Living off the grid isn’t just some hippie weirdness anymore. More families are being turned on to this lifestyle for a variety of reasons; be it a way of living simply, getting away from fossil fuels, the satisfaction of being independent, or simply because they want to do greater social good in the world.
The definition and reasoning for living off the grid has changed from when the movement first started in the 60’s to modern day. The 1960’s – 1970’s off the grid lifestyle centered on people wanting to do for themselves; living simply and synchronized with nature. The back-to-the-land movement of that time period was about families, solitary sorts, and offbeat communes craving to live a life in the wilderness away from the mainstream society. Dona Brown, author of Back to the Land, a history of the movement, said that “Many of those people dreamed of escaping modern society completely. They were thinking about opting out.”
