Building Off the Grid

Firstly people...enough crying about the lack of safety. They are not employees of an organization. They are not being forced to work unsafely...They make their own choices. Just like you may smoke, drink, eat fast food, skydive, etc. I've done union electrical work and sometimes shake my head at the idiocy of people, but who cares? Should the show insist they wear safety gear and follow OSHA requirements? Come on. If it was a How-to program, then I'd say yes - they should set an example. But this is just people doing it for themselves.

They usually DO usually mention the use of composting toilets when they don't build septic systems. They also mention rain-water capture systems if they don't drill a well. Obviously they touch on solar power and sources of heat (propane, geo-thermal, etc.). They even mention budget.

MY GRIPE is not mentioning how much the land cost (you often are introduced to people with common, middle class jobs buying 25, 50 acres or more. I'd imagine in the middle of nowhere you're not paying top dollar, but the cost would be interesting and informative to know. My REAL GRIPE is not discussing how the still-working people do their jobs when you're 50, 100 miles or more from the nearest town. Those miles are not highway miles, either - you're not getting anywhere quick. I've seen many mention they're builders by trade. How and where are you building when you're so far from anything? I've seen a nurse and a salesperson. Same question? Are these getaway homes or is it their primary residence, as you're led to believe. Because each subject always mentions something to the effect of "we decided to live off-grid" or "wake up and have coffee looking at the mountains". Um...when do you leave for work? Tell us the real-life logistics.... Do you go to Costco once a month and stock up on supplies? Very interesting show to me, but I really want some details on how they can do this if not retired.

So I watched one or two episodes. The first was about Northern America in the glaciers... Respectable. The second was in an area of great Bushland.... Hollywood drama to the max. The cut scenes made out like there was some fantastic hardships. And perhaps there were, but the exaggerated drama lost me when the people filmed made it obviously appear worse for the camera than it likely was.....

Not true to the experience that was portrayed from what was filmed. Over drama for the sake of film.

A couple of things I would like addressed. 1) the safety issue brought up here before 2) slow the dram and 3) and most important I want more information on the "off grid" part. If they living there full time, is it a vacation home? What about septic? Plumbing? Or bathroom issues in general none of that is every discussed and is a major point of living off the grid. What we can't talk about composting toilets? I would like more details on the solar systems, how many watts? What kind of batteries? Where is their battery storage? I would also like to see follow up. What's it like to live off the grid? What changes did they have to make, what didn't work? What did they have to add/take away/fix.

I am in construction, have huge problem with lack of good safety practices on this episode, COB building in Oregon. The young lady doing the work has flip flops and doing concrete work. She had no dust mask when concrete dust was flying, no gloves when applying wet concrete on the footings, did she not ever hear about lime poisoning? Then, I really had enough of the show when I saw her digging with shovel with her bare foot. One older fella had only hard hat on when all were standing about while cutting out an unstable middle support. Sloppy all the way around and just wrong way to do a good job and stay safe thru it. Terrifying examples on how to work safely! I would bet they all end up with some terrible skin,lung problems or injuries due to their awful work habits.

Forget the intended drama for this type of show. After having worked on an industrial site where safety was driven into our very beings...go home in the same condition as you did when you arrived for work...I am disgusted at the MASSIVE amount of safety violations these people commit. Proper use of gloves, shoes (one man did a show barefoot), safety glasses, tying off/harnessing, lack of respect for nature, improper use of tools because of lack of knowledge...the list is endless. The show should be ashamed to air something with such disregard of personal safety. I've known people to lose limbs due to their shortcuts; people have died because they didn't pay attention to a live electrical boards; and costly mistakes are common when a communication process isn't in place. You have an opportunity to showcase the necessary and appropriate way to do things, and yet, this far, you have failed.