Taking “Green” to the Extreme

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"When we tell people that we drink rain water, they look at us like, ‘you mean you can drink rain water?’, and they’re drinking a Mountain Dew or something," said Jay Warmke.

Jay and Annie Warmke left the corporate world for what they call a more honest life at Blue Rock Station in Philo, living in a home made out of garbage that uses passive solar energy, collects its own rain water and composts its own waste, but now they’re taking their passion for sustainable living to the next level.

"We wanted to see what would happen if we had one whole month where we just did not spend any resources," said Annie Warmke.

For 31 days, The Warmke’s will not spend any money or use other resources, including electricity after sunset, but not everyone in the household is participating in the experiment.  Granddaughter Catlyn will continue life as usual.

"We were joking that her bedroom is going to become America, where all of the electricity is being consumed," said Jay.

Catlyn is still helping her grandparents prepare for the energy "fast" by cooking what the family will eat for the next few weeks.

"Most people are just heating things up, but we make almost everything from scratch, so how could we create three meals each day and snacks?" said Annie.  "I’m also a farmer, so I have to have food for all of the critters."

The menu won’t be the only challenge.  Jay and Annie will be living without light, and the cars in the driveway will only move when Jay has to go to his twice-a-week teaching job.  Even though the couple will be spending a lot of time at home, they won’t be isolated.

"We’ll have Chinese New Year, and we’ll have a weekend of parties," said Annie.  "People will come to play games and do horoscopes."

Friends aren’t the only visitors.  20,000 people have toured the property in the past seven years, learning how to incorporate green technology in their own lives.

"One of our goals is if you can live with less and be happy with less, then you don’t have to earn as much to be comfortable," said Jay.

It’s a message that Jay and Annie take to heart, especially as they get ready for the big day.