I was able to head out to the Earthship community in Taos, NM on Sunday and have to tell everyone that they are definitely something to look at. I've been looking at different forms of alternative and low-cost owner built housing for a couple of years now, and I really like the holistic approach that Reynolds is taking. They have a real homey feel to them, unlike most of the stick built places I see. I was able to talk with one of the foreman there, and am hoping to do an internship there this next summer. I know houses made out of tires might not appeal to everyone, but there are a lot of good ideas that can be incorporated into other building methods. If anyone on the board has built one, I'd love to hear from you. Thanks.

-- Nik Nikkila (niknikkila@hotmail.com), November 15, 2001

Answers

Hi Nik,

Glad you got to see some discarded material being put to good use in a functional way. We, the earth's people, are straining her to the limits at the present time. The change in my life time is beyond belief.

Anyway, your statement "but there are a lot of good ideas that can be incorporated into other building methods." intrigued me. Would you elabrote on the good ideas. Think a lot of people on this board would be interested. ken

-- ken (steelframeme@yahoo.com), November 15, 2001.

Talk to us Nik..........I want more SPACE and I want to do it in an earth friendly way. Tell us what you saw and what your thoughts were.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 15, 2001.

Nik, The previous owner of our farm left us with a good start of old tires, so I'm very interested in finding a use for them. And if that gives me more space in my home or outbuildings, that would be even better. I'd be interested in reading all about your trip. Iris

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 15, 2001.

I am not familiar with 'Earthships', but there is well known actor who made headlines, for building a Adobe Style home out of tires filled with aluminun cans, plastered with stucco. The finished project was a site to behold!

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), November 15, 2001.

One of the main things that made sense was the water use system, all rainwater is collected and then filtered for consumption, then the grey water is sent to the greywater planter, where it is somewhat cleaned and then used again in the toilet. The other thing I liked was the use of thermal mass to heat and cool the house. While I liked the idea of using tires, it seemed to be recycling just for recycling's sake. Pounding the tires with dirt is awfully labor intensive, it's definitely low-cost, but hard work. Even if you didn't want to build an earthship, these are things that could be worked into the design to improve overall efficency. I was able to view one that was still under construction, and have to say that I would love to call it home. If you ever get the chance to check out the website, www.earthship.org, you'll be able to see how versitle they are. I think they also offer a concrete plan in places where using tires isn't feasible.

-- Nik Nikkila (niknikkila@hotmail.com), November 15, 2001.

Dennis Weaver [the Texan cop actor] was/is a big supporter of earthships..and owns one.

I think that the construction lends itself to the southwest..where rammed earth and adobe is prevalent. I don't think it would be a go in staid New England ..where I am.

-- pc (jasper2@iname.com), November 15, 2001.

Kathy, that actor was Dennis Weaver. He had an Earthship built near Ridgeway, CO and spent nearly $500,000. As of last summer, it had started to cave in along one entire wall. Sometimes good intentions and money are not sufficient to replace good engineering.

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), November 16, 2001.

LOL :-)

-- Mike (uyk7@hotmail.com), November 16, 2001.

There are lots of good inexpensive building ideas around, the problem is getting approval to use them. If it's not the aesthetics police ("not near my beautiful tract home") it's the timber industry (everything must be stick built--not even nice manufactured homes allowed) and other special interest groups (what, greywater? that would put sewer workers out of a job) that unfortunately have the ear of the local politicians. You really have to pick your building town carefully if you want to do this kind of thing.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 16, 2001.