Off The Grid and Looking for Dirt Bags!

A few months ago I went climbing at the Obed with some friends. We camped over night at Del and Marte's. The Scruggs family has quite a remarkable story. They decided about 10 years ago to live entirely off the grid. What does that mean? They live a sustainable lifestyle by creating much of their own energy and using the renewable resources of the Earth to support themselves. A while ago they opened up their land to some of their climbing friends, allowing them to camp on their property; over time, the property became viral, and more campsites have been carved out. They now charge $5 per person and $2 per dog to stay on their land.

The Scruggs are a family of four: mother, father and two teenage children. All four of them live in a one bedroom cabin, that they built together, complete with wood burning stove and composting toilet. They live off their vegetable and herb gardens for many of their meals, collect rain water with their tin roof to water the garden and do dishes, and of course recycle what commercial waste they do generate. When their son became a teenager, they built a second one room cabin (no toilet or kitchen) for him to sleep in. They now make that the TV cabin, with a TV and laptop powered by a generator that they only turn on when those items are in use. Other neat features on their property include a hillbilly hot tub (a large metal feeding trough with a fire pit underneath!), rope swings, community fire pit, wood burning smoke house, and of course, the world's greatest swimming hole. On top of that, they installed a diesel engine in their VW.

Now that their teenage children are both in high school, the four of them are building a new home on their property... made out of dirt bags! They pack large sacks with dirt, compact it very tightly (so that with enough pressure the dirt becomes tough like stone), and once complete, they will mud the walls with a unique concrete-like mixture. This three bedroom house will have energy efficient windows, two composting toilets, a stone floor, tin roof and other eco-efficient features.

I found their email address today (after searching my random papers for the past month) and contacted them in hopes to organize a Team Green event in which we spend a weekend with them, help build their house, tour their property, and of course, swim at the world's greatest swimming hole. Is this something you, as a Lightning 100 listener or Team Greener, be interested in?

By the way, here is an update on my bruise!