Earthships

2013-05-01T14:07:00.001+01:00

If you don't know what earthships are, let me tell you, they are how we should be housing ourselves. They contain everything we need to lead sustainable yet still comfortable lives. Check out earthships and prepare to want to live this way.

However it seems to be just a few who are able to get involved in this "movement", ones with money to invest into the teaching programmes the earthship academy provides or large swathes of time to drop everything and go volunteer on a build somewhere.

This is not to disparage the relief work that Michael Reynolds has done in places such as Haiti and India. These are certainly to be commended. But we need change to be happening at a faster speed, not at isolated points on the globe.

Here I address these points in my open letter to Michael Reynolds

Dear Michael,

Let me start by saying, that I think earthships are truly amazing feats of ingenuity

and design. If every new house was built like this, we would have probably a whole

lot less problems on the planet. I really admire the vision that you have shown and

the dedication you have put in to see many projects through. I had the opportunity to

see you speak when you visited here in Dublin, Ireland for a seminar and your

passion, after many builds is still clearly evident.

But let's take a step back and have a look at the objectives of the earthship

"movement" which I suppose it could be called. It has been likened to a "good virus"

which is great. The easier and faster this virus spreads, then the less carbon we

would be emitting and the less we would be tied into massive and continuing debts,

working simply to pay to keep a roof over our heads and houses lit and heated.

The way that you have approached "spreading the virus" i.e. the skills and knowledge,

thus far has been to travel the globe giving talks and workshops, assisting in

particular builds and starting the earthship school in the US. This is neither

efficient in reaching the most amount of people, green due to all those airmiles or

particularly fair, rather a little more elitist.

Only a particular few will be able to go to the earthship academy due to financial

restrictions, inability to relocate or they just don't have the time to give up for a

few months, maybe they have family or other responsibilities.

To see you speak, you must also pay for the privilege. If you are further down the

road and want to find information or blueprints, you must pay several hundred dollars

for this.

All of this smacks of some kind of privileged club, building their arks like Noah

when the end of the world comes. (This is an analogy, I'm not the religious type) I

believe you yourself own more than one earthship. I remember watching a scene in

garbage warrior where you declare yourself to "be free", so we can gather from this

that may you don't quite have to quite make ends meet, and could probably get by

comfortably without charging for everything earthship. Surely that is one of the more

secondary benefits of a build, that they give you the freedom not to be a wage slave?

So what is the alternative? Well a great start be be to make the blueprints, plans

and information open source. People could access them from anywhere in the world and

people could test and modify with their own locations in mind. Developments and

realisations about this innovative type of building would happen much sooner. People

could cooperate, create and improve together. Perhaps more earthships would be built,

leading to them to be more recognised and more people building, the ball would get

rolling and momentum created.

Also free online classes from Reynolds, other earthship builders and people doing it

themselves would spread the word, allow unfiltered access and create the change we

urgently need to start seeing. Simply travelling from place to place, gets a little

information out there to a few people, giving it away for free will get it out to a

lot of people. Let's look to the examples of MIT who give away free course material

for their programs, coursera.org, Minds.com or TED as examples of the

democratisation of education and knowledge. It should no longer just be for the few.

The other issue is that up to know, you have on the whole been focusing on detached

houses in rural locations or at least places with a nice parcel of land attached. For

many, this is perhaps unattainable, unrealistic and unsustainable. For those of us

who live in Europe, the price of land is very expensive. Here an average person would

need to save for many years, get saddled with huge mortgage debts or maybe, if they

are lucky, inherit it, that is if you are not one of the rich buying up every

available inch.

It is estimated by 2050, that 70% of the worlds population will be city dwellers. So

to focus on single earthships on plots of land is irrelevant for the majority of the

world's future population. By then cities will have to have changed radically,

growing food there, different energy systems, different and more public transport

options, getting away from individual car use. I see earthships as part of the

solution to the problems we face, but only if we look sensibly at how we are going to

implement them. Living in isolated spots or at least land patches that require a car

to get to the nearest town, are what has lead to many of our current problems -

overuse of cars, pollution and suburban sprawl. While I think it is to be applauded

the work that has been envisaged on the earthship in New York, I believe more time and energy

needs to be divested into how we can incorporate them into our cities.

I do not want to detract from the brilliant, determined and exhausting work you have

done so far, I believe howthe earthship "officials" do business needs to evolve just

like you believe our houses needs to. We are all in this together, the problems we

face affect everyone on this planet. A few individuals acting alone are just a drop

in the ocean, and will not spread this idea fast enough.

So this is a call to you, Michael Reynolds, a plea, that you stand beside your green

credentials. Sharing ideas and plans on an opensource platform will greatly increase

exposure, will cut down airmiles and level the playing field for many. Is it profits

you wants to make, follow a greenwashed version of the American dream, and earn

yourself a reputation as a pioneer, all the while charging for knowledge that could

improve the lives of many and change the faces of our cities or will you stand up and

lead a true revolution?

Wild foods: What's in season, what can I eat now?

2013-04-28T20:09:00.001+01:00

Well, it's only now that Spring is giggling mischievously and poking it's head around the door. After snow in March and cold weather continuing into April, it still feels a little like this season is flitting around, not a care in the world, while the rest of us are asking it to get serious and do it's job!

Suddenly hosts of dandelions are carpeting are my neighbourhood and they are such a welcome sight. Little sunny heads pushing upwards and embracing the sunshine, saying here I am, spring is here.

Many people think of the dandelion as a nuisance weed. While it is true that it can spread quickly and numerously, some dandelions are great to have around. They have a multitude of uses and are full of vitamins and minerals. A great source of iron, for vegetarians and vegans also, is not one to turn a nose up at.

The flowers, so full of colour and life are ever so slightly sweet and can be eaten raw in salads or if you fancy can be dipped in a mixture of flour and milk or milk substitute and fried, like courgette flowers. They can be also made into a dandelion wine or a very mild tea that is said to be good for headaches.

Leaves are really great, because they can be eaten raw in salads, perhaps blended into a green smoothie with some lemon, ginger and honey. They are packed full of vitamins, but they also have diuretic and liver cleansing properties. If your liver is backed up with toxins, the knock on effect of this, is beautiful clear skin, especially if mixed with burdock. Leaves can also be made into a tea, by stepped in leaves in hot water, for about 10-15 minutes for a medicinal effect.

To get your coffee fix the all natural way, the root can be dug up, usually in mid to late autumn. Roots should be dried, you can do this on a low temperature in the oven, the roast and ground up in the food processor. Serve with your favourite milk or nut milks and some honey or a pinch of stevia.

All that goodness from an overlooked but tenacious weed!

First post

2013-04-10T03:37:00.000+01:00

First post on this blog. I hope it can be a useful green space to gather ideas about living a natural life and protecting our earth in every part of of life. There are ethical decisions at every turn in life, I'm just trying to break it down a little.

Fox in the Ferns

Earthships

Wild foods: What's in season, what can I eat now?

First post