Earthships a better way to live
By Canellita
@Canellita (12029)
United States
March 22, 2009 5:41pm CST
A while back my mother discovered these homes that were called earthships. They are built partially into the ground and have special plumbing features that allow you to recycle some of the water that you use for household things like washing for other things like watering plants. Some use recycled materials and their construction uses natural lighting to the best advantage. With all this new attention to the need to conserve energy (no one wanted to listen thirty years ago) it would seem that earthships would start to pop up all over the place.
Of course different climates would require different needs for shelter. In New Orleans Brad Pitt has spearheaded some "green" architecture and people are building higher or raising their existing houses to compensate for any future potential flooding.
Wind is an issue in a lot of places and people are coming up with more and more creatiive solutions to our energy and living problems. I hope to see more homes built that are ecofriendly.
3 people like this
3 responses
@max1950 (2306)
• United States
22 Mar 09
i remember those, i thought they were great, a wonderful way to keep the home cool during summer and keep in the warmth in winter. i remember seeing some built into the side of mountains in colorado in the denver region, ya know not towering mountains but into the sides starting maybe 25 ft. up and in , my they were great. but i think that was longer than 30 yrs ago. i also like what they call " robin's nest homes " their, very cool.
3 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
23 Mar 09
I have never heard of robin's nest homes. I would imagine they are built in trees? I saw a pretty cool treehouse photo a while back that I think was actually a hotel or resort.
1 person likes this
@max1950 (2306)
• United States
23 Mar 09
their 2 octagon nest's or large room's connected by a twig or walkway 10 foot above the ground. you can make it as large as you want or as small, whatever size that's good for your family. their are solar cells that can be opened in the winter for free heat and cool air in the summer. needless to say there are window's galore, ive eseen them with automatic window cleaners that roll down the windows and again run by solar power. their are a few being built in south gulf cove, florida. car parking is done by pulling underneath the nest's, leaving as much of your property free of clutter. you can park on one side and if your a pack rat inclose the urrights of the other nest for storage again nothing spread out around your property. however, putting one in an everyday housing development i dont think will go over well,you need a good amount of property.
2 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
28 Mar 09
The robin's nest homes sound really interesting. I will have to look online for some pictures. If they can withstand high winds they might be a good option for people in the path of hurricanes and in areas where it floods a lot.
@underdogtoo (9579)
• Philippines
23 Mar 09
I would like a home where I would have solar or wind power so I would not be dependent on the electric utilities which charge way too much for electricity. Recycling water is a great idea and even using waste food for compost would be appreciated by the plants and the planet. Cheers!!
3 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
23 Mar 09
My school has a garden program and they teach the kids to compost. I think this is so important because young people take all life's resources for granted.
1 person likes this
@JoyfulOne (6232)
• United States
23 Mar 09
I'm familiar with this type of home. Although I don't remember if they called them 'earthships', I do remember investigating doing that with a home we were going to build back in the mid 70's. Nowadays it would be hard to get such a project going. Even though I live in the countryside, there is so much zoning that any 'different' kind of structure would not pass their zoning plan for the future. Plus they would say that it would lower existing home values...I don't believe that to be the truth, but it happens too often. And that's such a shame! In my eyes, this is exactly what kind of foresight is needed for the future. If we could stress the importance of letting people go green to save the earth, then maybe someday they will let us build eco-friendly structures without zoning them from ever being built.
I am looking into solar and wind energy right now, and of course, zoning is the department who has the final say whether it's acceptable in my small community or not. Even though there are no close neighbors who could see a wind turbine, they still have the right to tell me no. Hopefully, times will change when they realize that this kind of stuff is important to our earth, saving energy and all.
2 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
23 Mar 09
That is really a shame that you live in a place where they seem to be against eco-friendly practices. I would like to use a combination of solar and wind power myself. I passed a home that had a miniature windmill in front that was spinning when there seemed to be no breeze at all; at least the leaves in the trees weren't moving. I have heard that it doesn't take that much wind to make wind energy. I hope to eventually harness some power from water as well.
1 person likes this
