TreeHuggingLunatic.com

I live in the country, and I love it. Okay, I’m not crazy about the lack of nearby vegetarian restaurants and other progressive outlets, but the peace and serenity is awesome!

About ten years about, my husband and I bought a little fixer-upper in the middle of a great plot of land. We’ve made a lot of progress on the rustic little house, and we let a lot of the land go natural. It’s beautiful here, and I’m so thankful.

We’re not off-the-grid at this time (I hope someday we will be…), but it definitely feels like we’ve unplugged from society when we’re at home. Before this, we lived in a little one-bedroom apartment right in the city of Atlanta; so while I know it’s not as large as a lot of homesteads out there, our 23-acre spread feels like a sanctuary.

It truly suits me, as I don’t think I could ever be happy in a suburb. While I can appreciate a quaint neighborhood with sidewalks and tree-lined streets, I abhor the cookie-cutter developments that have no personality and no old growth trees. I think that’s why I’m so amused by the humorous quote by Bill Vaughan that captures this ironic element of our society: “Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.”

I hope you enjoy this design as much as I do!

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier

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As a Tree Hugging Lunatic, I have this idealized perception of what it means to be “off the grid.” Typically, a tree hugger would view off-the-grid living as living a sustainable lifestyle and being fully self-sufficient, so one isn’t relying on outside sources just to get by. One can imagine living in a rural area, using natural, sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, and water power, growing one’s own food, homeschooling one’s kids, and generally living a natural, healthy lifestyle that has little or no negative impact on the earth.

The concept of going off the grid is that you can lead a full, happy life without involvement from the power company, the water company, etc. (I have to admit, I’m not there yet, but I love the idea!)

But does off-the-grid mean being isolated? In this age of information overload, that could be a good thing! But I like to think that the best interpretation of off-the-grid living is that one isn’t dependent on others. So we can all breathe a sigh of relief that even if we achieve perfect self-sufficiency in off the grid living, we don’t have to give up our web surfin’, bloggin’, twitterin’ ways unless we choose to. (By the way, you can click here to follow my TreeHugging Twitter!)

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier

This morning I read a great article called, “Nurtured by Nature” by Liz Stuart, written for Mother Earth News magazine. I enjoyed reading how Liz grew up on a natural homestead where they built their own house, grew their own vegetables, and generally lived a wholesome, natural lifestyle.

My eye caught the phrase “a sustainable and low-impact existence” that she used to describe the lifestyle her family had chosen. I started contemplating the difference between something which is “sustainable” and something which has a “low impact.”

If something is sustainable, then it is possible to continue doing that thing or consuming that resource without fear that it will ever expire. Something which is low impact, then it causes very little harmful effect on the Earth.

Example of a Sustainable Action: Walking as a primary method of transportation is a completely sustainable practice. It can be done continuously without worrying that one will exhaust some supply or cause damage to the Earth even if everyone on the planet did it.

Example of Low Impact Action: Modifying your vehicle to run on used vegetable oil is a great low impact practice. Vegetable oil has a lower carbon footprint than gasoline, but if everyone in the world tried this technique, we would have issues.

It would be ideal if we could always choose completely sustainable actions. However, in our current society, I believe exuding French fry fumes is a fine way to be a Tree Hugging Lunatic.

Respectfully Submitted,
Kelly Palmatier