INSIDE...

FEATURES

Off the grid cottaging in a spectacular northern landscape

New technology allows septic systems to be installed in smaller and smaller spaces

Build a tiny cabin to make cottaging affordable

After 17 long years, the cabin at Nighthawk Ranch is finally erected

Insulating concrete forms keep your cottage warm, quiet and strong as can be, but Glenda Dekkema-De Vries seeks out to find if they’re just as environmentally sound

Building an outdoor shower, backup solar systems, xeriscaping, Veranda Beach and much, much more!

FROM THE EDITOR...

EARTH APPRECIATION

It’s very difficult for me to write on a personal level right now without addressing something that, to me, is very personal. That is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Spill isn’t exactly the right term, but for lack of a better word…

It’s the beginning of June as I write this, and at the most conservative estimate, even after a “containment cap” has been placed over the blown out pipe, there are still 840,000 gallons of oil gushing into the gulf each day. I’m so ashamed and horrified to be part of this chapter in our history.

Since I began working on Cottage two years ago, one of the major reasons I’ve been proud to be a part of this unique magazine has been its emphasis on “green” living. Cottage readers have always been very environmentally minded, and you’ve been a sort of anchor to hook myself onto when I start to lose faith in humanity’s ability to see the bigger picture.

Blame is being tossed around like a hot potato for this disaster, but the truth is, it’s happened before, and if we continue on the way we are, it will happen again. It has always been blatant that we as a species depend entirely too much on increasingly hard-to-get finite resources to accommodate our way of life, and this catastrophe makes it even more glaringly so. I truly hope this serves as a wake up call to all of us that we need to make some serious adjustments in the way we live.

It’s the little things that we, everyday people, do that make the biggest difference; and making use of renewable energy, living off the land, building with local materials and all those other so-called “green” things that Cottage readers tend to do gives me some optimism that we can and will change our habits. And it’s on that note that I bring things back to the issue at hand (pun intended). Our 2010 summer issue offers much in the way of earth appreciation.

Our main cover story appropriately focuses on the idea of a “micro” cottage, a small structure that meets your needs while leaving a small ecological footprint. See the full story on page 32, where author David Simms details the building of his own 8 x 12-foot cabin, as well as his inspiration for it, and options and advice for those looking to do the same.

On page 40, Glenda Dekkema-De Vries investigates the merits of insulated concrete forms, or ICFs, which make use of concrete reinforced with steel to keep a home or cottage cozy, and can dramatically reduce the need for a heating system in the winter.

And Matt J. Simmons ventures north to the Kispiox River in BC on page 20, where he spends a weekend at a friend’s off-grid cabin in the midst of a rugged and wild landscape, and experiences first-hand the simplicity and pleasure of a minimalist lifestyle.

And finally, Ehor Boyanowsky regales us with the final installment of the saga of his own Thompson River paradise, Nighthawk Ranch. His cabin is finally built, and he was able to use his own beetle-killed lumber to do it. As always, his appreciation and love for his land is obvious.

I hope you can relate to or be inspired by these articles and the many others in this issue, and I hope they’ll be a start to creating a cleaner, greener world.

Visit www.nrdc.org to contribute to the Gulf Coast Fund and other non-profit groups that are helping people, wildlife and fragile ecosystems recover from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Jocelyn Cooper