There’s growing interest in lightweight bag fill materials as alternatives to more labor intensive soil-filled earthbags. While lightweight materials such as scoria, perlite, etc. are not as stable as tamped earth, their higher insulation value and labor saving advantages offer tantalizing possibilities for certain designs, locales and site conditions. We’re currently investigating vetiver grass as … Read more
For those who don’t know, earthbag structures are constructed with bags of moist soil or other suitable materials, stacked in courses like masonry and then tamped solid. As they dry, they turn into incredibly strong walls. Although very popular for a number of compelling reasons, this building method has struggled to reach its full potential … Read more
The most recent issue of The Last Straw journal (#60) has my article about earthbag/stone foundations. The following information is just a short excerpt. You can buy the full length article from The Last Straw. The design outlined here can be used with load-bearing and non load-bearing straw bale walls, earthbag walls, cob, adobe, cordwood … Read more
The following text and list of properties has been gathered from various poly bag supplier websites to give you a snapshot view of poly earthbags. The information is presented here in a condensed format for brevity. It’s fun doing these blog posts because I always learn something. For instance, did you know polypropylene is 100% … Read more
Geosynthetics Magazine is a valuable go-to source for technical earthbag articles. This is a great, free resource for serious earthbag builders, especially commercial builders. They have a new article about natural green facades on earthbag highway retaining walls. It’s surprisingly simple and effective. The retaining wall is not only strong, it also looks good because … Read more
Remember the outdoor oven that I built for Mother Earth News magazine? Well, a reader built one and just sent us the following photo and feedback. Numerous people have written me questions asking for more details (which are almost always answered in the original article, so please look closely), but no one yet has sent … Read more