Comments about ‘Utahns creating a sustainable, off grid community’

I love the idea, I really do, but what happens when they all get Swine Flu or the weather gets so bad that they can't deal with it? I live down in this area too - way, WAY out. I have electricity, but if it rains more than 10 drops, it goes out. I hope they have planned for EVERY emergency, because if they haven't, this little off-the-grid commune will never make it.

LOVE IT!

I had another thought as soon as I posted my first comment here: has this group thought about the impact that they will have on the wildlife in the area? I hope they realize that they can't just kill everything that bothers them and that they, in trying to simplify their own lives, may be making the lives of other things more difficult.

Somehow I don't find typing a response to this article on my fancy phone to be especially appropriate. We do live lives overburdened by unsustainable consumption. These people are pretty far-sighted in building such a self sufficient community.

A nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Going backward to mud dwellings? They are really dusty. Visit any native american ruin site. A person can live off the grid in a more efficient dwelling.

For being off the "grid" and supposably "sustainable" they appear to have to use alot of materials outside of their habitat.

Unless cast iron pans, plastic containers, plastic water storage canister, windows, couches, tables just happened to grow in that area.

Just another hippie group trying to live off of others while being off the "grid" and self sustaining. The movement didn't make it in the 60's and won't make it today.

"Total self reliance". That's why they are wearing commercially made clothes, prescription glasses, store bought goods, lots of plastics in barrels and items, commercial tools. They are fooling themselves. Why no home made cloth, clothes, tools and materials? Those folks didn't get fat eating year round from only what their garden produced.
It is a pipe dream with major supplements from WalMart and Home Depot.

Looks like there are a lot of "on the gird" products supporting this "off the grid" community.

"Off the grid" is nothing more than an illusion if they are really supported by the products of the grid.

Good for them, but I wouldn't ever want to live like that. Advancements are so great that you can go green without going grunge.

Just looks dirty. I love technology, I love innovation, I don't think we have to go back to the dark ages to find clean sources of energy and provide for ourselves. That community will probably turn into some sort of cult compound.

Why am I not surprised to see this in Spring City. Having said that what happens in December and January when it is 25 below zero. I wonder how great they will feel about it then.

Interesting Idea. I believe in self reliance and wish them the best. Building codes are not "sustainable friendly" and they should be.

There is one thing that bothers me.

"The more people that know how to do it, the more people that are awake and know it's possible, the more we can pressure our institutions to change the rules,"

It sounds like they have a goal of pressuring others to do what they are doing.

Those on the political left:

1. Claim that no man is an island.
2. Want to move into small islands for "sustainability".
3. Usually try to force everybody else to do it their way.

Now I don't know the political leanings of these folks. If they are just pressuring for changes in the building codes I say more power to them. If they want to pressure the rest of us to live like they do, well that is where we part company.

I may well like their lifestyle. Just don't tell me I have to do it.

These are just another recycled group of Area 51's. World is coming to an end, only those who follow their self-ordained Prophet will survive. All you have to do is read some of Allen's revelations. Ten years from now it will be a tourist stop to view Utah's newest ghost town.

Sounds like a bad reality show.

Hey, I know of another totally self-sustaining community out there.

It's called Planet Earth.

Think about it: the people of our planet are forced to make do with only what's on our planet...we get no assistance from outside other than the sun's energy.

So I'm not sure why this is such a big deal. 5 billion people have already created a self-sustaining community, geniuses. If you're doing this because you think society is 'broken' and you want to create your own, just wait 6 months and somebody will say your society is broken.

If the typical modern lifestyle is unsustainable over the long term, this is unsustainable on any large scale.

Obviously the impact will be negligible if only a few families are doing it. But what would happen if 80% of Utahns tried to live this way? Wood-fired ovens may be "off the grid," but they produce far more carbon dioxide for the energy produced than coal does, and they use up scarce resources. It takes far more land per person to sustain this kind of lifestyle. And there's another huge question that has gone unanswered: What about transportation? How do these people get to work–or do they envision an economy based entirely on subsistence farming?

No, hippie communes are not the answer.

"Cob structures" disintegrate when it rains. I have a feeling we'll have to come to their aid during the next down pour, crops ruined, houses dissolve, starvation and disease will set in. Poor people. This group should study and learn from history before they think they can survive a Utah 1850s type living.

My husband and I have a ranch. We are building an off-grid, totally energy-independent home. Many of the materials we are using are recycled. So, I don't think we need to apologize to anyone for "raping the earth."

However, this is just another example of a sort-of Utopian community. Many of these communities have come and gone for centuries. It will be interesting to see just how green this really is, how successful it is and how long it lasts.

The fact is, the earth was created for the use of man. We should be very wise stewards of our home. But, let's be reasonable about it. Moderation in all things.

We'll see how long it takes for these people before some become disillusioned and start to leave. That is, if it's able to get off the ground at all.

Gee, there's a lot of criticism on this board for people trying to do what's ethical.
I admire them for living their convictions.

I don't know if they are visionaries or crackpots but I salute their attempts to live life in a more sustainable way

Off-the-grid is a bad goal. Technology can help us become sustainable friendly. Some people are afriad of what they don't understand and promoting simplicity is a safe haven for those people.