Metateps

Put dozens of people of all ages in a room. Liberals and right-wingers. Wealthy, middle-class, and dirt poor. Athletes, soldiers, blue- and white-collar workers, criminals, priests ... the entire range of American humanity. Ask them what "off-grid" means, and you'll get dozens of definitions that relate to unconventional people, things, trends, and actions.

To a teenager an off-gridder would be somebody who doesn't use social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.

To a detective or researcher it could mean being untraceable, unrecognizable, and unrecordable through normal means.

To a paranoid, antisocial person or a criminal on the run, it might mean going underground and avoiding all recordable forms of commerce, using only cash in order to avoid any traceable transactions.

To an extreme sportsman it could mean doing cutting-edge, death-defying feats in exotic international locations.

To college science students, their genius but absentminded professor might be referred to as "off-the-grid."

Sites that are truly off-grid provide their own energy, water, and waste management independent of public utility services.