Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In a world where the digital footprint seems to be increasing every day (it will have tripled in 15 years according to the French GreenIT), we were looking forward to this stopover to study what is called “the low-tech Internet”.
During their American stopover, the crew of the Nomade des Mers went to the rolling plains of Virgina to meet the Living Energy Farm. An intentional community of a dozen people who have achieved an impressive level of energy and food autonomy thanks to low-tech!
How does low tech differ from high tech and what does it feel like to live a low tech lifestyle?
We live in a low-power house, which uses on average 5 kWh/day, about 15% what our neighbors use. And honestly, I find it more comfortable than any house I’ve lived in, and not that much less convenient.
I like the idea of living within the rain budget of my area, which isn’t too hard because we usually get too much. I like the idea of having irrigation water even if I lost access to my local water utility for some reason (power outage, income outage, anything).
Despite its popularity among cutting-edge thinkers and designers, a low-tech lifestyle is hardly avant garde. The majority of the human population lives and has always lived with less advanced technology than most modern Westerners do.
Small wooden wind turbines offer additional benefits that are inherent to all decentralised power sources. The fact that they’re paid for by the same people that enjoy their benefits, increases their public acceptance.
Because a website redesign was long overdue — and because we try to practice what we preach — we decided to build a low-tech, self-hosted, and solar-powered version of Low-tech Magazine.
Hopefully you’ve seen the recent movie, The Martian, a film directed by Ridley Scott and adapted from the online book by Andy Weir
Energy is often called the ‘lifeblood’ of civilisation, yet the overconsumption of fossil energy lies at the heart of two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: climate change and peak oil.
Watch Brian Kerkvliet cut thick grasses easily and quickly with his hand-built scythe — a far cry from a noisy weed whacker!
