Grid jumping…

I have declared my intention of getting off The Grid, or TG for short.

So what I want to do is go OTG.

But I’m not bugging out anytime soon…

So, what can we do to subvert TG?

Awhile back I started recycling.  It’s not much but it is something.  Over half of what I throw away goes in the recycling.  I reuse things when I can, got some ideas for remaking a few things.  A lot less of what I waste is going into a landfill.  I compost most all scraps.  Either that or I feed them to the dogs.

And the compost helps the garden, which I really need to think about.

Which leads into the next step I’m taking in my subversion therapy, food. 

We all need to start thinking about how to provide for ourselves.  One of your largest expenditures is food.  Imagine all the money to be saved.   Ideally, to really go OTG, is to grow your own.  I do plant a garden every summer.  Last year between the heat and the tree, it didn’t produce much, but I did get enough for a few salads.  The ideal is for the garden to pay for itself.  One of the things to think about is planting enough so you have some for sale or trade.

Which leads me to another thought on how to subvert TG, cottage industry.

If you are so inclined you could plant a large garden and sell the veggies right out of the ground.

Or sell home canned goods.

If you can knit a good pair of socks or a blanket.  Consider turning that into something more.

And that leads into another step in changing the game.  I’m trying to shop local.  Ideally we need to shop as far down the food chain as possible.

If we really want to see the game change WE NEED TO STOP SHOPPING AT WALMART!!

I avoid giving Walmart money at every opportunity.

And even I’m not totally clean.  I’m in Walmart all the time for work and I have spent money there in the last month.  But I’m trying to stop….

I need to start getting to the Soulard more often.

I’ve started buying my meat from a local butcher shop.  I will shop at the farmers market just outside of town, when they open.  I go to K-mart or Dollar General for non grocery items.  I’m making plans with a couple of friends to drop more money at Costco.   I would love to go buy half a cow, but I don’t have the freezer for it.  If I could find someone local who made a decent pair of socks, I’d pay a little more for them….

Unfortunately, I do a lot of driving for work and still haven’t found a way to stop giving money to the oil companies.  I would love to get a smart car or a mini, or a Prius.  But I don’t make that kind of money.

Would love to put in wood burning heat and solar power, which is another way we could all go OTG, if you’ve got the money, or the know-how and the ability.

But I’m lacking in all of that, for right now.

Well tomorrow is another day, and need to get some sleep.