Earthships: Sustainable Homes of The Future

Earthships can be found almost everywhere in the world ranging from one bedroom studios to million dollar mansions. Their creator, Mike Reynolds, has been designing them for over 4 decades following these six principles:

Solar / Thermal heating and cooling

Due to the thermal wrap on the Earthship, it requires little to no outside heating or cooling than the sunlight and shade. This enables the Earthship to produce a comfortable living area almost anywhere in the world. Passive ventilation allows for air exchange.

Solar and wind generated electricity

Solar panels line parts of the roof and charge batteries in order to provide electricity to the vessel. The question of a cloudy day instantly comes to mind but a wind turbine generally picks up the slack. As for those days with no sun and no wind, one can either tie into the grid for backup, just in case, or you could just enjoy the day with what battery power you got and read a book in the garden by the window or something.

Water harvesting

Earthships catch rain and snow melt on the potable surface roof for water. The water runs down silt catches and into a cistern where the water is filtered and pumped into a pressure tank for household water pressure. The water is heated via solar water heater with some owners sometimes using propane as backup if the water isn't hot enough for their liking. Earthships use their water four times. The water is still used conventionally like in bathing and washing clothes and dishes but the toilet is different. It gets used once then sent to an interior botanical cell where it will be used again to feed your plants while the plants clean the water. The Third use is the toilet flush. After the toilet flush, the water contained and treated then sent to an outside botanical cells.

Food Production

The sunlight, coming through the windows, allows the Earthship to also grow its own food like pineapple, bananas, and cucumbers. Furthermore, the plants growing indoors creates a natural air purifier filling the house with a fresh smell.

Contained Sewage Treatment

Earthships contain and treat all their own sewage.

Recycled Materials

Earthships use glass bottle and cans to fill non load bearing walls, earth rammed tires rammed to create the supporting wall as well as many other recycled materials.

The recent recession created an unsure living situation for many conventional homeowners but not so much for Earthship owners because Earthships cost about the same as regular housing but doesn't come with all the water and electrical needed. One can also apply the six principles to modern housing, called retrofitting, in order to help with utility bills, food, and water cost.

With water and fossil fuels being a limited resources, its only smart to conserve as much as we can. Earthships are stronger, more reliable, and even safer, for both the owners and the earth, then conventional housing.

To learn more about Earthships visit http://www.earthship.com/