[1] Schaeffer became one of many young people rejecting the established values of the 1950s in favor of the communal living practices associated with the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

While he adopted the communal lifestyle, he never accepted that doing so meant he had to sacrifice modern amenities, including watching Saturday Night Live on TV.

Later, as solar electric panels developed for the space program became available commercially, he used those as the source to charge his storage battery.

Schaeffer started selling solar energy products and earth-friendly tools to his neighbors,[4] and opened the first Real Goods store in Willits, California with a partner in 1978.

When the store closed and the partnership dissolved in 1985, Schaeffer, operating out of his garage, continued the business as a mail order catalog.