RE: Beyond Biotecture. The Evolution of Earthships (EcoKnowme)
Nice, very nice! Upvoted and resteemed. I've been meaning to post about some earthship-INSPIRED homes as well (still planing, but wanna share yours first). Those ones can be anything from crap to amazing, but there is always an idea that was, at least in the beginning, an intended improvement of the official Earthships.
The overuse of concrete was also my first gripe about them, but it all depends what resources you have on hand. Irrigating your surroundings with your greywater is a great idea, IF you produce enough of it. The one I wrote about combines grey and blackwater, runs it through a worm-bin first, filters it, then spreads it out. The location was New Zealand with more than ample rain. In the desert even more water would be needed, so I don't think an indoor greywater planter is a bad idea. Once again, depends on the conditions of the site. Methane digesters, however, are super awesome (though the word mandatory tends to rub me the wrong way)! Those ones I could even imagine even in a high-rise apartment building.
I like toast 🍞
I haz toast
We did?
Agreed, Mandatory is a pretty strong word considering that some people might not be into cooking, could use solar ovens, concentration cookers, rocket stoves, lorenas or just a really efficient conduction stove. Who is to say you might not be Raw Vegan and just need lots of garden space for greens and sprouts???? I guess I was trying to be provocative and point out the recurrent theme you see in Earthship house tours, where everything is amazing but we should all be super excited that their LPG tank only needs filling ONCE a year. Frack that. I also just really love those resources and thought it could come in handy for anyone planning or perhaps halfway into a build. most people cook with gas, it's surprisingly easy to include, why not just make it part of the basic package? Your thoughts on Greywater are really important. I mentioned to someone here that I think my ideal would be more of an integrated grey water botanical cell with an entire space dedicated to a living machine that could enable the same water to be recycled indefinitely. You would only need to recharge the water that is lost in food and evaporation through rain water. The second Biogas video is particularly cool since it could indeed be used in a High rise apartment, or a basement, regardless of your climate since it can be temperature controlled. Sayin' a biogas digester is mandatory is about as bad as insisting on a rocket stove or a cob oven for all Adobe houses. hopefully inspiring flight instead of ruffling feathers, but I do appreciate the observation. Will try to lay out a menu instead of insisting on the Special. Thanks @stortebeker !
Well, I just had to jump on "mandatory" as it is one of those button-pushing words for me. I mean, even the most basic things, like respecting your fellow beings should not be mandatory. If some can't do it voluntarily, that's a problem an obligation won't fix. But since we seem to be coming from the same corner anyway, and having discussed this sufficiently, we can now throw around words like 'obligation' without creating misunderstanding among each other. :-)
I once visited a place in Northern New Mexico, also earthship inspired, with a similar setup as the one I saw in New Zealand. The guy said he didn't like semi-flush toilets for precisely that reason: that they only provide half the water for his trees. In that case he would have to water them additionally with a hose. Also, your idea of the continuous irrigation is great for using less water. Still, I would combine it with something like a worm-box, to supply the plants with nutrients too. (Recently Earthships started doing something like that in their Simple-Survival models.) So many nutrients tend to go through our kitchens, it would be ideal to hook it up with our planter.
Did you see my direct message on Slack?
Oop, will check now. Regarding the worm and waste water, the last video might be similar to what you are talking about. I guess it is pretty complicated, and specific to site, climate and circumstances. Kindof like Aquaponics. On the one hand, great way to reduce water use, but also not without problems. The simplest are usually the best. There is a Fig tree that is 3-4x the size of another one twice it's age,l.... thanks to a tiny grey water tube. Just unbelievable the difference made with that tiny trickle. Ok, see you over there!
I just sent this post to Curie, let's see what happens. Btw, my article for the world-problem-challenge is gonna have to wait another day. It's done, but I don't like it enough to declare it as done.
I know the feeling. But it is good to get in the habit of prosuming, I guess :) Thanks so much for the submission to #curie ! We'll see if it meet the code. Look forward to sitting down with a cup of tea and your words. Cheers!