As a young carpenter, Mother Earth News magazine was very influential in my life and those of my friends. Almost no one I knew back then could afford to build a home with standard building materials from building supply centers. That would have cost a fortune. However, what we lacked in financial resources we made up for in youthful enthusiasm and building skills.
low cost
Solar Man Sand Bag Building
“Sand bag building I built in Peru.”
House of Sand
“A “House of Sand” sandbag [earthbag] building combines leading edge technology and patented processes, resulting in homes and buildings that are substantially lower in cost to build and run.
Brilliant Newfoundlander Invents the Solution!
“Jim Meaney, owner of Cansolair Inc. displays how he converts pop cans into a powerful solar heating panel.”
Vanuatu Earthbag Project Report
In an effort to prove that a simple earthbag roundhouse could be built entirely with unskilled and inexperienced labor we made a leap of faith.
We bought a block of land on the island of Efate in Vanuatu. We intended to build a women’s centre and hoped to inspire pacific islanders to recycle and build safe affordable Eco housing. This is not a charity or a religious venture. It just started with one Australian family wanting to help some friends in a nearby island.
Buy Local
This is another short post that will go right to the point – buy local. As obvious as this is, it’s good to be reminded of basic principles/truthisms from time to time. This post was sparked by a recent experience that I wanted to share. There’s a food stand on the highway about 2-3 blocks from us. We go past it every day. I noticed they had some rather unusual looking mangoes for sale, but never stopped for a close look. The other day my girlfriend bought some and said they were really good even though the peels are partially green. (Normally a sign they’re not ripe.) I wasn’t expecting much because they’re not nearly as perfect looking as commercially available mangoes, which are delicious. [I confess to being fooled by appearances.] The mango I tried was about half the size of store-bought. Little did I know I was in for the best mango of my life.