Unplugged and far off the grid, the residents of Slab City, aka Slabbers, make their home on the far eastern side of the Salton Sea in the Imperial Valley of California. The former World War II military base, (Camp Dunlap), is home to over 500 residents, (according to the Slab City Newsletter), mainly during the winter. An eclectic mix of tenants from snowbirds squatting in their $200.000 RV’s to footloose, tent packing, hitch hikers make this 141 feet below sea level desert their home. The nearby Chocolate Mountains echo the blasts of USMC aircraft pulverizing the surrounding hills with an assortment of munitions during practice runs for the distant landscapes of the Middle East. The unfazed Slabbers have grown accustom to the almost daily thunder under clear skies. With no rent due and zero utility bills to worry about, solar panels, solar ovens and other off-grid methods are used to ease the wild west environ. The other side of the coin, no trash or waste disposal services available for Slab City residents, they have to resorted to burning, dumping or hauling. A long term air quality and ecological challenge, even for the crusty, off-grid nomads and long term Slabbers.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 2:44 am and is filed under Solar Energy, environmental stewardship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.