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Born in Taos, New Mexico, the so-called Earthship homes and communities are spreading across the U.S. An Earthship is a kind of passive solar home—or community of homes—typically made of natural and recycled materials such as old tires and recycled cans. Such homes make use of non-polluting renewable energy sources and smart design to meet most if not all heating, cooling and power needs. The term Earthship, coined by self-proclaimed “biotect” Mike Reynolds, is derived from the homes being in and of the Earth—that is, constructed responsibly out of earthen materials and built into the ground. It also refers to living in a ship, which requires inhabitants to be autonomous from outside help (such as a power grid).

The concept has spread well beyond from its roots in the desert surrounding Taos, New Mexico. Besides being the headquarters for Reynolds’ Earthship Biotecture business, the Taos area is also home to several Earthship communities which generate their own power without contributing to the atmosphere's growing carbon load and make use of local recycled materials to minimize resource use

Construction materials in Earthship homes vary according to what particular recycled items are plentiful and useful in a given locale. The New Mexico versions usually consist of exterior walls made from earth-filled tires stacked like bricks and covered in stucco or adobe. These thick outer walls employ “thermal mass construction” to naturally regulate indoor temperatures. Wintertime heating is provided primarily by the Earthship’s layout and orientation, with windows on the sunny sides of the building letting in light and heat. A properly constructed Earthship can maintain a comfortable indoor air temperature with plentiful natural ventilation all year-round with little or no help from power-hungry heating or cooling equipment.

According to the website Greenhomebuilding.com, some other common features in Earthship homes include: curving interior walls fleshed out with recycled cans mortared together with concrete; rooftop water catchment; reuse of so-called gray water for landscaping irrigation and plumbing; composting toilets; and other cutting-edge eco-friendly techniques and technologies

Earthship Biotecture makes available via its website several books and videos outlining different perspectives on the Earthship concept, as well as practical information on how to build one of your own. The website also provides a wealth of information on existing Earthships and helps those interested in the concept connect with one another via a global network of builders and enthusiasts. It is also a great place to find an existing Earthship home for sale or rent. The firm also offers internships with Michael Reynolds and other leading practitioners in the emerging discipline

Earthships can be found in most U.S. states today, though New Mexico is the leader, followed closely by Colorado. Several have sprung up in England and France as well as in South Africa, among other countries. And with more and more governments tightening up their building codes to require increased energy efficiency and smarter use of resources, Earthships are bound to become even more popular.

Doug Moss, editor http://www.emagazine.com/earthtalk
Source: Earthship Biotecture 2010-01-09
Scientists announced the collapse last week of a huge Antarctic ice chunk the size of Manhattan, writes Set Borenstein for the Associated Press. Satellite images had shown the disintegration of a 160-mile chunk of ice starting around February 28, with the collapse now putting an even greater area at risk.

“This is the result of global warming,” said scientist David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey team. An actual runaway situation like this is “an event we don’t get to see very often,” said Ted Scmbos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland over the years, “collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades,” Vaughan said.

This particular area in western Antarctica, known as the Wilkins ice shelf, is about the size of Connecticut, writes Borenstein. Scientists had predicted a collapse about 15 years from now. The 4 percent of the shelf that gave way recently could trigger further collapse, although there is a chance it will survive until next year as this is the end of the Antarctic summer, noted Vaughan.

These occurrences are “more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system,” said Sarah Das of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Yet, while these parts of the ice shelf will not re-form, Das said, (“once they’re gone, they’re gone”), the climate in Antarctica is complicated and somewhat isolated from the rest of the world.

Therefore, while this is one of many wake-up calls, it is not a doomsday marker but instead should keep our focus on the many helpful proposals put forward to protect the planet.
Source: NHNE Wavemaker News List 2008-04-03
A classic NASA study has shown that common houseplants “clean the air” among other multiple environmental benefits, writes Barbara L. Minton, in her Natural News article. The NASA study supported numerous other research results showing that houseplants remove pollutants, specifically 87 percent of airborne toxins, within 24 hours.

Indoor environments can be up to ten times more polluted than outdoors, writes Minton, considering the presence of chemical emissions from building materials, glues and dyes, and household and personal care products. The Plants for Clean Air Council recommends one potted plant for each 100 square feet of living space, she reports. Specific plants which remove toxic emissions include ficus, philodendron, green spider plant, dracaena marginata, Chinese evergreen, the snake plant and the peace lilly.

According to a study at the University of Agriculture in Norway, plants also can increase humidity, thus altering dry air which contributes to coughs and sore throats. “Interior plants actually stabilize the humidity in your house by releasing moisture according to the existing levels of humidity in the air,” Minton says. Plants also suffer if the air is too dry, displaying brown leaves which is a sign that you may need a humidifier, she says.

Most people don’t realize that plants even alter the acoustic environment in an acoustically “live” room. At the South Bank University in London, “the sound absorption coeffiecients of a number of plant species were measured and compared with other building materials,” Minton reports. The study showed that plants in general were more efficient at absorbing high frequencies than low frequencies – significant because high frequencies are more irritating to humans than low frequencies.

Most people depend on plants to simply make a home or workplace more attractive. Minton reports that many studies have shown that plants contribute to a decrease in stress level, increase in creativity, and even increase shopping rates in malls and occupancy in hotels. She attributes these positive effects to cleaner air and “living energy flow.”

Barbara Minton is a school psychologist, author, breast cancer survivor using alternative treatments and a student of nature.
Source: NaturalNews.com 2008-03-20
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