I love interacting with readers through email and the Comments section. In addition to helping readers, this interaction is a regular source of new ideas and inspiration. Here’s a recent example. A reader left a comment about the high price of mesh bags they encountered. My first reaction was “well, that was just one supplier, … Read more
Text below and image is from Eternally Solar / EarthBagBuild, who has a new, very impressive site with lots of great information and ideas. I haven’t had time to read their entire site, but this sounds like the largest earthbag project in the world. One intriguing aspect is their FAQ page explains how their system … Read more
I want to talk a little bit more about these mesh bags that are used in the hyperadobe system. It’s the hot new development. Let’s take a close look. The open weave allows the soil to dry much faster. They’re lower cost. They’re almost as strong (as poly bags). They’re less expensive. You don’t necessarily … Read more
I finally had a chance to build with mesh bags. Previously I had made some test bags, but this week we included a whole course of mesh bags in our current Cool Pantry project. More photos coming soon. In this post I want to describe some of the differences in working properties between mesh and … Read more
From newleafinitiative.org In March 2011, New Leaf sent a team of allies and supporters to Haiti to construct an Earthbag building for our partners GrassRoots United. Earthbag buildings are built primarily from polypropylene bags, dirt and rubble. For two weeks, New Leaf worked extensively with Haitian volunteers to train them in the building process and … Read more
Patti Stouter has been experimenting with all sorts of things, including using mesh bags of recycled foam. She wants to build a Nubian vault with these bags of foam on a rebar frame. Scrap materials are often large enough to fit well in cheaper open weave vexar mesh tubes. This stretchy plastic tubing is used … Read more