Joining New Walls with Buttresses

The drawings above show how to join new earthbag walls with old ones using buttresses. Put barbed wire between every course in the buttresses and through the rest of the structure. In the short-term, the buttresses strengthen the walls and serve as benches and plant stands. Here is the two step building process: 1. Build … Read more

Woman’s Dream House is Made of Mud

“A series of domes constructed of earth, sand and water combine to make a home for Thea Bryant and her family. Dried mud is collected in buckets all around the structure and can be reconstituted by simply adding water. The structure was built using 40-year-old plans developed for the United Nations to build homes in … Read more

Yogi Farm Roundhouses

“We are a tribal, egalitarian community focused on living in harmony with the Earth, practicing yoga and meditation, sharing a raw vegan lifestyle, and creating a permaculture farm with lush and abundant food forests in a warm tropical environment. We are in the process of acquiring a piece of land in the Puna District of … Read more

Big Ideas that are Changing the World

Would you like to take an active roll in helping the world become a better place? Many people get overwhelmed with all the problems facing humanity and sort of give up or tune things out. But many others jump in and do what they can to turn things around before it’s too late. The ideas … Read more

The Maker Movement

Catherine Austin Fitts, the president of Solari, Inc. and publisher of The Solari Report, thinks the maker movement will have a major impact in rebuilding the world’s economy in a sustainable way that creates local jobs. Alternative building and appropriate technology are part of the maker movement. “The maker movement or maker subculture is a … Read more

Trailer Houses versus Earthbag Building

I’ve been writing about the problems with building codes for a while now. Just for the record, I’m not 100% against codes. Limited codes can be beneficial, but the current situation is way over the top. This fact is well illustrated by comparing trailer houses (also called mobile homes) to buildings made of earthbags. A … Read more