," not synthetic. Real things are biodegradable so they don't linger forever, polluting the environment. The more we all shift toward organic living, the quicker we heal the planet while keeping ourselves healthy both mentally and physically. It is good for your head to live with the knowledge that you are in tune with the ecosystem and conducting yourself in a sustainable manner.
In a nutshell, fake stuff pollutes the earth, it pollutes your body when you eat it, and it sends the wrong signal when you wear it . Keep it real, embrace green and organic living, and support businesses that are doing what they can to promote sustainability.
Green technology is clearly going to play a big role in healing the planet, and that is interesting considering the fact that it is industrialization and the inculcation of polluting technologies into the society that caused the environmental degradation of the planet in the first place. Affordable solar, wind, tide, and biofuel technologies have the potential to provide us with the power that we need in a manner that is truly sustainable, and as these green technologies become more widespread in their use, green jobs will be the result.
It's good to think big and support the greening of our global infrastructure, and I do feel as though the world's governments recognize the need to utilize renewable sources of energy. However, there are little things that all of us can do to begin to live green sustainable lifestyles, and there are many inexpensive green tech gadgets available that can provide us with renewable energy sources.
One green tech gadget that come to mind is the universal solar charger that can be used to power up your small devices, like an iPod or your cell phone. These are a perfect example of affordable solar power. There are also self sustainable wind-up flashlights and radios, and solar LED headlamps and portable solar LED lamps. It is very satisfying to realize that you are obtaining your power for free in a fully sustainable and renewable fashion, and though these devices have many applications, they are especially useful for off-grid living experiences or camping trips.
The short sighted push forward with polluting technologies may have gotten us into this mess, but the intelligent utilization of green technology is one of the things that is going to help us to get out of it.
Sustainable living is the dream for many, and I know that I for one would like to depend less on currency and more on directly reaping the harvest of my labors. Depending on where you live and how much land you have access to, growing your own food may indeed be completely viable for some, and it may in fact require some creativity on your part to enjoy the benefits of growing your own food if you live in the city or in a space without your own yard.
I have a friend who lives in a little rental cottage in San Diego, which is of course a very large city, and he has a small back yard that is stuffed with several different types of vegetables, and they grow really fast. The weather there is very conducive to plant growth, and he is very much into green sustainable living so he feels great about utilizing his limited space to the utmost.
The more that you grow and make things, the greener the planet gets, and the less you have to rely on money, and giving away your time in return for it. Greenhouses are a good way to extend your growing season, and there are portable greenhouses out there today that are lightweight, efficient, and surprisingly affordable.
If you like to grow your own tea and/or medicinal herbs, there are some fantastic little indoor gardening kits out there, and you can also get into hydroponic gardening. If you love mushrooms like I do, there are many gourmet and exotic mushroom growing kits on the market as well.
Growing your own food is definitely something to think about, and like a lot of green sustainable lifestyle choices, you don't have to rely on it exclusively to make a positive difference and take another step toward sustainable living.
Sustainable living is something that we all need to consider more seriously as the climate warms and the economy seeks new avenues of growth. When you consider the environmental impact of your purchases and tend toward green sustainable decisions you are contributing to the health of the planet while you guide the economy in a green direction.
Many businesses are going green these days, and I have been hearing a lot about the utilization of bamboo furniture being a good way to green an office. I did a little research about bamboo and the fact is that it is the fastest growing plant on the planet. Bamboo can actually grow as much a meter and a half in a single day and it increases its bio-mass by up to 30% per year (trees increase 2-5% per year), and it also helps to prevent soil erosion. Due to its rapid growth, a stand of bamboo creates more oxygen than a similar stand of trees, and this can help to reduce greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Bamboo furniture is extremely strong, especially considering how light it is, and its light weight makes it efficient to transport, requiring less energy whether you are shipping it, or simply moving it around your home or office.
As we enter a new era of environmental awareness more and more individual consumers and businesses are using bamboo furniture and flooring, and it really is a great model of sustainability and the greening of the economy. If you are looking to go green at home or at the office, do take a long look at the fascinating efficiency of the fastest growing plant on the globe: bamboo.
If you are seeking a more sustainable lifestyle you need to be careful to not be greenwashed by claims to 'Organic' for clothing, linens and towels. Not many suppliers can claim true 100% organic lifestyle products including 100% organic clothing and apparel made from 100% organic cotton and 100% organic bamboo. These products require that manufacturers source all the required materials for their production process. Well many may claim that their products are organic it is important to look for the 100% indicator.
Going green has everything to do with sustainable lifestyles, and even when we are totally committed to living our lives in an eco-friendly manner, there are economic realities that may be an obstacle to living a purely green sustainable lifestyle. It is true that wind power, and solar power, because they are renewable sources of energy, pay for themselves in the long run. But the initial cost involved in a total conversion to wind and solar may be prohibitive to many.
There are indeed tax credits that can help, and a total conversion to solar may be an option for a lot of people. But for those who are renting, or simply don't have the means to convert just yet, there are affordable solar options out there that can get you moving in the right direction. There are hybrid solar chargers that can power up your laptop, cell phone, iPod, and GPS devices, and there are more and more affordable solar kits hitting the marketplace all the time, and that competition for the demand will inevitably drive the prices for affordable solar kits down as time goes on.
I used to live in an Earthship in Taos, New Mexico, and they consider themselves to be the solar capital of the world. There is a lot of sunshine there and they even have the Taos Music Festival every year that is solar powered. It is cool to think of the power behind all of that music being generated by the sun.
Even if you are not in a position to satisfy all of your energy needs with solar power, we can all take little steps along the way. Do some research and find out how you can inculcate affordable solar power into your green sustainable lifestyle.
This solar powered light is a favorite at Grow and Make (www.growandmake.com). We have done field testing and found it be reliable, functions in partial light and rugged. Watch Grow and Make product expert Clay Andersons review.
If you are considering solar power as a way to power or supplement the power to your house we would like to help you along with a series of articles on how to get alternative energy to your home. With our simple kits you can build it youself or use a plug-and-play approach to creating your own solar power.
There are two paths to choose from depending on your needs, skills and free-time. If you are a DIY (do it yourself) type and have the patience, time and basic skills to create your own solar kit we can give you everything you need to know as well as point you to where to buy from.
If you are looking for a simpler and more practical approach to going solar we can also help you to make the right decisions and point you to everything you'll need to have a plug-and-play solar system.
The first step is to determine your budget and power consumption needs. These two questions are closely tied together, because the more power you'll need the more money you'll have to spend. Before you decide how much power you'll require confirm that you will have adequate access to sunlight (wind if you're going that route) to capture on your solar panels.
Grow and Make:Off-Grid-Store has charts and configuration tools help you determine what is possible with the amount of sunlight or wind you have access to.
Now that you have some idea of how much power you desire and if you have adequate wind or sun, you'll need to determine the anticipated cost. Again go to Off-Grid-Store.com to determine the cost of a DIY or Plug-N-Play kit for your energy needs.
Now that you know the cost and have determine your needs we can give you an overview of what is involved.
First, there are the panels. If you need a lot of power you will need to consider large, fixed panels which will need to be located in a secure and safe place with reasonably unobstructed access to sun. If you have moderate needs you can consider a single large panel or a flexible smaller set of panels. If you choose a single large panel you'll need to place it in a location where it won't be damaged and has optimal exposure. If you use a flexible panel you will have less concern about damage, since they are rugged and can be layed in a chair, on a car or side of a house.
Off-grid living is very interesting in a number of ways, and I think that the impetus toward being self sufficient and living in tune with nature is a fundamental aspect of human psychology. When we are kids we invariably build tree houses and forts, little shelters of various kinds, and we imagine what it would be like to fend for ourselves in nature. But then we get swept up into the serious world of schools and money and jobs, and we become adults, putting such childlike notions aside.
For many of us, it doesn't take long to find yourself sitting in gridlock in your suit on a freeway somewhere at 7:00 o'clock in the morning wondering if there is any alternative. That's when you might start thinking like you did as a child again, and using some smart technologies coupled with what Mother Nature provides us with for free, we can indeed build that dwelling close to nature and live off the grid.
The first obstacle to living off-grid is income: how will you pay your bills? Well, one piece of good news is that your bills get smaller when you live-off grid, and that is a big step toward green sustainable living. More and more people are being given the opportunity to telecommute to their jobs these days, and a growing number of people are finding a way to make a living as Internet entrepreneurs, so thanks to satellite Internet systems, off-grid living is indeed quite feasible for people who don't have to show up anywhere in particular every day in order to make a living.
We will be exploring various topics pursuant to off-grid living both wholly and partially in this space, and we will be bringing some attention to certain products that would be of interest to those who are living, or interested in living, off the grid. We look forward to contributing to the conversation and supporting green sustainable off-grid living.
Living off-grid is the penultimate commitment to a green sustainable lifestyle, and with the holidays right around the corner, those who are into living off the grid are going to be looking for gifts that reflect their passion for sustainable living. Affordable solar power such as a universal hybrid charger makes for a great green gift idea, and if you visit to your favorite online solar store you will surprised at how inexpensively you can begin to go solar.
Off-grid living sets a good example to people that you know, even if you can only live off-grid a portion of the time. In a similar manner, when you give people green gifts you are not only putting a smile on their faces because you have given them a cool present, you are also spreading the intent of green sustainable living and you give people ideas in their own right.
Indoor garden kits are also a very good gift idea. Herbs and teas are relatively simple to grow indoors, and with the weather getting cooler as the holidays approach indoor gardening is a good way to keep in touch with your love of gardening year around.
Sustainable living is the only way that we a re going to heal the planet, and in fact it appears as though a greening of the economy is in the offing as well. Giving people eco-friendly gifts that support sustainability is a perfect way to spread environmental awareness while rewarding businesses who have invested their time, money, and resources into a green sustainable business.
Off-grid living and affordable solar systems walk hand in hand, and it is fun to check into it and find out exactly what type of solar kits are out there and exactly how affordable they may or may not be. Clearly, when you are getting your power from solar panels and cost is an issue you are going to find ways to conserve, and that is what is meant by the concepts of simplifying and green sustainable living. The principle is that you can't use more power than Mother Nature is providing, and if you think about it, that is the epitome of common sense.
Residential solar is growing in popularity for obvious reasons, and it is a cornerstone for those who want to live off-grid while enjoying some modicum of the convenience that a steady, if limited, flow of electricity provides. Depending on your needs and your budget, you have a variety of choices. For around $4,000 you can get a 340 watt solar system for an off-grid structure that produces between 1 and 1.5 usable kWh per day when the sun is shining. This is enough to run the basics: maybe a laptop, a portable television, some high efficiency lights and a DC submersible water pump. You're going to need to double this output if you want to run a refrigerator. Still, that is what I would call affordable solar.
For a full bore residential solar system that can run the whole shebang, including a washer, fridge, chest freezer, stereos, power tools, etc., you're looking at around $14,000. That may sound like a lot, but if you are presently paying an average of say $140 a month to the power company, it will have paid for itself in 100 months which is eight years and four months. Installing a residential solar system is a very wise investment, and it is a socially and environmentally conscious decision as well.
Getting off-grid is going to require some juice from a renewable source, and affordable solar systems can make the dream of off-grid living a fully obtainable reality. Solar power is no longer the answer for the future...unless the future is now.
Off-grid living requires a constant attention to economizing your use of available power, and that is actually rather fun and fulfilling. You get to be creative, enacting low impact, energy saving ways of doing things. A good example is the way that most of us dry our clothes when we are living on the grid. Electric dryers suck a lot of power, but the reality is that our clothes will dry quite nicely by simply spreading them out and letting them sit on a wooden drying rack. If you stop and think about it, over the course of a year, you use a significant amount of power drying your clothes with expensive electricity when you could get the job done for free.
When you are living off grid, using a wooden clothes rack of some kind is a must in most situations, but even if you are not living entirely off-grid, drying your clothes on a clothesline or clothes drying rack is a very simple and efficient way to save yourself some money. And while you are saving that money, you are also making a move toward a green sustainable lifestyle and doing your part to heal the environment.
We will be offering a number of energy saving tips as we build and grow here at Get-Off-Grid.com, and we invite you to visit often for information and ideas on green living, living off grid, and eco friendly sustainable lifestyles.
I am blessed to live in a community here in Mariposa, Ca. where within 10 minutes of my home is a wonderful community garden. Two of my good friends and another couple spend much of their spring, summer and fall working to produce organic eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, squash (many kinds) green beans peppers, flowers and herbs and much more. I so look forward to visiting the garden each week and picking enough organic fresh produce to last the week and whatever’s left I freeze or dry, all for less than $10.00. It is a lot of work for them but I hope they decide to stick with it.
Yes, I could go to my local market and buy organic fruits and vegetables but the prices are high and we know the carbon footprint left by trucking in the produce. I plan on going down to our board of supervisors meeting soon and asking them if somehow the vacant lot in the middle of town can’t be purchased and used as a community garden rather than another grocery, hardware, real estate or cutesy boutique for tourists. Personally I think tourists on their way up to Yosemite would be more impressed with our town displaying a lovely little community garden and some progressive thinking in helping to fend off global warming, contributing to organic gardening and as a result letting the less fortunate participate and share in the bounty. Let’s see what the town supervisors think about this! I’ll report back if I have any luck. Hopefully we will start seeing more of this in our downtowns possibly replacing some malls. I dare you to go ask your supervisors.
(877)242-9041
