When it comes time to bug-out some say Earthships are the way to go. Even if you are only toying with the idea of being self-sufficient and building a natural home we think these Earthship buildings can make a terrific “summer place”. Take a look!
The concept of the Earthship was first described by Michael Reynolds in 1971. In Taos, New Mexico he began to build homes out of empty aluminum soda and beer cans, bottles, and tires. He completed his first Earthship home in 1988, and has continued his quest in spreading his sustainable living ideals globally.
While some may perceive Earthships as an outdated practice born out of 1970s environmentalism, Fonder Reeve believes the idea has never faded.
“I would say that the Earthship community is actually much stronger than it was in the 1970s,” she says. “I think it’s consistently grown because the design has changed from the ‘70s. It’s gotten better and better.”
Today there are Earthships in every state in America and in more than 20 countries, appearing as homesteads in Guatemala and an emergency shelter in post-earthquake Haiti. And people live in these Earthships. There’s an entire Earthship community in Taos that supports 70 residences and allows overnight visitors.
Earthship enthusiasts can attend the four-week Earthship Biotecture Academy in Taos. Over 1,300 students have been educated on the design principles, construction methods, and philosophy of Earthships. Founder of Earthship Seattle, Florian Becquereau, attended the academy in 2013 and spent six weeks living in an Earthship.
“You’re more in touch with the natural world,” he says. “You rely on what you get from nature so you have to be more conscious of what you use. You can’t leave everything on, like all your electric appliances, all the time. It’s wasteful anyways.”
The buildings are powered by thermal, solar, and wind energy in addition to being built from natural materials! Some even have vents for the AC!
Again, this is not your grandfather’s Earthship! Everything is well thought out from where the windows are placed to how the roofs can catch rain-water. And the design feature, for some, is futuristic and something we would not feel embarrassed to bring the family and friends to see – or bug-out in!
For more info go to Atlas Obscura. We may be survivalists but that does not mean we are not artistic too!
Featured Image via JENNY PARKINS/CC BY-SA 2.0/CROPPED
Except for picture #2, they all have too many windows for my liking. Windows are automatically weak points in any house defence. I understand the need for direct solar heating of the unit, but there are other ways of getting the heat into the building that are better defensively.
And utterly defenceless!