AUTARK-HAUS Self Sufficient Home, Germany


This German video by Leben mit der Energiewende TV popped up in my playlist yesterday so I took a look. Normally, videos in other languages don’t appear, but I was curious and looked anyway. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and well built it was. This home helped me realize how the natural building movement is much larger than most people realize. If you finish watching and reading about the 3,350+ featured projects on our blog you can learn even more by discovering what’s being done in other countries.

Read more

How We Built Our House – Part Two: The Grass Roof

“It’s been ten years since we designed and built our house, so it seems appropriate to start an occasional series about it all. Building your own house has to be one of the most exhilarating and exciting things anyone can do in their lives. (It’s also expensive, exhausting and stressful too, but we wont go there for now…)

Read more

Free Land and Cheap Land in the US

Free land in Marquette, Kansas
Free land in Marquette, Kansas

One of the biggest concerns for natural builders is finding affordable land for their homestead or sustainable home. Rural land is often the best solution not only because it’s less expensive than urban land, but also because there are usually fewer building codes. With few or no building codes, it’s possible to build at 1/10th the cost of building in cities if you use recycled materials like pallets and barn wood, and local natural materials such as earth, stone and wood poles.

Read more

25 Small Sustainable House Plans: Cutaway Drawings

Every house plan in my new book includes a full-page 3D cutaway drawing.
Every house plan in my new book includes a full-page 3D cutaway drawing.

My new house plans book covers my most popular house designs. These houses are low-cost, DIY, sustainable house designs, many of which can be built for less than $10,000 if you use locally sourced materials such as earthbags, straw bales and recycled wood.

Read more

Justin Hall Eco Home Engineering

Two story eco house in northwest Arkansas.
Two story eco house in northwest Arkansas.

Hall Engineering Group Ltd. works with our customers to obtain structural and city approvals for construction permits. They have worked with natural and green homes for years and understand the complexities and beneficial requirements pertinent to sustainable homes. Justin Hall lives in two sustainable homes now in Arkansas and on Greers Ferry lake. They are licensed in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Give them a call at 501-588-3355 or email at info@hall-engr.com. Visit their website at www.hallengineers.com.

Read more

Ripples Blog

Ripples’ topics for a sustainable lifestyle
Ripples’ topics for a sustainable lifestyle

“Ripples is a blog connecting people to resources on sustainable living while chronicling our off-grid journey and supporting the work of non-profit organizations.

Ripples Blog: Telling Our Story
Our goal is to build a healthy, organic lifestyle in a small earthbag home, using sustainable alternative systems for transportation, energy, water, food production and…well, everything! We hope to preserve habitat for native species in the Ozark Mountains while learning (and educating others) about native habitat creation. This blog follows our journey “off the grid”: using alternative electricity sources like solar power. The blog itself is also off-grid, powered by 100% solar energy!

Read more