Solarious - stumbling away from the grid

It’s always encouraging, when sitting down to tackle a problem, to have a little advice or inspiration from someone who’s been in your shoes before. For a really nice example of a program that “walks the walk” when it comes to solar living, check out Greenstar.org.

This program constructs solar community centers, which become a place for local people to meet and create art together. In fact, you’ll find a nice selection of music on their site from around the globe… and all recorded with solar power! Here’s a sample from Jamaica: Like A Dove.mp3

The Greenstar system includes a truly impressive array of functions for user communities. Water purification and storage, satellite internet access, cellular phone services, a solar-powered vaccine cooler, an e-commerce business server, computer-based language translation, and a public-access touchscreen to access the web. Wow! I was especially pleased to discover that these creative philanthropists are based right here in Los Angeles. You can be sure I’ll be taking a field trip to pick their brains as this experiment progresses.

If they can do all of this within a little hut, imagine what you can do with whatever space you control!