Learn How to Build an Eco-Friendly Home with this New Mexico-based Company
Passionate about the environment or dreamed of owning a self-sustainable home? You might want to consider Earthship Biotecture. This company, based in Taos, teaches you how to build a home that is both self-sustaining and eco-friendly. Think recycled bottles and no electricity bills with this type of home. Although there are many components to living an off-the-grid life, you may find that you don’t have to give up all of the luxuries you’ve come to know and love. In fact, you may even find that your life may have the same comforts as a traditional home, but with the peace of mind an environmentally-friendly home provides.
Founded by Michael Reynolds, Earthship Biotecture is the result of an architecture background and Michael’s desire to preserve the environment by reusing materials we commonly deem as trash for a practical purpose. Known as the “Garbage Warrior,” Michael turns recyclable materials such as tires, glass bottles, plastic, cans, and much more into essential building parts and beautiful works of art. Take a look at some of the homes the eco-friendly company builds, and you’ll be surprised that they’re made of, well, trash.
Having gained recognition all over the world, homes following this concept can be found all over New Mexico, across the United States, and in countries such as Portugal, Argentina, and France. Key concepts behind the company are based on what humans truly need to survive. According to Earthship, we need six ingredients for life in a renewable home:
- Building with natural and recycled materials
- Thermal/solar heating and cooling
- Solar and wind electricity
- Water harvesting
- Contained sewage treatment
- Food production
It’s no secret that many of us live in excess, and while there’s no problem with that, there’s a limit to how long Earth can sustain these types of lifestyles. With the realization that our excessive amounts of trash are causing great harm to our planet, it’s no wonder people have been seeking alternative ways of living. Earthship Biotecture offers schools, internships, and conferences in order to teach people how to build their own sustainable home. You can attend Earthship Academy at the Earthship headquarters in Taos, where you’ll spend four weeks learning design principles and techniques, go on tours, and work hands-on in construction alongside your instructors.
Want to see more? Take a tour inside one of Earthship Biotecture’s most modern homes, and discover a new way of living.
