OFF - THE - GRID HOMES

Have you heard the term “off-the-grid home” before? Think of a house far away from the city. Lonely, isolated, no neighbours. The house is in a place that you cannot find on the map. This idea may be exciting for some people but it might be frightening for others. Living in such a place has both advantages and disadvantages of course. You can live a more eco-friendly life alone in a quiet, peaceful place but these homes don’t use state water, electricity or gas. So, you need to have your own solutions for those. Also, when you need help, you cannot find neighbours to help you out.

We interviewed an off-the-grid home owner, Margie, about her and her family’s lifestyle. She answered our questions:

(Interviewer (I) Margie (M))

I: Hi, Margie. You’ve been living in your house for a long time. Do you like it?

M: Yes, I like my house very much because I’m free to do whatever I want and it’s quiet. It’s also great because we don’t waste anything. Everything has its uses so we reuse and recycle all the time. Everything is ecofriendly.

I: Can you describe your house, please?

M: It’s not very big. We’ve got three rooms, a small kitchen and a bathroom. We have a very big garden though because we grow our own food.

I: How about electricity and water? Aren’t they problems for you?

M: We don’t see these things as problems actually. We have a thermal water heating system and wind and solar power systems. We also have large containers so we can collect rainwater to use. We use low energy appliances. Also we have LED lightings.

I: How do you spend your days here?

M: We have daily routines as other people and we have a big garden to look after. We plant our own fruit and vegetables and it takes time. At nights we have our family time. After dinner, we sit and read books, talk to each other and play family games because we don’t have a TV!

I: It seems like a very interesting life. Thanks for taking your time to talk to us.