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

Earthship T-Shirt design

I am making some entries for the Earthship T shirt design contest.

Drawing process

UPDATE - Yay I won the contest it was pretty cool because when they announced it I was in Texas helping with the build Mike thanked me in person and said he didn't know it was mine until after he chose the winner :)

INFO

Earth-List.com

Happy to be doing branding design for Mike's online company earth-list.com an eco resource directory. His mascot the green man inspired the logo and T-shirt as well as the design for his newly launched website earth-list.com

At the Kick Gas Festival in San Diego!

Making Mosaics in TJ, Mexico with the Americas Foundation

One of the most amazing places I have had the privileged of volunteering at, Colegio La Esperanza, TJ, Mexico, created by Christine the founder of the Americas Foundation. Although it is in a very poor neighborhood these kids are spoiled with the beauty of the school Christine has created for them. With the help of Jim Hubble a soft spoken but incredible artist who has designed the organic architecture and created hundreds of mosaics here with volunteers though his foundation Ilan Lael. I love everything Mr. Hubble designs and it was so great to work with him and Christine on these projects.

Mr. Hubble's unique organic design

Mosaic floor trip 1Mosaic floor trip 3Mr. Hubblenew top floor lunch room under constructionlunchtime- delicious mexican food

Eco T Shirt Contest Winner!

So I won this cool contest on Planet Green hosted by Hessnatur. My design has 7 species all interconnected by one line (from top going clockwise)- a bird, face, mouse, frog, the words "one life", butterfly, fish, and cat.

Proceeds from the shirts will help Grameen Shikkha, the education division of the humanitarian, anti-poverty organization founded by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr. Muhammad Yunus, help support students in Bangladesh.

The judge panel included Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver and Founder of TOMS Shoes, Miranda Purves, Lifestyle Editor of ELLE, Summer Rayne Oakes, model and environmental activist, and Miguel Adrover, internationally renowned fashion designer and Creative Director of hessnatur.

Planet Green contest details
Hessnatur
Hessnatur Blog
Elle Blog
EcoFashion World

Compost Heaven

The ideal compost bin.... I do not think it exists but this is close enough.
I made this my first carpentry experience. You can buy a plastic one for around $90 or convert an old plastic trash bin but after a lot of research I decided to use wood. It may not last as long but I don't mind making another in a few years. This one cost me about $10 for nails and hinges, the scrap wood and tool I had.

Best recipe for the average back yard compost

• 50 - 70% wet,
• good aeration
• 3 brown to 1 green materials

Layer like a cake (kinda mimics layers on a forest floor)

1. straw
   
2. all food scraps (avoid animal products)
3. sprinkle garden soil or other compost (for bacteria and buggies)
   
4. shredded dry stuff (leaves, twigs, )
   
5. moist grass and garden clippings on top (no weeds)
   

Tips

• add a few red worms
• add manure cow or chicken no carnivorous animal poo
  
• higher carbon (brown stuff) is good for growth
• higher nitrogen (green stuff) is higher nutrients good for flower and fruiting plants

3 months later..getting fullerkitty says- Yay! Compost!