Just imagine if the trillions of dollars wasted in Middle East wars had been invested in better ports, airports, highways, high speed rail, cleaning up the environment, reforesting degraded lands and building more sustainable cities and affordable housing. The possibilities are mind boggling. Of course that didn’t happen. The money is gone and now we need to focus on the way forward. We need to stay focused on positive solutions, and this is exactly what our blog is all about.
natural building
Natural Building Workshops at Quail Springs Permaculture
“When I started this building my intention was to make the building process fun. I invited 5 friends to come work with me for a month, and we got the basic framework up, and we did indeed have a lot of fun doing it! Although I have been the main builder working on and off … Read more
Resistance to Change
In general, I’ve found that people are very slow to change what they do if they change at all. No matter how many facts, charts and reports you show, many/most people will not heed the advice. This is true with many different things in life. For instance, most smokers, drinkers, criminals and drug addicts won’t kick their habits when faced with facts. Instead they choose to die or go to jail rather than change their ways. Another example is countless millions of people are overweight and unhealthy from not eating correctly. Most of them will not listen to common sense advice about healthy eating.
Rising Earth Natural Building
“Rising Earth Natural Building represents the professional activities of ecological designer, building contractor, and community facilitator Michael McDonough. Primary work is sustainable design/build with elemental materials (stone, earth, wood, straw) in residential and public contexts.
Below Grade Earthbag Domes
Email from a reader: Hello, I am trying to put together a design for an earthbag dome built into a hill in New York, and for a few reasons, I would like to have some of it underground. Actually, there are two adjacent domes, one with a diameter and height of 14′, and the other 8′. The frost line here is at least 48″, and I’ll probably go down further.
Hempcrete Update: Greater Availability of Legal Hemp in US
Good news for those interested in building with hempcrete in the US. Recent laws are making it much easier to obtain legal hemp for making hempcrete. Some hempcrete mixes turn almost as hard as stone.