Table of Contents: Spirit of Ma'at Vol. 2 No. 9

Feature Articles

Magazine List

Vol. 2 No. 9

Table of Contents

Spirit of Ma'at Vol. 2 No. 9 "Living Off the Grid" Cover illustration: treehouse model (miniature); photo and design by John O'Melveney Woods.

EDITORIAL: Living Naturally We've got to do this, but it's not supposed to be work, it's fun. It's an adventure. And in some small way, each one of us can start right now.

The Vision of Buckminster Fuller Buckminster Fuller prefigured everything we are doing today to create sustainable lifestyles and change our planet. We owe so much to this man who dedicated his life to the service of spaceship earth. He knew we would succeed. And we will.

Becoming Your Own Power Company: Are You Ready for This? Ron LaPlace talks about the change in human awareness that underlies independence from governmental/industrial power and water.

The EarthShip: A Living Vessel Sailing the Seas of Tomorrow Homes constructed out of tires and beercans? Mansions so palatial that millionnaires are beginning to build them in Teluride. Are we talking about the same thing, here? You bet!

Living and Building with Straw and Clay Athena Steen grew up in homes her family built themselves. Continuing the tradition, she teaches how to make incredibly comfortable, affordable houses with your own hands — out of adobe-covered bales of straw. A really fascinating article.

Dome Homes and Communities: Moving Beyond the Box Celeste Adams takes us on a tour of the amazing world of "dome"-a-ciles — from Bucky Fuller's geodesics to fantastical floating cities of the future.

Growing Your Own Food Four basic approaches, and a wealth of techniques and expert advice, for high-yield, low-maintenance gardens that can produce your family's food even in small spaces or on city rooftops!

Year-'Round Vegetables: Growing Your Food in an Earthship What's it like to live in a year-'round underground garden, growing bananas when it's fifteen below, picking tomatoes in December? Julia Griffin interviewed a couple who are doing just that.

Preparing Food for Home Storage An overview of food storage options and techniques, including a recipe and instructions for making beef jerky.

Water and Power

Living in Relationship with the Earth Rae Shuford interviews FOL facilitator Ron LaPlace, an alternative-energy consultant who has been living off the grid for twenty-five years.

It's the Water Collecting and recycling water is a major issue of a sustainable lifestyle. Writer Vicki Barg should know: she has been living off the grid for many years in the desert state of Arizona.

Energy-Saving Hot Water Systems Suggestions for higher-efficiency and lower-cost ways of heating water off-the-grid.

Heat Pumps 101 These overunity systems are now widely available to heat and cool your home — and for many other applications — at an energy savings of 400%.

The "Blackwater" Question: Septic Treatment Systems Everything you never wanted to know about sewage treatment — well, not quite, but it's a start, and if you're going to live "off the grid," you need to learn about this.

Cave Dwellers: The Magic of Living in the Earth People — a writer in Malibu, for one! — still live in caves. The word for them is "troglodytes," and writer Celeste Adams finds their lifestyle strangely satisfying. Or perhaps it's not so strange. . .

Returning to the Trees Born of a thwarted childhood dream, videographer John O'Melveney Woods is designing octagonal do-it-yourself treehouse kits.

A School for Off-the-Gridders The Solar Living Institute teaches the skills you need for creating a sustainable lifestyle, from budgeting for commercial photovoltaics to hands-on adobe workshops, and most everything in between.