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Home » Issues » The New Economy » The Human Powered Home :: Photo Essay

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Photo Essays | Green Living Tips

The Human Powered Home :: Photo Essay

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posted May 06, 2009

— tags: slideshow

The thought must occur to anyone who’s ever done time on a stationary bicycle or treadmill: Couldn’t this muscle power be harnessed to, say, turn on a light or blend a post-workout smoothie? Human power is a very old, practical and empowering alternative to fossil fuels. Replacing motors with muscles can be considered a political act—an act of self-sufficiency that gains you independence.

This photo-essay features images from Tamara Dean’s book The Human-Powered Home: Choosing Muscles Over Motors. The book is a one-of-a-kind compendium of human-powered devices gathered from a unique collection of experts.

Cover of Human-Powered Home by Tamara Dean

Buy the book

Click on the images below to see what people are powering with their own muscles:

:: IN REVIEW
The Human-Powered Home
Find out more about the book and get inspired to put your own muscles to work.

YES! Magazine encourages you to make free use of this article by taking these easy steps. admin. (2009, May 06). The Human Powered Home :: Photo Essay. Retrieved February 09, 2012, from YES! Magazine Web site: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-new-economy/the-human-powered-home-photo-essay. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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Reader Comments

Human-Power, Pedal-Power

Posted by Meagan at May 22, 2010 03:52 PM

I was disappointed to find that all but one of these "human-powered" devices were specifically "pedal-powered." Adding a bicycle-like contraption to an ordinarily electrical device is fine and dandy, but I think that simple, perhaps even traditional, tools like hand-crank drills, egg-beaters, grain mills, and more are a fascinating realm that deserved more attention in a discussion on human power. Let's broaden our perspectives!