One place in the world

Today, Dane asked me, “If you had one place in the world to go, where would it be and what would you do to help there?” To this, I already know the answer, but the explanation is not as simple. It all started by watching a documentary called Garbage Warriors. For the past 30 some odd years, there has been a growing movement of Green homes in New Mexico called Earthships.

(Photo of a ES being built in Haiti)

What is the Earthship?

 The Earthship is a house built from natural and recyclable materials. The concept was introduced by Michael Reynolds, an American architect, who believed that a lot of architecture fails to deal with the amount of waste that building designs create. His building designs use materials like aluminum cans, glass bottles, tires among other things. In 1972, he built the ‘Thumb House’, wiring beer cans together into bricks. This brick design was awarded a patent and since then, Reynolds has dedicated his career to a practice called Earthship Biotecture. The Earthship Karuna is the first Earthship to be built in mainland India. Before this, Earthship Biotecture built an Earthship home in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, following the tsunami.

100% Green, sustainable living. After watching the documentary, I was completley obsessed with the idea of a Greener life. Why not? When I leave this world, I want my carbon foot print to be as small as possible. I may not drive an eco-friendly car or live a completely sustainable life YET, but things like that take time. Every day you can find ways to better yourself, while doing the right things for our Hermosa Tierra. What we do now will impact so many generations to come.

 Back to the Earthship concept. Reynolds used all recycled materials to build homes here in the US, and the structures built 30 years ago are still standing solid. Who knew car tires, glass bottles and aluminum cans, mud and cement could stand the test of time, but they have. I was intrigued when they brought the concept to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, a once thriving metropolis, is still completely devastated, yet the people press on. Reynolds, in the documentary, showed the locals how to build their own sustainable homes with running water captured from rain. From there they went to Mexico to show people how to build homes out of, basically garbage! They went to Haiti after the earthquake, and with the help of volunteers and locals, they are showing them how to build their own homes. I can’t stop thinking about the endless possibilities. Why stop at just homes? Why not schools, local businesses…anything! Think about this: You have seen photos of children walking through landfills and garbage dumps. This concept would not only help clean up places like those, but it has and will continue to provide poverty-stricken families with homes! So Dane, to answer your question…before we go to India, I would like to travel out to New Mexico, learn how to build one like Brandon did, and take that knowledge with us. India could be our starting place, but not the final destination, for there are plenty more places and people, including here, that would benefit monumentally. For those of you who are interested, please see links at the bottom of this blog.

Earthship Webinar Part 1 of 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcOSXiiJcTc&feature=channel
Watch the other 7 on Youtube.com