There needs to be much more focus on sustainable housing solutions that benefit average people. According to the UN, approximately 1.2 billion people lack adequate shelter. The main problem is lack of affordable housing. Natural building can play a major role in addressing the current unprecedented housing crisis. Everyone can have safe, decent, debt-free housing … Read more
We have added a new feature to www.earthbagbuilding.com: videos! Once we realized how many really informative and entertaining short video programs can be viewed through YouTube.com, we did a thorough scouring of related titles to select only the best for our website. While there are some videos that are merely promotional in nature, or are … Read more
Earthbag building (also called sandbag building) is surely one of the lowest cost, most practical building methods. First used by the military for building durable, bullet and blast resistant structures, this building method has recently experienced a surge of interest among do-it-yourself builders. There are now an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 earthbag structures, including homes, … Read more
In my opinion nothing beats the warmth and rustic beauty of natural materials. Many people choose natural building materials to save money, and that makes perfect sense. But let’s not overlook design aesthetics. A home is much more than just an assemblage of materials. Natural materials have a way of seamlessly blending everything together, turning … Read more
Kelly and I try to track everything about earthbags and sandbags. Here’s a suggestion I came across on a January 4, 2009 post at SurvivalBlog.com. It’s another example of the amazing versatility of building with bags. “We came across a small discovery here on our ranch. We feed many animals and four dogs. So we … Read more
Strawbale houses were first built shortly after the invention of the baling machine. Settlers in western Nebraska who had access to this machine were quick to realize the potential of large, insulated building blocks. And the rest of the story, as they say, is history. This same potential now exists for earthbag building. The benefits … Read more