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TechnoratiThey are eco-friendly, bizarre-looking bolt holes, and have earned the name "earth ships" for the simple reason that they appear to have landed from the future. But these homes are more than just wacky props. They are a blueprint for our future living habits.
The ziggurats - constructed from refuse such as beer cans - are the brainchild of Michael Reynolds, an eco-architect who has spent most of his professional life perfecting the concept, which derives its name from the earth-filled tyres that make up the walls. He built the first example in Taos, New Mexico, in 1988 and, 20 years later, still lives there.
Due to his hard work, there are more than 1,000 "earth ships" across New Mexico, and the word has spread; hundreds more are springing up in the US, in Scotland, Normandy, Spain and even Siberia, and in April 2007, permission was granted to build 16 in Brighton. Now, Reynolds' life and work are celebrated in Garbage Warrior, a documentary screening in cinemas around the UK.
"Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, and grows its own food," says Reynolds. "Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, it recycles its own waste, and it has its own power source. And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things that society throws away."
The documentary was the idea of Oliver Hodge, a Brighton-based director who met Reynolds in May 2003. The architect and his "crew" had come on a two-week visit to build a prototype earth ship in Brighton. "When I met Mike I was so inspired and I could see that he would be able to create a strong story. I realised that he had won and lost all these battles: that he is a frontline activist for social change."
In November that year, the filmmaker took a team to Reynolds' US base. Soon, he realised he had arrived "in the middle of something massive", so spent the next three years jetting between the UK and New Mexico, following his man around. Reynolds was a perfect subject, says Hodge: "He would do anything for me. Sometimes I even got him up at five o'clock in the morning."
The film is the latest chapter in Reynolds' colourful life. He graduated from architecture school in 1968, and soon produced a house made from beer containers, which upset the national bricklayers' union so much, he had to can it.
Inspired by the nascent green movement, Reynolds came up with a building that promoted several tenets: it should be "off-the-electricity-grid" (which could be achieved by solar power); it should be made from used car-tyres (common landfill material) and incorporate rainwater-recycling facilities, too.
To achieve this vision, he moved in the early Seventies to the desert near Taos, where tolerant planning laws and sympathetic local government enabled him to experiment: some houses looked like castles, others like pyramids. Over the next 25 years, he created an energy-independent community, but his flouting of regulations landed him in hot water: and, in 1997, his communities were shut down.
The documentary joins the architect soon after, and charts his long battle with planners. "In my opinion, the planet situation is so critical we need to be doing anything we can," he explains. "My rationale is that any little roof leak or system glitch in one of my single family homes, compared to the alternatives, is nothing. To me it's important to go for it and make a few mistakes."
Frustrated by his lack of progress, in early 2005 Reynolds heads to the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, which had been devastated by the Asian tsunami. His hope? That the lack of infrastructure would render the "bureaucratic niceties" irrelevant. "We shoot from the hip," Reynolds says of the excursion. "We are always out of our depth whenever we go abroad, which happens three or four times a year. It may not be to local codes or ready to sell to a millionaire, but it will be shelter which will keep people comfortable. We have a method."
Now, back in Taos, the architect is focusing on his latest project, "the Phoenix". He says it will house a family of four, will keep them alive in "every way", with its sewage treatment facilities as well as sustainable water, electricity, and food supplies. "There's no question that after you've gone down a trail you might find a better way of going down it," he concludes. "I would make alterations in my path, but it wouldn't be that much different. I don't think it's possible to do anything without getting into a little trouble."
'Garbage Warrior' is showing now at selected cinemas; www.garbagewarrior.com
© 2008 The Independent
37 Comments so far
Show AllThis is a great story and proves that we can do most anything we put our minds to as long as the authorities don't stop us. Powerful special interest are our worst eco enemies. What we need now more than any other time is a Leader. Not a Government leader, but a strong, well connected, knowledgeable, dedicated, private-sector Leader. Al Gore has volunteered for the Job. He won't do the work -- WE must do the work like Reynolds did. WE can start by joining WE. http://www.wecansolveit.org What are WE waiting for?
I'm also an architect; searching for recycled materials and putting waste to good use. I just bought a book from TASCHEN, a German publisher who has
several stores in the U.S, got mine in Beverly Hills. The book is called
"Small Eco-Houses". The examples shown are outstanding and they don't seem to interfere with our building codes. The house in Hawaii is beautiful, there are multi-housing developments in Germany and Belgium, earth-covered
house in Spain. The book explains the systems used and the photography is first rate.
ya, he prolly could put a screw into drywall, jus to build a lil box around what seems a nasty stuffy ego, as reality insulation or w/e. but gwb is right about earthships, in terms of sustainability, etc. its more promotional than problem solving, except for keeping innovation alive. although certain elements within the earthship-whole, such as talapia farming/water systems could be used wide scale in differing shelter-systems in hard times. i like bucky's ideas as put forth by chrisdutch above, thats the innovation thats needed to keep the "beyond code" process going. units' intergration into ecosystem/watershed is also relevant, as is minimalizing shelter systems' impacts while maximizing affordability and efficiency in urban areas.
we need shelter sytems that are cheap and effective (earthships are expensive), widely available (earthships are not), sustainable (earthships are higher maintenance than conventional housing), and usuable (something people will accept as readily as say, nice trailer parks for example..maybe stackable communityunits like co-housing condos in cities) even before healthy, ecologically conscious communities bloom to fill them. here's why: working class americans cannot afford to pay 1/4-1/2 million dollars to own standard sized conventional woodframed or even condo-style housing based on current economic conditions. we are pushing the bulk of our people inches from homelessness while they work their lives away primarily to support inefficient, overpriced conventional housing.
if we all didnt spend most of our lives earning for our house payments, would the slaves be free..too much time and money on their hands? yup. yes, with rents or mortagages a thing of the past, yes, the slaves WOULD be free. at least 1/2 of peep's after tax pay goes to housing..for 30 years of their lives for the standard wage slave. think on that. think on that GONE. think on that in terms of who WOULDNT want that burden on the middle citizens gone..and why they wouldnt want it gone.
george w. bush
Your intellectual eloquence is dashed on the rocks of profanity by your arrogance.
I bet you're a pompus, do-nothing ass in real life, incapable of putting a nail into sheet rock.
Dear nativeson,
Why do you and your friends attack me? I was just trying to get you to re-read your own writings and correct your mistakes about history. As for the name calling it is rather childish of you and your friends but from you I do not really expect anything different.
As to who I am , I am a Native Leader all-so male who has lead more marches for peace and human rights than either of you internet warriors who spend all thier time writing on comment boards and pertending they are doing something to forward the peace process.
As for calling me a troll that is the oldest trick on the comment boards as soon as anyone challanges people like you you get mad like a little boy and start calling names and try and dis-credit them. If you want to know me write me I am not afraid of the truth ravencrow1@hotmail.com.
Peace
My apologies go out to the writer and subject of this article if they've received the impression that I in any way take issue with the masturbatory pleasure they receive in toying with first world garbage, techno trappings, or the minds of nitwits. In fact, I support it, wholeheartedly. There is a special Darwinian award awaiting you all now.
Similarly, I offer sincere apologies to those of you posters above who think me either cynical of or disapproving of the voyeuristic pleasure you may receive in feasting your eyes on these seductive jerk-offs. I don't mean this in any pejorative sense. Kinsey proved long ago that we're all unique in that respect, so I will reiterate that I take no issue with your gratification. None. But unfortunately, the delusions you suffer from only go to prove that sometimes placebos can cause side effects that are real to other people.
And it is to these others who want to be informed on issues of sustainability as a basis for hopeful, effective personal follow-up that I direct the remainder of my comments. With the sole interest of saving you time, I'll just urge you to pole vault the propaganda and forsake the consensual trance of those who direct you to the essentially barren threads of "Earthship." Go directly to the heart of the matter with pioneer thinkers like multiple best-selling author James Howard Kunstler, (recent works include - The Long Emergency, Surviving the Catastrophes of the 21st Century) and/or the hands on organizational works of "Ecocity" author and architect, Richard Register, and/or the architectural "arcology" works of those like Paolo Soleri. There are many more but these will get you started, and that's all you need for your thought processes to clear up. By then, you'll have made plenty of contacts and accumulated the resource material you'll need to last your lifetime. And, you won't be susceptible to the patently false and observably asinine assertions of these self-promotional "Earthship" butt-clowns, or their sniffers.
All of this is well, and good. We have to stop cutting down the forests and creating most of our building materials from oil.
But what is lacking in the human experiment to a large extent, is a sense of COMMUNITY. Spiritual community.
Ananda, has had a spiritual community in the CA Sierra foothills since the late sixties. High minded thinking and simple living in an environment based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. We won't survive as individuals if we don't learn how to get along in our communities.
www.ananda.org
There are thousands of tons of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific - it is being called the 8th continent. How about starting to collect this garbage, recycling it and putting it to good use? It would certainly be a win-win situation for environment and people.
As an architect here is New Jersey these types of concepts are quite exciting. Bucky Fuller often said that the residential area of design is the one where real innovation is lacking and often real exploitation is present. He proposed putting houses on masts to eliminate the need for extensive foundation designs. He warned back in the twenties and thirties that overdevelopment would lead to extensive changes in the landscape and interfere with natural water flow causing flooding (paging the recent Mississippi river floods, anyone?). He also designed his houses with one lightbulb, re-directing light into spaces using mirrors and shafts. He also wanted to build the houses out of aluminum. He noted that this would be more expensive to fabricate initially but the long term maintenance would be cheaper than wood and aluminum is the second most plentiful element on the planet. If Mr. Reynolds is steering the most costly and energy wasteful area of the design and construction field in a different direction more power to him.
Reynolds is developing some cool concepts, but in a lot of ways he's still barking up the wrong tree.
What is "sustainable" about a complex structure intended to house merely 2 adults and 2 children (a "family of four")? That is made out of old tires? Well I guess as long as the Firestone plant is cranking'em out that counts, huh? How about living in one stationary location in a desert? How well can that be "sustained"?
I think people just want to live in Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's house on Tatooine.
And I think folks should pay more attention to the "eco-architect's" new concept of a house that would keep you alive in "every way". Why would it NEED to?
But some cool ideas, like I said.
We should all take note of the problems Reynolds has with building codes et al. These codes are going to be very much in the way soon and we'll need to re-invigorate our Local Democracies in order to get past them.
Looking for friendly (or was it "powerless"?) governments in Disaster Zones may not be an option for all of us.
Have Fun.
-matti.
satyagraha, thanks for those links.
jcrumb, interesting post, i agree with you about the steel and redwood, (yes, some idiots are still using redwood, for christ sake what is wrong with them?), and thanks for toning down the caps, it's much easier to read. btw are you jesse, son of robert?
wtf? raven is simply right. nativeamerica can no more be "discovered" by the first vikings, than europe can be discovered and claimed by native americans. wait.. i did hear that one of the first native americans to visit europe stuck a stick in the sand and stated "i am the first native to arrive here and discover this land of strange white maggots and their devilishly brutal culture, i claim this land for native north america." im pretty sure that did happen, at least in england, when the first indian came there. so technically, indians discovered england, and have claimed it for nativeamerica, and as soon as we finish genociding those evil bignosed whitedevils, we'll populate that rich land we have discovered across the great waters with the true culture of true humans.
Houses like these do need to exist on the fringes or in areas of devastation it's the only way to avoid the pesky rules and regulations laid out by cities and municipalities. Most of the construction materials and methods i have to use as a contractor are dictated to me;. Even if a better and friendlier solution exists I'm not allowed to use it unless codes allow. Retrofitting the cities and burbs should definitely be at the forefront of any real effort to change the way our society lives. It will be a long hard fight and it's going to have to cut across the classes if it's going to have any significant effect. The powers that be; the unions, the inspectors and regulators and all the rest who's lives are based in the status quo don't want to change.
This is really exciting stuff.
Thanks, NativeSon for your post, I'm gonna check out those 2 titles. Wondering if you've read "Beyond Civilization" by Daniel Quinn (author of "Ishmael")?
Sorry about your run in with the Big Raving Troll of CD (aka "moonraven"). She's been a tedious presence here for quite some time, ever striving to sew the seeds of dischord and strife with her churlish posts.
And to gwb... you were blessedly absent for quite some time. Wasn't long enough. You're still a twit.
An enterprising prospector in Rhyolite, NV in the first decade of the 20th century collected the used bottles from the many saloons in the booming mining town of Rhyolite and used them, along with mortar, to make his "bottle house." The construction technique was very similar to what we see in these structures. The bottle house is still there today, and it is a featured stop in the tour of the old ghost town of Rhyolite, which was once one of the largest cities in Nevada.
I live in a house which started its life with poured walls like one of Mr. Reynold's designs. They are not well insulated. I have added an additional envelope of R-19 insulated 2 x 6 framed walls all the way around, which are stuccoed. Nonetheless, I still burn 4 cords of wood in the winter, and have a swamp cooler running most days in the summer here in the desert to the east of the High Sierra. We are at a similar latitude to Taos, but are only at 4,000 feet above the sea.
I don't think those homes would actually be very comfortable with no fireplace or swamp cooler in the summer. But it's easy to run your swamp cooler off only a couple of cheap photovoltaic panels, and wood is a carbon neutral form of heat so you can achieve the goal of low carbon impact and self reliance and be very comfortable too. I have a lot of hand made carving and other decorative features like hand made tiles under the windows of my home. It looks interesting, and artistic, but not strange by any stretch of the imagination.
The designs of Mr. Reynolds look a little too contrived for my taste. I find it counterproductive because it gives the impression that environmentally sound architecture has to also look like it came from another planet, and that just isn't so.
NativeSon: "CRIS"?. now that is a step in the right direction in toning down your harshness, keep it up. I'd like to use that for future references. Your other references are right on target and very good books.
The Article has made an impact and the movie may as well. One thing is for sure that I know about people: when enough people make sustainable living on a planet that has finite resources a priority ; then it will become the norm, and hopefully people will look back in amazement at how people lived before.
Pioneers in all fields have been ridiculed all through history---it didn't seem to stop them; it will not now.
Edison was reputed to have tried over two thousand different materials for the filament in the incandescent bulb; before attaining success. He later refuted the accusation that he had "failed" in those other attempts he saw it as learning "what doesn't work", then "don't use it". What people are doing now is NOT working well; trying something different is the wiser.
"Earthships" are just another chapter of feel-good fiction for hopelessly naive New Age twits.
george w. bush,
You remind me of someone who would take all but the bottom and top rungs off a ladder then hand it to someone and say, "See, told ya that you couldn't climb it!" This is foolish and unfair to the extreme.
If you had balls that nearly approximated those of Reynolds and others who are trying to climb the ladder one rung at a time, you would have invented something of your own. I can tell that you are stuck in a stew of cynicism by the way you shoot down any attempts at building an alternative.
BTW, I've met Reynolds and another builder of Earthships. They are pioneers - with balls!
Hemp houses in France have been very popular and superior in many ways to traditional building methods.
My partner and I housesat a couple of Mike's earthships back in the 80's when we were looking for a place to live around Taos. The aesthetics are pretty amazing. And, even during those early experimental years, they were suprisingly functional.
Windows, shades, stone walls and water tanks combined to create efficient, 24 hour temperature control systems. The open spaces and curves were psychologically and spiritually nourishing. Some of the houses incorporate gardens and aquaculture. Most have built in greenhouse space. Some bedrooms are reachable only by means of ropeladders or firepoles. The blueprints incorporated some inspired astrological symbolism, runes etc., courtesy of his wife.
I'm glad to see that he's still doing the work.
On the topic of sustainability check out the Orion Project.
http://www.theorionproject.org/en/index.html
Inspiring.
Sever links with globalism by turning homes into escape capsules: http://www.earthship.net/
Ho, ho, jcrum, don't you know that the official US of A government and all the mass media disagrees with you?
It only takes one hour of a fire to melt steel to the point where it explodes and collapses!!
And I have tried to make an adobe building. It's really hard work. I was trying to do it alone, and I gave up, and now it's full of some sort of flying insect that drills holes in mud. I'm not saying that it can't be done, just that it's a community effort kind of thing.
And I take it really personally when I see the destruction that the US does to the adobe houses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bastards. To come in with your advanced WMD and destroy people's labor!!
Hey , "The Big Raven"
Obviously you suffer from the American malady known as "CRIS"---not fully understood by science or medicine, but it seems to control many peoples lives, and you obviously must be one of them.
Go back and read what was written.
P.S. This is for George W. Bush, (the one posted here, the other one suffers from "PCRIS")
"CRIS" is an acronym for "Cranial Rectal Insertion Syndrome", you both obviously not only are suffering with it, but you are willing to let a very large audience know it, with your words.
"PCRIS" is Permanent Cranial Rectal Insertion Syndrome, and incurable.
And please, please, please, let's not forget the dark night sky above our living quarters! Just as we are residents of Earth, we are also residents of the cosmos; indeed, we ARE recycled cosmic debris.
Eliminating all the nighttime lighting is unrealistic fantasy, but we could live easily AND safely with less than 70% of what is now being used, most of which is wasteful lighting, shining on the bottoms of flying airplanes and killing our view of the Milky Way! And just think of all those coal-fired and nuclear-fired generating plants we wouldn't need and how we could eliminate oil sand from Canadia and the oil in the sandy deserts of the Middle East...Ah, but then, we can't do that...Gotta keep the corps. alive, you know!
Of course, if things keep going as they are...and they are quite likely to do so unless all of us, not just we progressives, ACT...there won't be many airplanes left in a few years!
The solution to light pollution is within you! Turn off the lights--permanently!
Become your own dark sky authority!
http://www.darkskyinitiative.org
Do folks know about Superadobe buildings? Designed by the late legendary architect, Nader Khalili, they are built out of little more than earth alone. You don't need wood, steel, concrete, etc. They are lovely, passively heated and cooled, and can be built by an average Joe or Jane anywhere in the world, without relying on expensive "experts." To see photos and get more info, check out www.calearth.org
How do you control development without stifling creativity?
Maybe Diogenes of Sinope was not too far off the mark with living in a large discarded pot.
Or the Malloys living in a discarded boiler in Steinbeck's classic Depression Era novel...at least the rent is cheap.
Better that anything that has ever 'trickled down' on the American workers from our GOP usurpers.
True, people really shouldn't attempt something unless it's the perfect solution to all our problems...
"Earthships" are just another chapter of feel-good fiction for hopelessly naive New Age twits. This is another Mad Max band-aid for the dying planet. At best, these structures are clever post-modern artworks to get latte-sippers to sigh with another "aha!" moment. Of course, it's far better for anyone to find a way to partially live off of the detritus of fossil fuel-based economy than to just pile it all in landfills. But to call it sustainable is silly. And, saying that it can be built anywhere is too dopey for anyone to ever repeat again. More than three billion people already live in dwellings made of scavenged plastic, cardboard, and all the other garbage cast off by the more affluent society. Not only can't "earthships" be reasonably built in most places, they can't even be used in most of the places that they could be built.
The solar panels and virtually everything else in the "earthship," including edible hydroponic plants sufficient to "sustain" the household require a large active fossil fuel-based economy to produce the materials and repair them. Okay, maybe a little local mud is exempt from the reliance on fossil fuels, but for this model to "succeed" on even a tiny personal scale, under ideal circumstances and in temporarily ideal locations requires the world to keep producing huge quantities of waste. The less waste that gets produced, the less material we have to build these garbage huts with.
Without epic mobilization to build true sustainable communities in locations that already have sufficient water and proximity to sufficient fertile topsoil to feed the housed community, these yuppie huts won't even be worth the garbage they are built with.
When we bought our rural land...a dream of our lives as we both grew up on the Eel River 'over the hill' in Potter Valley...well..she is oficially a Willits Kid..ooohh lala..thos Willits girls..to THIS DAY..my friend..WOW!..Little Mountain HONEY'S..DAMN!..there WERE no other kids when I was growing up..anyway..so all we..my wife and I..ever wanted was our own slice..knowing the benefits to be really......advisable..
So...we were eventually at that point of building...and this was a major dilemma..for one thing..we had BOTH seen and..ABHORED..the "development" that had ruined..several areas of Rural Beauty..and the "new" enhabitants almost to a person..."didn't get it" the "rules" of rural living..95% of these folks are gone...(the 'development' remains)..but if you immediately, upon building your house in a forested section of a rural landscape that has been that way for 20,000 years..and THEN...to BOOT...FENCE OFF THE STREAM BECAUSE IT BORDERA OYR PROPERTY..ETC..ETC..YOU OSTRACIZE...TO SAY THE LEAST...THE 3 OTHER PEOPLE LIVING IN THE AREA...then they drive RIGHT by you..on that RAINING day..when you hav lost your load of WOOD..or no one will SELL you what you need to live out the fantasy of Horses etc..you gotta play ball..if they swim naked..in a swimming hole they grew up in..do not..do NOT call the sheriff in some weird mindset..becasue the sheriff won't get there for an hour ANYWAY..and by THEN your car..parked up ON the ROAD..may in fact be full of 7.62 X 39...happened before..wil happen again..don't do it..play ball..DUHHHH!
Okay..SO..we were determined..to keep the FOOTPRINT absolutely minimal..and this was actually really easy..for us..ONE bathroom...RAIN CACHE'-MENT (as I call it)..Gravity flow water..25' X 30' home..Concrete slab FLOOR/FOUNDATION combo...AND....and this is my PUNCHLINE...ALL STEEL CONSTRUCTION.
We had witnessed th ..most EVIL and DESTRUCTIVE form of "Developer"...which is..unfortunately the ...MOST COMMON...the "REALTOR/BROKER/LOGGER"
Buy 40 acres..clear cut it..sell it...almost no REAL "profit"..but that is not..in my opinion the 'real' purpose..i personally believe these people have...'problems'..they are simply..DESTRUCTIVE..and..ANGRY..for lack of a btter word...at SOMETHING..and destroying BEAUTY..and ANGERING and deeply SADDENING other peole..is ALWAY'S the outcome..and thus..MUSt be to some major extent..the GOAL..so..ANYWAY...we were in NO WAY WHATSOEVER..going to SUPPORT the local "logging industry"..
(SIDE NOTE: It truly DISGUSTS me to see people in URBAN areas mostly..STILL USING REDWOOD...and many MANY times..these are.."Co-oP" shoppers in Marin etc...who really see themselves as..'progressive' until it comes to their 750,000 dollar "remodel" in which they seem DETERMINED to use almost EXCLUSIVELY UNSUSTAINABLE materials...OVER and OVER again..and I see the damage EVERY DAY..as I drive by CLEARCUT after CLEARCUT..redwood STUMPS...and gues what YUPPIES and AGING BOOMER HYPOCRITES? Trees ARE the Air-Conditioners of the PLANET...your "Redwood Deck" is costing you ..and EVERYONE...infinitely MORE than you think..and you are DEPLETING entire forests..WHAT'S left of them..)
Okay..back to the matter at hand...where was I..oh yeah..THE PUNCH LINE..
FRAMING MATERIALS..THE NUMBER 1 REQUIREMENT IN CONSTRUCTION..
STEEL!
Yup! All recycled..even from Heritage..where we got ours..entire framing packages..FIRE PROOF..almost EARTHQUAKE proof..as a rigid box tends to WOBBLE instead of cracking or coming straight down like wood..and in California..especially in Northern Cal. Fire insurance is EXPENSIVE..adn..THE LAW..so..Steel..get's you great discounts..it don't burn..OH YEAH..it ALSO does not ROT..or become INFESTED..
We also used CIPS..concrete filled forms..and NOT the styrofoam ones..but pressed "Lite-Crete" that has rebar and channels for HEavy Crete..
My Home is; Fire Proof almost to nato standards..BULLET PROOF..Storm Proof..Earthquake proof..a Story and a half 'Cape Cod' that can withstand the HORDES OF SCREAMING CITY VERMIN THAT ARE SURE TO ATTACK AFTER THE "BIG FLUSH"...and like Wes say's..We'll be left Clinging to the Rim...
So...I have rain water Cache'-ment..plus creek H2O..off Grid..plus back-up generator..and our power needs are SO minimal that the power i need to store is..almost TOO easy..the new gear produces a "clean sine wave' for these electronics..can even..inlike the Ol day's..charge a cel phone etc..although i will NEVER own a Cel-Phone...they are evil..We can and do grow...all kinds of things...my lovely Wife of 25 years is a NURSE...i am PREPARED..all i need is a Dune-buggy ASSAULT squad...an Helter Skelter blaring..OR better yet..'Voodoo Child Slight return' and I am ready for the LAST CHOPPER OUT OF SAIGON, BABY....
Seriously Folks..Look into Heritage Steel if you are about to build..they are great..the 'Red iron Steel packages are recycled, and are built around an "I-Beam' (red Iron) super structure..a local backho-cat operator can position the beams..bolt em to yer slab..OR perimeter foundation and Voila..the res goes up like a erector set...a bullet/fire/earthquake proof/recycled erector set...AND the MYTH about China getting "all the steel' and steel being uber expensive is..just that..a MYTH..look fer your self...oh yeah..and did yo know that you can STILL..to this day...lay a "farmer line" to the nearest pole?..yeah..you are reading this froma Farmer line i laid..through brush and etc...but they do NOT ned to do this for you..at get this...$300 a yard..duhh..the line ony cost pennies a foot..i got MOST of it on left over spools...and..as they are just BEGINNING to put "beige box's" along HWY 36 where we are..we can tie into that as they are..even in areas where the "lots' don't exist..allowing for..HUNDREDS of hook-ups..that will NEVER happen..so it's....shhhhhhh! "free"...ahahahahaaaaa..and..if i wanted to..thanks to a 'hacker" mag article..get intoa ..uhhh.."party" lin...in which i am not..a ...party member..if you dig what i am saying?..this by the way is how "they' are listening..for the most part..to YOUR phone calls..OPEN slots on the BEIGE box on your block..or inyour "development"...just plug into the right slot..a MASTER slot..for diagnostics..and...OOPS..sorry..wrong number...only you never HEAR them..they hear YOU!
Okay..rant..rave..SPLUT!
BUT..this kind of BUILDING is SO doable...it is CHEAPER by HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS...and is..GUILT..and for the most part..OUTGAS free...dig it!
LIVE FREE OR DIE!
And as far as the eco-housing right-on , right now my little family is trying to see just how much water we can recycle with-out wasting even a drop. It has been a real awaking for we thought we were pretty good at saving water but we are learning! Great article!
Peace is for those who want it.
Native son
The eropeons discovered who? Now you say the Vikings . THEY NEVER DISCOVERED NOTHING for this land was allready inhabited with PEOPLE so please dont keep these lies alive, we are humans who deserve the same repect everyone else gets get it? I do understand what your trying to say and encourage you to continue without the DISCOVERY LIES PLEASE.
Thanks
The Big Raven
Here's a short video of Michael Reynolds and the "Phoenix" earthship:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM2dk7y3jH0&feature=related
I can't imagine why these buildings are 'out of code' but it's okay for people to live on, say, the 40th floor of an apartment building, totally dependent on elevators that work, water that comes to their rooms and takes away their waste, electricity, heat, etc. etc. . .
No thanks, give me a cabin in the woods and an outhouse, even if the latter is out-of-code . . .
We have built many places of varying designs, all have proved to be effective in our extreme climate, if the cost of straw was not so high up here we would experiment with straw-bale buildings which are low-cost, functional, efficient and very liveable . . .
Okay, that's good stuff, but most people live in houses that they're not going to demolish or sell in order to build an earthship.
How about Mr. Reynolds et al put their creative minds to developing efficient, cheap ways to retrofit single family suburban and city homes to take advantage of the things learned in designing and building earthships? Or coming up with new and other ways to retrofit current housing? Now that would create a real revolution.
Many people I know have been an advocate of this approach, and there are several other people/groups doing similar work.
It has been postulated by most anthropologists that the Native American people as a whole, in North America had experienced several major collapses of several cultures several hundred years before the Europeans discovered this continent (evidence shows that Vikings landed in present day Nova Scotia at least one thousand years before Columbus).
Those Native American peoples who survived the collapses learned by necessity to live in harmony, by developing sustainable agriculture ,now refered to as "three sisters agriculture, and housing that was in total harmony with the environment.
This article is over due, and more Americans who are living in/on a higher level of consciousness will be able to absorb the intelligence of this approach, and put it into practice for/in the future.
hopefully enough of them will be able to crawl out of the ruble that appears on the horizon with the present approach.
Thanks for your time.
For the readers:
The Lost Cities of America---Roger Kennedy
The Seeds of Change ----- editors copy.
Magnificent. Reynold's earthship is a perfect blend of function and aesthetics with the added bonus of recycling waste materials. Collection of rain water and off-the-grid solar power also help to make this a perfect example of human ingenuity. Thank God for people like Michael Reynolds. This should be the new direction for housing in America and throughout the world.
Satya