Posted by john on April 21, 2002 at 09:02:35:
In Reply to: Re: see post below on unnamed bird posted by jonvon on April 21, 2002 at 00:05:54:
all of the things you talked about are happening, and contrary to the little bird post they ARE happening locally. and Florida does have plenty of sun and wind to power a house. There is a display home in Sarassota called the Florida House, you can go take tours and stuff. There is a project starting near USF. I know people in ST Petersburg who get checks from the power company because they sell their excess electricity back to the utility, it's called utility intertie, and it allows you to generate your own electricity and use the grid, the billing just works both ways, if you generate more than you use, they pay you for it.
As for communites, there are a few of these around, there is one in Miami, there was one in Vero beach, but i think it moved to North Carolina. There are also several smaller places. I know that on the Myacca river, where my boss lives, many people live off the grid. It just requires proper design and lifestyle, but they have power and computers.
In fact, that is why we bought this place here. Many of our friends were starting to look for homes and everyone was on this side of town, we bought here where there were several other lots available and in a price range that we could all afford. My goal was to set up an informal community where we could help each other, we could share a garden, and my contribution would be the sustainable tech portion, helping people with the design and implementation of these cost saving and healthier ways of doing things. See many of us want to be rich enough to not be burdened, but this kind of participation in the system is something few of us will achieve. so rather than that, if we learn to cut our expenses to the point that we dont have so many financial burdens we would be freer to pursue the life we desire. But this has to take place in the context of a community. That is the trap of our society, by keeping us so individualized we waste resources, thus promoting the consumer culture. We have to earn more to pay for the things that we wouldn't need if we just didn't have to work for someone else so much.
Unfortunatly it never worked for anyone to buy a place near us, but i still hold out hope that it will happen eventually. I think that the most natural society in human existence is the localized tribal society, which has nothing to do with buckskin and arrows, and everything to do with true participation and extended family. It is a simple economic principal that specialization allows greater productivity, if we were each contributing what we had to offer in a modern context, it could still work. For example, we have a garden, anyone who helps work it gets a share, we have a mechanic who does work on our cars in exchange for childcare, or clothes that a tailor makes, or furniture that the carpenter makes. you get the idea, we could still live in an dparticipate in modern society, but as a community. Sustainable technology makes this possible, and it isn't really all that expensive. Parts of it are, but they pay off later.
AS for cars, the Toyota Prius is a hybrid 5 passenger, very much like a Corolla. It comes base for $20,000 and loaded for $24,500. It runs on gas to generate elctricity and the car actually moves on electric power. I saw two of them yesterday at Earth Day. These things ARE doable.
Try the link to the Flirda house and also
http://www.realgoods.com
: man john, what a cool post. you are obviously on your home turf here. i really dug this a lot.
: i have this recurring thought about one day living in a house that is as energy efficient as technology allows. i guess i tend to think about it in hi tech terms instead of low tech. i don't think so much about going to bed at sunset or using candles, i think about continuing to power my computer and the stove and whatnot with the solar / wind / compost energy i collected during the day. or living in a house that is shaped in such a way, or built with the right materials, so that i don't end up using a lot of power to heat and cool it. i have a dream to drive a car that is at least partially electric. or running on a hydrogen cell or whatever. sometimes i think it would be cool to have an SUV or some kind of big truck or van because sometimes having a family, you need the room for stuff. but i always think of how much energy those beasts consume. these thoughts creep into my mind at odd times, when i don't happen to be thinking about anything else. i don't subscribe to any architectural or car magazines, or any environmental ones either. i don't look for this information on the net. i just think from time to time that when i can gather enough money to launch the building of a house, there are certain requirements i'd like to meet shoot for, and when the time comes i'll put them all on a list and get someone who is smarter than me about all of that to figure it out.
: ****bunny trail
: i guess i come at it from a completely consumer driven viewpoint. in america its all about what you are buying, not about how you have decided to live your life. we choose the life we live through our purchasing decisions. it strikes me as very surreal. the stuff we buy or don't buy is probably the strongest political statement we can make. when i read your story about diving into that river to find that thing you were trying to find it was refreshing. here is a guy who is connected to what it feels like to be alive.
: ****end bunny trail
:
: is any of this kind of thing going on in florida? i'm sure that some people somewhere, certain enlightened individuals (or whatever) are probably doing this kind of stuff. but i wonder if there are communities where people have come together to do this. (solar power, etc) i think a lot of people do it out in oregon, washington, california, colorado and so forth.
: anyway i'd very much like to hear whatever thoughts you have about this stuff. esp if you know of anything happening locally.
: : That means Americans are indirectly sending lesser developed nations with far more people and countless species that God gave life to their end by consuming the limited resources available. Treading lightly is far more than a concept to protect pretty flowers.