Here at Boondox we try to practice what we preach. Our home office is located about 10 miles outside of town on ten acres that border thousands of acres of undeveloped forest land. From my desk I can watch wildlife meander along a creek and listen to the birds singing. It is very peaceful.
Our electricity is derived from an array of solar cells on the roof and supplemented by two 400 watt windmills. A battery bank stores surplus electricity and feeds it back into the system as needed. Low voltage LED lighting is utilized as much as possible as well as other low energy lighting and appliances. We are currently connected to the grid to provide power for our workshop. We hope to replace this dependency soon with a diesel generator that runs on non-polluting and sustainable vegetable oil.
Some of our heating needs are provided by the sun by means of south facing windows and a solarium. Winters are cold and overcast here so the rest is handeled by a biomass pellet stove. It burns corn, cherry pits, wood pellets or other biomass products. This is a cost effective heating method with minimal air pollutants.
For motorized transportation we drive high MPG sport utility vehicles. Why an SUV? Because the nature of rural living in northern Michigan means deep snow and muddy spring roads. We choose 4wd mini SUVs such as the Suzuki Sidekick and Geo Tracker because they can get 25-30 MPG and are tough enough to take you deep into the boondox. With the help of "Boondox Motorsports" we are currently in the process of building a Geo Tracker 4x4 Rock Crawler that will be powered by a VW diesel engine running on vegetable oil. It will be used to help promote the use of "clean" diesel engines for recreation and daily use.
For recreation we hike or ride Mountain Bikes (Not Dirtbikes or ATVs) through the forests that adjoin our property. When it's nice out we take to the rivers and lakes with a Kayak or Canoe (not noisey "Jet Skis"). In the winter it is XCountry Skis and Snowboarding (not Snowmobiles). These activities provide great exercise as well as getting us into the outdoors. The great thing about these quiet sports is they are exciting and fun and have minimal adverse impact to the environment.
We believe in taking care of our part of God's creation from the air and soil,
to the water, to the vegetation, to the animals and the wildlife that live here.
