Balancing Acts

I think one of the hardest tasks when going off-grid is choosing what technology to keep, and what (not to mention how!) to replace. An important realization for me was understanding that this is a never ending task – some parts get decided, other parts have changing parameters and circumstances. Add in the confusion of how each individual defines off-grid, and you discover a nearly overwhelming plethora of options!

Nick Rosen covers the concept of off-grid more comprehensively than I've seen anywhere else: People who have off-grid vacation homes or retreats, often referred to as “the Cabin” or “the Cottage”; Transitionalists that supplement grid systems with personal systems, frequently concerned with the environment and/or peak oil; Those who simply have no money and have fallen through the cracks; Idealists who reject mainstream ideas and actions; Religious people who feel the need to be closer to God and community; Suvivalists whose “actions are based on a conviction that the entire social system as we know it is about to disintegrate”. And a completely different category I had never given much thought to, are those who reject the “surveillance society” of ID cards, bank accounts, and so on. I fully agree with his summary “We humans are complex creatures; nobody has just one reason for doing anything. Everyone I met was acting on a combination of motives, falling into more than one of the above categories”. (Off the Grid, 2010)

For the longest time, I wished someone would just give me a plan, a blueprint, of how I could live my life. After all, everyone else had one – graduate high school, go to college, get job, get married, buy house, have kids, collapse in front of TV every night, spend weekends shopping. Repeat until 65, retire, maybe travel a bit, then collapse in front of TV in nursing home far from family in either Florida or Arizona.

Huh. Satisfying? Umm, nope. Sustainable? Contrary to the optimistic eternal growth economists, I'm not seeing it. Blame my biology background, but the Lynx and Hare cycles always crash after growth. As big as this planet it, as vast as its resources are (or were), they are not infinite.

So. Now what. I can control only my life – what shall I do with it? This is where the balancing act comes in, along with personal definitions of off-grid. I have gone back and forth in several areas. As one example, electricity – to have or not? For many years, I thought not. But in these days of cell phones, it seems foolish to not have at least a little bit. Lighting is easier – I flat out prefer oil lamps and candlelight. But it's also handy to have bright flashlights for investigating middle of the night noises. And in the luxury category, nothing beats sitting in front of an electric fan on a hot humid summer day. So a small amount of electricity, judiciously used, seems appropriate. For me, for this point in my life, recognizing that the balance may change in the future.

Most energy-saving appliance are actually energy hogs. They simply use outside energy to save human energy. Many people accuse off-griders of wanting to go back to pioneer days, as though there is no middle ground between fully plugged-in and pre-electric. So I did some brainstorming:

Modern: vacuum
Old: pull out and beat rugs twice yearly
Middle: throw rugs, broom, carpet sweeper

I think this has as much to do with design as anything. If a house is designed with sweepable floors, it requires less external energy to keep clean. Rather than pulling out room-size carpets to beat (I'm guessing they were needed to protect feet from rough sawn floors perhaps?), smaller selectively placed rugs and mats can be used to capture dirt at entries and increase comfort in areas that require a lot of standing.

Modern: internet in every home
Old: snail mail
Middle: shared internet

“How can you be off-grid, you're using the internet?!” Yes, the main house has internet, as does the library. It is too useful a resource of both communication and information for me to dismiss it entirely. See satisfaction, even if not sustainable.

Modern: (was) land lines phones and wires
Old: snail mail, trading post phone
Middle: cell phones, solar panel charger

If I had to run wires, I wouldn't. Leave a message for me at the main house. If I didn't have that option, I'd probably put a phone box next to the road with an answering service. But cell phones have freed us from wiring, and allow communications from broader areas than before. I've read articles giving Africa as a prime example of this – cell towers can reach more phones than land-line wires.

Modern: disposable
Old: do without
Middle: make it last, durable replacements

It appalls me the things that modern consumers throw away. My mom had Tupperware that was probably more than 30 years old; these days we have disposable storage containers. I knew someone who would get all new bathroom accessories every year. It was easier to toss last year's than to donate them. A saying commonly associated with the Depression was “Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Or do without”. Surprisingly, I don't actually agree with that. I prefer more durable quality – tools that don't break when you use them, knives with edges that can be sharpened. And then take care of them, don't abuse or neglect them only to hasten their need for replacement. In the same lines, use the appropriate tool for the job. No sense in breaking a shovel handle prying a rock out when you should be using a pry bar (a lesson I learned from someone else's mistake!) Although I have to agree, there are plenty of things we can do without!

So while it appears there is a simple blueprint for the Standard American Consumer Lifestyle (SACL?), I question its usefulness and actual applicability. We each have to take responsibility to examine many, if not all, parts of our lives, and decide how we can make each part serve us, rather than the other way around. Many proponents of Simplicity have discovered that they were serving their things, and in evicting the admittedly attractive deadbeats, discovered new freedoms. But each person finds a level that works best for them. One person finds freedom in carrying only a single key for her car, while another finds it in having no car at all. As much as I hate to admit it, there is no single plan or blueprint someone can give me. We might all start from the same outline, the same Hierarchy of Needs, but the details are as individual as ourselves, and up to us to figure out.