The Local Living Venture is presenting the 25th anniversary Renewable Energy & Green Home Tours on Sunday, Oct. 15 with three touring tracks - off-grid, grid-tied and "green" homes - in three regions: St. Lawrence and Jefferson Counties and the northwest Adirondack mountains.

More than a dozen homes of all stripes will be available to tour by the public for free, thanks to sponsorship from Northern Lights Energy and Apex Solar contractors who install complete turnkey solar power systems for even tech-averse homeowners.

New to the touring program are the many homes who have benefited from the Solarize Canton and Northern Lights Solar initiatives to bring grid-tied energy to many local homes.

Given the new "Solarize St. Lawrence County" campaign, this is an excellent opportunity for those considering "going solar" to talk to homeowners living day-to-day with grid-tied or net-metered solar power. Renewable energy contractors will be available at some sites to share details as well.

Many "off-grid" home energy and homestead systems will also be featured, with a multitude of building styles, heating options, energy sources, water systems, solid waste systems, root cellars, cooking innovations, outbuildings of interest, unusual garden features and much more.

Participation in the tours is free, though attendees must register for full details at bit.ly/GreenHomeTours, where profiles of the homes to be toured are also featured.

A perennial favorite, "Crazy Jerry" of Colton, (who many have seen zooming the roads in his bright yellow electric bullet trike), will feature the results of twenty years of innovative off-grid living with a hybrid solar/wind system only 30 feet from the power lines.

Simple living utilizing appropriate technology in the wilds of West Pierrepont, will show how to live with low resource consumption using compost toilets, root cellar refrigeration, a rocket mass heater (RMH) and "walking water" instead of running water.

On the other end of the spectrum are conventional homes, including the first grid-tied solar roof-top installation in the area, with fourteen years of meticulous records to share on solar generation, utility costs and rates of solar production per year. Passive solar sunrooms, use of recycled building materials and many other features will be shown in St. Lawrence County.

Attendees who sign up at the webpage bit.ly/GreenHomeTours will receive the addresses and details about when the homes are available to tour. For more information, contact (315) 347-4223 or LocalLivingVenture@gmail.com.