My husband has been nagging me for years about getting an Earthship...seriously. Have you heard of an Earthship? They're actually pretty cool.
The Earthship is a fantastic, real world example of the power of recycling, re-purposing, and re-using. It is a magnificent structure created with old tires that are packed with dirt and molded into walls with cement. Used aluminum cans are also used in walls, and glass from wine bottles can create some pretty groovy window work and design detail. It is fully powered with wind and solar energy, and uses runoff and gray water for plant irrigation. Drinking water is filtered rain water, condensation, and snow. Vegetables can be grown year-round in the greenhouse, and even sewage is taken care of naturally.
I laughed when I first heard him describe it, and imagined a junk-yard looking disgusto-ville...then I saw pictures. These places are cool! You can get architecturally creative and end up with a magazine layout worthy home. Check out some of the Google Images of Earthships I came up with - there are some gorgeous ones.
These homes were designed for the climate of the Southwestern U.S., but there are now Earthships in Georgia, Virginia, England, and other non-desert climates. These cooler climate Earthship owners are having to tweak some of the design to better suit their climate, but the possibility of a structure that eases landfill space and energy usage is bound to be as air-tight as conventional homes have become in all climates.
There is even an Earthship resort near Taos, New Mexico where you can enjoy a vacation with a smaller environmental footprint, all in the spiritual beauty of New Mexico.
What do you think? Could you handle living in an Earthship?
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