Earthship internship

Earthships were a footnote I barely noticed in my interior design class text book this summer. I happened to run into someone who had built them and the more I researched the more I became obsessed. Ok so the name is a little funny, Earthship, sounds like something out of Star Wars but really it is the coolest concept on the planet. Fully off-the-grid, solar powered, grey water system, plant oasis, geothermal heated, beautiful home made of tires, cans and mud!!!

The movie Garbage Warrior sparked interest in the architect who created them, Michael Reynolds recently. $3 on iTunes.

After dreaming of getting involved I took a chance and applied for an internship. I am now headed to the Davey Crockett National Forest to camp for a month and build an Earthship there with a few friends this Nov. I hope this is just the start to a long involvement with Earthships. Maybe one day I will be blogging about the building of my own :) I would love to do interior design for these some day!


SOME BASIC FACTS ABOUT EARTSHIPS

• Earthships are made out of recycled materials, such as tires and soda cans.
• Earthships catch water from the sky and use it up to four times.
• Earthships produce their own electricity, but can have multiple energy sources such as solar and wind-generated energy. The energy is stored in batteries and supplied to electrical outlets in the home.
• Earthships contain and reuse all household sewage in indoor and outdoor treatment cells. The waste is used for food production and in landscaping.
• An Earthship is considered an Earthen home. An Earthen home is a house made of materials from around the build site, dirt mainly. FACT: There are 6 billion people on the planet and 3 billion of them live in Earthen structures and homes

Earthships are a simple technology that should be shared with everyone.

photo from earthship facebook