Did you know you can build a houseout of recycled materials like car tires, glass bottles, and aluminum cans? Didyou know they already have? They been doing this since the 1970s, but somehowthey aren’t talk about a lot. Well Earthships are the future. Just think… youchildren might live in one. That is pretty awesome. They are so beneficial andsave you money. Become one with nature and invest in an earthship. The futureis near; do something about it.
Imagine yourself building a treehouse or a sand castle. Now imagine building one on a larger scale, but withrecyclables. Using tires, you build a foundation. Then using the surroundingareas, you build almost a fort-like hole that helps support the earthship. (Picture on the left) After building the foundation, you use special clay that helps maintain a coolatmosphere inside the house. You may use recycled bottles and cans for part ofthe walls so they light up the room. These bottles act as windows. Otherwindows also help regulate temperature in the household. Gardens are plantedthroughout the house to provide fresh fruits and vegetables year-round.
Now that you have built thestructure, you can install standard appliances and move in other personalitems. Then you can install solar panels for electricity. This helps power everything in the house.Then you install a special water system that takes rain water and purifies itand make it drinkable and can be used to water the plants. And that’s how youbuild an earthship.
Earthships are just a modified home with morebenefits. The cost of these environmentally friendly homes cost just about thesame as a regular, maybe a little less. Many are sold in packages specified towhat model you want from the basic model “global” to the deluxe package. You donot have to restrict yourself to these packages though. You can customize andbuild your own. So cost could range from as low as $50,000 to several millionsdepending on how elaborate you go. It is your choice.
The Construction of these Earthshipsvaries in time. It all depends on how many people are working on it and how bigyou build it. It could take a couple months to complete. It could take longerif you build it larger and more elaborate than the average size. It may take ayear to build also if you are in a very poor area or an area with not a lot ofresources. Either way, they are still cool and worth it in the end.
Earthships can be made for any climate andenvironment. In Maryland, we could build earthships in cities and on the coastline. We could build ones on hills to get the most sunlight. If we build themin cities, the problem would be if we build them behind tall buildings. Theywould block the sunlight that would help provide the plants and electricity. Italso would block the rain needed for plumbing and drinking and the plants. Theplus side is if we build them in cities; they use recycled products which savesresources like wood and helps decrease size of landfills. The ones on thecoastal areas would be perfect.
These earthships could be funded bythe government as an outreach project for the environment and they could usethe electricity and water draw in by the earthships to supply the whole city.This will be great to cut back on water usage and helps recycle water andprovide more purified water for all. Earthships can help cities and willpromote a healthier way of conserving and usage of things.
The pros of earthships are they areself-sustainable. They pretty much pay for themselves and provide food andwater and electricity all year round. They are easy to construct; they havevery simple plans anyone can build one, even a caveman! It uses recyclablesthat help save the environment. Uses natural light and they are prettyspectacular and beautiful on the inside and out. They are a must have.
The cons of an earthship are thatthey cost about the same as a small home. The water pumps that take the rainwater in are very loud and annoying. The roofs can leak if it rains a lot andhard. The financing for these homes are very hard to find because most banksthink they are a lost if you cannot pay it off. They don’t think they willprofit off of it. It is also hard to resell an earthship. Even with these consit is still a good buy and all the problems will solve themselves out in thelong run.
Earthships are the future and they can do so much to help all of us. They can save this dying world by using what we don’t use andmaking something so beautiful and beneficial. Whoever thought trash could makeyou a beneficial home for you and your family to live in. Just let all of this marinatesand you decide the future of you and your children and your children’s children. Earthships, your step closer to green.
