How Solar Cookers Work + 3 Recipes for Backyard or Backwoods
A starter guide to solar cookers including how they work, types of sun cookers, how fast they cook food, and three recipes you can make in your backyard or the backwoods.
How to Get Green Energy for Your Home and Save Money
Tips on how to shrink your footprint and support renewable energy development by buying green power, whether you’re ready to go solar or just dipping your toe in. From the new book Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach.
'Garbage Warrior' Turns Trash Into Green-Built Houses
Renegade architect Michael Reynolds transforms beer cans, tires and soda bottles into unique homes with tiny power bills. The subject of the Earth Cinema Circle film 'Garbage Warrior,' Reynolds talked with Gaiam about how green homes can help the fight against global warming.
Utopian Intentional Community Has Thrived for 30 Years
A tour of the intentional community Damanhur, a 'social experiment' whose local economy, utopian values, and environmental sustainability have worked for 30 years.
Can Local Energy Save Us? Ideas from 'Deep Economy'
Bill McKibben makes the case for community-based power including solar and wind energy, noting why it's more efficient, better for the economy, and less vulnerable to attacks and blackouts. From 'Deep Economy.'
Going Green Pays: Tax Incentives for Eco Choices
How to collect on eight different federal tax credits, rebates and incentives for buying green — from better windows and insulation a hybrid car, solar electric system or solar powered water heater.
Spirit of the Sun: The Making of John Schaeffer's Eco-Home
How solar energy and eco-living pioneers John Schaeffer and Nancy Hensley built the home they'd always dreamed of -- a home that honors the earth and the pioneering spirit of their company, Gaiam Real Goods.
Got Compost? Top 5 FAQs on making compost in your yard
Tried composting and failed? Wound up with bears instead of garden food? Composting expert Paul Paddock on 5 common composting questions.
Composting Toilets 101
In our rush to sanitize everything in sight, we end up throwing away a potentially valuable and money-saving resource and shackle ourselves to expensive, energy-intensive disposal systems that still may pollute groundwater. Composting toilets turn a dangerous waste product into safe compost without smell, hassle, or fly problems. They're ideal for off-grid dwellings. Here's a primer on this sensible alternative to sewage grid hookup.
Perspective from a Die-Hard Off-Gridder
"Feeling connected to your energy source changes everything!" says Gaiam Real Goods founder and president John Schaeffer. A glimpse into his own "wondrous and satisfying" experiences as an off-gridder who says that while taking responsibility for your own utilities isn't always easy, he'll never go back.
Can You Afford a Green-Built House?
The future of green building depends, in large part, on green homes being affordable to build, furnish, and operate. Contrary to the myth that building an environmental home is a costly venture reserved only for the well-to-do, this option can be quite cost-competitive.
4 Pointers on Making Your Dream Home a Green Home
"You don't have to live in a grass shack to live sustainably," says green- and natural-building expert Dan Chiras. "You can live well while living lightly." Read on Chiras' advice for siting your home, choosing green building materials, integrating passive solar, and sidestepping three common green building mistakes.
Want to Live Greener? The Solar Living Institute Is Your University
SLI has taught more than 1,000 workshops, imbuing 25,000 students with practical, hands-on knowledge of solar and other renewable energy technologies. But beyond its practicality as an education center, SLI is an inspiring example of the benefits and beauty of living green.
Paradise Found: Caribbean Resort Owners Harness Sun Power
Mike and Petagay Hartman took great care to have the least possible impact on the ecosystem of San Andros Island in the Bahamas. Their award-winning premier eco-travel destination is the Caribbean's only full-service, 100% solar-powered resort.
Top 5 FAQs on Composting Toilets
What are they, do they smell, how do they work and other common questions about this environmentally smart, water-saving option that's ideal for off-grid homes and cabins.
Go Tankless: Hot Water on Demand
Never take another cold shower! Get hot water instantly when you turn on the faucet -- and save both money and precious water. You can even get a tax credit.
How Much Power Will You Need from Your Solar Electric System?
Pointers on estimating the output capacity you'll need from a photovoltaic system to run your household using solar power. Excerpted from the Gaiam Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook.
4 Ways to Triple the Life of Solar-Electric System Batteries
With regular cleanings, water top-off and equalizations, you can triple the life of the batteries that store power as part of your photovoltaic (PV) system. Here?s how.
Boost winter output from your solar electric system: MPPT controllers 101
A brief primer on how Maximum Power Point Tracking Controllers can extract 15% more power from your solar electric system year-round, and up to 30% more during winter � when you need it most. It's a smart way to take charge efficiency a step further than standard charge controllers can.
About Inverters: Route sun power to your AC outlets
Inverters turn the DC power created by collecing sun power in solar panels into AC power you can use in your home to power standard appliances, electronics, etc. Here's a quick summary of how inverters work.
