Today’s post is a guest contribution by Krista Peterson. As more and more people continue to take on holistic lifestyles, it seems the benefits of doing so continue to grow in awareness. As has been shown through many examples, when it comes to the actual building process, using materials such as earthbags can not only … 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
Some natural builders may be interested in building houses for profit. One suggestion is to find out what people want in your area. And so we’re going to look at a few houses here. This is what people are buying. These houses are made with brick, concrete and tile, but you could build the same … Read more
Many gardeners are familiar with Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening system: raised garden beds of any size divided into square foot (300mm) grids. It’s a very popular gardening system and he has sold over one million books. With this method you can grow five times more plants in a given space with less maintenance. You’ll … Read more
From time to time we answer reader’s questions. Chase: After much research, I am really interested in pursuing a career in natural building, in earthbags, and many other means. I’m not entirely sure where to start, especially since I’m just starting and don’t know much about construction or buying land, but I can’t resist the … Read more
One of the most progressive high school vocational programs that I’ve heard of is on the campus of Taos High School in Taos, New Mexico. Students get a solid background in general building skills (general carpentry, blueprint reading, AutoCAD, green business), but they also get more advanced and more specialized training in green building, solar, … Read more