Huts on Ekopedia

A hut in the Parc des Pyrénées (France), made of stone, with a vegetal roof (living roof).
A hut in the Parc des Pyrénées (France), made of stone, with a vegetal roof (living roof).

“A hut is a temporary shelter built with materials found nearby. It is generally built manually in a natural environment with local materials : branches, leaves, logs, bushes, etc. … Less commonly, it can also be made of materials such as metal (iron), cloth or plastic (sheeting), and be located in an unnatural area such as a backyard or on the water (stilts).

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Her Farm, an Earthbag Home for Women in Nepal

Earthbag housing built with volunteer labor
Earthbag housing built with volunteer labor

“This past month 34 high school students volunteered to build a house for women at Her Farm. Previously, one volunteer from Colorado had spent two weeks putting in the foundation for the first “earthbag” house to be built in this part of Nepal.

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Building with Earthbags in Nepal

Earthbag school in Nepal built by First Steps Himalaya volunteers.
Earthbag school in Nepal built by First Steps Himalaya volunteers.

“The small kindergarden built by FSH a few years ago was built in cement, but «in Nepal cement is really of very poor quality. Look at the walls: they are already cracked!» Durga complains. «For the training centre, we have decided that we would choose something different and, after a great deal of research, I found out about the earthbag technique … which seemed to me to be THE solution»

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Tiny House Video Explains Why Codes and Zoning Regulations are a Scam


I was expecting this to be just another tiny house video. Instead, this video does a fantastic job of explaining how building codes and zoning regulations are largely unnecessary and a huge drain on local economies. The video highlights some cities in Texas that are doing just fine without all this bureaucracy and added expense. As a result, housing costs per square foot are only a small fraction of many other US cities.

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Bustani Permaculture Project Tanzania

Earthbag dome by Bustani Permaculture Project Tanzania
Earthbag dome by Bustani Permaculture Project Tanzania

“We’re a small NGO on north coast of Tanzania run by a French couple who have decided to help the community in a Permaculture way. We’ve built our first dome a year ago then sand bag water cistern. ….Never followed any workshop since difficult for us but read and watched few videos. All your websites help us a lot, thanks again.

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What are Geopolymers Made of?


This blog post is highly relevant for those living in Canada and Alaska who are looking for a low cost replacement for Portland cement. Alaska buys most of their cement from Korea. This video shows how to make geopolymer using dirt cheap local materials, many of which are from industrial waste streams.

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