Sustainable Life School‘s mission is to empower themselves and others with natural building and sustainable living techniques. Morgan and Mary Jane Caraway have been homesteading off-grid since 2009, when they built their first earthbag home. They held their initial public workshops in 2011, while building a sun room addition on to their earthbag roundhouse. In … Read more
Earth-sheltered homes are built into the land on at least three sides, keeping energy use to a minimum. An engulfed home allows for more stable temperatures throughout the home as well as less exposure to the elements. Underground America Day was created by “the father of modern earth-sheltered architecture,” Malcolm Wells, in 1974. He died … Read more
Wind can play havoc on many things around your home. Planting a windbreak can provide some relief from a relentless gale and it may also help you with home temperature regulation, while providing habitat for wildlife. Windbreaks can also reduce soil erosion, increase landscape beauty, provide privacy and screening, and provide some protection from fires. … Read more
The recent Living Future 2019 conference in Seattle featured a presentation about carbon storing building components. To summarize, we cannot “net zero” our way out of the climate crisis. Net zero only addresses operational carbon. By focusing on embodied carbon, we can turn buildings into carbon sinks. The presenters tweaked Michael Pollan’s famous words about … Read more
In a backyard in Temple, Texas sits a playhouse for the homeowner’s grandchildren. “You mix play sand and straw together,” says builder Tracy McLoud. “You just take the lumps of cob and actually sculpt the structure without any formwork,” she adds. “It’s almost an exact replica of the miniature model that we built.” The cob … Read more
In a newsletter from Good Earth Global I learned that last week Dutch media conglomerate Zoomin.TV filmed their team at work in Kavre, Nepal with the displaced widows they’re working for. Since then almost two million viewers have learned of the advantages of earthbag building while seeing firsthand the plight of rural Nepali widows and … Read more