“The quick summary: – Housing in the developing world is often dangerous (especially in earthquakes), climatically inappropriate, toxic, wasteful of energy and water, bad for the people who live in it, the people who build it and for the planet at large. This is not about poverty — rich, poor and middle class alike all … Read more
Description: This article explores the growing popularity of earthbag building (also called sandbag building) and how it can be used to provide affordable housing that’s simple enough for do-it-yourselfers to build their own home. By using dirt-cheap building materials (earth, sand, gravel, recycled materials, etc.) and eliminating expensive contractors and specialized equipment, the cost of … Read more
Zafra, one of our readers, left a comment today that said, “I would argue that government itself is not the problem, but corporate control of government is. As a rule, if you see government interfering in progressive movements it’s to protect the corporations and industries (banks, insurance, timber, chemical just to name a few that … Read more
The ongoing economic recession is putting lots of people in difficult situations. For some, the situation may even seem hopeless. I’m writing this to remind everyone to never give up. Who knows for sure what’s in store in the future, but the main thing is to keep your head together and just keep on going. … Read more
Thumb through popular architecture sources and you’ll readily spot a growing trend toward curved and round designs. It’s a revolt against the box. Oh sure, the status quo suburban box is alive and well, and will likely endure as long as the existing building codes, insurance and financial institutions remain in place. But there’s a … Read more
This post continues the discussion about Counties with Few or No Building Codes, which has become our number one most popular blog post. Obviously this is something a lot of people want to know more about. As mentioned before, one approach to building alternative housing is to buy rural property with an existing structure, septic, … Read more