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Matt reports about how residents just like you choose environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in Ohio’s Butler and Warren counties for The Pulse-Journal newspaper. He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment here or e-mail Matt.

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Home > Blogs > Living Green > Archives > 2008 > April > 23 > Entry

For E-week, tour an earthship

By Matt Cunningham | Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 02:50 PM

Well, folks, I have a treat today. Consider it a late Earth Day surprise.

reader from Taos, New Mexico, e-mailed me pictures and a description of his earthship. In short, it’s a 100 percent off-grid home that’s built out of recycled materials.

There’s a link here that has a description of the earthship concept in general, and this link will take you to a Taos real estate agent’s page, which has lots of pictures from his earthship listings.

The home uses solar power, a very viable option in desert climates, for electricity, and the structure takes advantage of passive solar energy to help control temperature. The homeowner said he has a small wood stove to supplement the natural system, and that it only used 3/4 a cord of wood to get through a winter with -20 temperatures.

What I especially like are the several indoor gardens and the water system, which our generous reader describes below:

“The “WOM” is the Water Organization Management system. The rain/snow is collected in a large cistern from run-off of the roofs. It then goes through a series of filters which allows it to be used for general use and further filtered for drinking water. Waste water from the kitchen sink can be diverted to the septic tank or to the veggie/herb garden. The clothes washer upstairs can do the same. The Bathroom sink and shower drains into a grey water tank, which gets multiple filtration before going into the toilet tank for flushing water, then to the septic.”

Apparently there’s at least one earthship in southeast Ohio. I’ll do some digging, and see if I can’t swing a little road trip to check out this alternative take on homebuilding.

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