Gravel Bag Walls

Question from a reader: “Owen, I have started an Earthbag storage area 19×17 as a test project for using earthbags, and I have finished the gravel section about two feet high and I have moved on to using road base, clay, and cinder. Cinder for insulation as your e-book recommends, but it is very time … Read more

Natural building: a water-resistant earthen floor

“Natural building expert Michael G. Smith from the Emerald Earth Institute shows us the first layer of an earthen floor (clay soil, sand, chopped straw and road base, or crushed rock): just one layer of the 3 layers they eventually use. He also shows us a finished floor that has been treated with 4 to 6 coats of linseed oil and is water resistant and completely mop friendly.”

Read more

Blue Vinyl Video


“A critics’ darling at film festivals across the globe and Winner of the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance, BLUE VINYL is a deeply personal and frighteningly vital exposé that has been applauded as “funny and irreverent…one of Sundance’s best documentaries!” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).

Read more

Untreated Burlap Tubes

I stumbled on a website – Central Ohio Bag and Burlap, Inc. — that sells “plain” (presumably untreated) burlap in rolls. This opens the possibility of buying or making burlap tubes. This company carries the right size. (Try to find a company nearby to reduce shipping costs.) They have 40” wide rolls of burlap that … Read more