posted March 20, 2007 11:19 PM         

Harpyr has a nice permaculture thread here -- the following is her first post and a link to the thread ~

Harpyr
Moderator
Posts: 1828
From: sleepy Rocky Mountain village
Registered: Dec 2002
posted May 13, 2003 02:38 AM
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Here's what I've been immersed in for the last two weeks. This is the closest I could come to a nutshell.

PERMACULTURE ETHICS

The Prime Directive of permaculture is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. This distinguishes permaculture from other forms of agriculture.

Our work as permaculturists is to prevent energy from leaving before basic needs of the whole system are satisfied. This involves care of the earth, care of people, distribution of surplus and setting limits of consumption and population.

Cooperation, not competition is the very basis of future survival and of existing life systems.

The problem is the solution. We are the problem, we are the solution. In permaculture the focus is on turning constraints into resources.

PRINCIPALS OF PERMACULTURE

Observation- Use protracted and thoughtful observation of natural systems rather than protracted and thoughtless labor.

RELATIONSHIP

Every element supports many functions.
Choosing each element that we include in a system and placing it so that it performs as many functions as possible. (e.g. A pond provides cooling, supports ducks, fish and aquatic plants, catches rainfall, which can be used later for irrigation (and the clay dug from the pond can be used for building.)

Relative Location - Recognize connections. Locate elements relationally. Maximize functional relationships among components. Components placed in a system are viewed relatively, not in isolation.

Every function is supported by many elements - Planned redundancy will ensure that all important functions will be met despite the failure of one or more elements.

Diversity - As sustainable systems mature they become increasingly diverse (in space and time). The number of elements is not as important as the functional relationships between them.

Local focus - "Think globally. Act locally." Grow your own food. Cooperate with neighbors.

Stocking - Finding the balance of various elemnts so the one element doesn't overpower others over time. How much of an element needs to be produced in order to fulfill the need of whole system? More isn't always better. (e.g. Over stocking of fish results in smaller harvest.)

Stacking - (Two uses for this term)
1. Multiple functions for single element "stacking functions"
2. Vertical stocking. Multi-tiered garden design.

Succession of evolution - Plant with recognition that certain elements prepare the way for the system to support other elements in the future. (e.g. Preparing the soil with cover crops. Work in the demension of time.)

RESOURCES

Resource - any energy source which assists yield. The work of the permaculture designer is to maximize useful energy storage in any system, be it the house, livelihood, urban or rural land, or garden.

Pollution is an unused resource - If resources are added beyond the capacity of the system to productively use them, the system becomes disordered and goes into chaos. Tidiness is maintained disorder.

System yield - the sum total of surplus energy produced by, stored, conserved, reused or converted by the design. Energy is in surplus once the system itself has available all of it's needs for growth, reproduction, and maintenance.

Biological resources - Living things reproduce and build up their availability over time, assisted by their interaction with other compatible elements. Use and preserve biological intelligence. (e.g. integrated pest management.) Including wildlife and non-domesticated organism as pest managers like bees, worm, ducks, spiders, frogs, etc.

Use onsite resources - Determine what resources are available and entering the system on their own and maximize their use. (e.g. keeping water on site, maximizing use of sun)

One calorie in/ One calorie out - Do not export more biomass than carbon fixed by solar budget. (e.g. Grow soil, compost material, fuel, learn life cycle of imported elements, sustainablility.)

Energy recycling - Yields from system are designed to supply for onsite needs and/or needs of local region.

Law of return - What ever we take, we must return. Every object must provide for its replacement. Maintain cycles.

DESIGN

The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited - The only limit on the number of uses of a resource possible is the limit of information and imagination of designer.

Work within nature - Aiding the natural cycles results in higher yield and less work. A little support goes a long way.

Edge effect - Optimize Edge. Edges or ecotones are areas where two ecosystems come together to form a third which has more diversity and fertility than either of the other two. (e.g. edges of ponds, forests, meadows, currents etc.)

Make Least Change for Greatest Effect - The less change that is created the less embedded energy is used to create system.

Planting strategy - 1st natives, 2nd proven exotics, 3rd unproved exotics. Carefully on small scale with lots of observation.

Small scale intensive systems - Start small and create a system that is manageable and produces high yield. When you start small, your "mistakes" or "learning curve" are small.

Relinquishing power - The role of the successful design is to create a self-managed system.

Appropriate technology - What is appropriate in one context may not be so in another. Permaculture principals apply for cooking, lighting, transport and heating, sewage treatment, water and other energy needs.

posted March 20, 2007 11:24 PM         

naiad
Knowflake
Posts: 640
From:
Registered: Sep 2006
posted March 06, 2007 11:42 PM
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while i think it erroneous to use environmental concerns to justify population reduction, i do believe that we should assess and evaluate our mindless over-consumption of resources. the oceans are unhealthy, marine life unhealthy, rainforest life in danger....people are ill from environmental pollution...list goes on.
simply for the sake of our quality of life, i believe we can find alternative forms of sustaining ourselves -- and comfortably so, without 'killing off' huge portions of the population. we have such advanced technology and knowledge...now is the time to put them to use, and there are those who are doing so, to find more eco-friendly ways of life. smashing our way back to the dark ages, and low population of the planet isn't necessary. we really do have the capacity to shift our way of thinking and gradually adapt to a more planet friendly mode of living.

here is an example (from a previous post) ~

Sweden aims for oil-free economy

Sweden has a head start on many countries in its use of renewables.

Sweden says it aims to completely wean itself off oil within 15 years - without building new nuclear plants.
The attempt is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, car manufacturers, farmers and others.

The country aims to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change damages economies and growing oil scarcity leads to price rises.

According to the Guardian newspaper, a Swedish minister said oil dependency could be broken by 2020.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is worried that oil supplies are peaking, shortly to dwindle, and that high oil prices could cause global economic recession.

"Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020," said Mona Sahlin, Sweden's minister of sustainable development.

"There shall always be better alternatives to oil, which means no house should need oil for heating, and no driver should need to turn solely to gasoline."

The Scandinavian country, which was hard hit by oil price rises in the 1970s, now gets the majority of its electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric power. In 2003, 26% of all energy consumed came from renewables, compared with an EU average of 6%.

The oil committee is to report to parliament in several months. Swedish energy ministry officials said they expected the panel to recommend further development of biofuels derived from its substantial forests.

It was also expected to expand other renewable energies such as wind and wave power.

posted March 20, 2007 11:27 PM         

Andrew Martin fills his truck with bio-fuel from his Romney Marsh farm
The garden of England could soon be helping to produce the fuel of the future following a pioneering project to produce diesel from oilseed rape.

Kent farmer Andrew Martin is working on a study to see if it would be possible to produce and sell the "green" fuel on his farm at Burmarsh on Romney Marsh.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said bio-diesel could be produced locally for about 85p per litre.

"It is feasible without modification to vehicles," said Mr Martin.

There are hundreds of farmers nationwide who are poised to produce green fuel

Andrew Martin

"It would be very easy to do, without a huge amount of infrastructure."

The NFU stepped up its campaign to get the UK's bio-fuels industry on the road by driving a tractor run on bio-diesel along Brighton seafront on Monday in front of the Labour Party Conference.

After Hurricane Katrina shut refineries in the US, diesel prices went up to more than 97p a litre.

The NFU believes price fluctuations would be unnecessary if non-food crops could be turned into environmentally friendly ways of powering vehicles.

Nature's fuel

It wants to government to source 5.75% of road transport fuel from renewable sources by 2010, in line with EU targets.

"There are hundreds of farmers nationwide who are poised to produce green fuel," said Mr Martin.

"In the last century, we provided oats from the main form of transport - the horse - and in the 21st century we can grow nature's fuel for our road vehicles."

Mr Martin's project is being funded with £20,000 from the South East England Development Agency (SSEDA).

"Worldwide there is something of a revolution in agriculture starting and producing fuel not from fossil fuels but from crops could have quite an extraordinary effect on climate change," said leader of Kent County Council, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.

posted March 20, 2007 11:28 PM         

It has long been known - and not only by environmental enthusiasts - that bioethanol made from, say, the grains otherwise used to make whisky is perfectly suited as an automotive fuel.

Ms Leggate wants bioethanol to become a mainstream fuel

"You drink the best and you drive the rest," quips Graham Hilton who works for Wessex Grain's bioethanol subsidiary Green Spirit Fuels.

Racing drivers have been using it for years, and many of them swear by it.

"It's best for the environment and it doesn't lack power," says British touring car racer Fiona Leggate, who races a biofuel-powered Vauxhall.

"I'd love to see it as a mainstream fuel."

The future of motoring

It is a vision shared by Somerset county councillor Paul Buchanan, who is involved in an ambitious biofuel experiment where local police will drive a fleet of 40 Ford Focus cars powered by as much as 85% bioethanol made from locally grown grains.

The Saab Biopower is more powerful than its petrol equivalent

When the BBC took a biofuel Focus around the Somerset countryside it felt no different from driving an ordinary model, though finding the fuel is pretty tricky.

But this might gradually change.

From March this year half a dozen supermarket forecourts - in Taunton, Bridgwater, Bristol and Shepton Mallett - are preparing to supply the E85 biofuel under the Somerset Biofuel Project, an initiative which is seeking the "sustainable distribution of a locally grown, environmentally friendly fuel", according to Mr Hilton.

While this type of project is just the start, Mr Buchanan expects they will be "driving the sustainability agenda".

Environmentally friendly

Bioethanol made from grain produces 65% fewer greenhouse gases than petrol, according to the UK government agency Central Science Laboratory.

There is the capacity to mobilise capital to build infrastructure to produce and distribute biofuels, and once you get the scale, the cost will come down

Graham Meeks
Climate Change Capital

This is largely because the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the production and consumption of ethanol is "almost equal to that removed from the atmosphere when crops for conversion are being grown", according to Saab Great Britain.

"One hectare of wheat produces about 29,000 miles of motoring, enough to take a car around the equator and still have 4,000 miles of fuel left," adds Green Spirit Fuels

"The oil companies and the big car companies will be driven down this road by the consumer," says Mr Buchanan.

Converted cars

To a limited extent, it is happening already.

Some supermarket forecourts already mix ordinary petrol or diesel with biofuels, so that 5% of what drivers put in their tanks is bioethanol made from plants or trees.

And the practice is set to pick up pace after the government announced its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation last autumn, which states that 5% of all motorcar fuel must come from renewable sources by 2010.

The way it has been positioned as a solution to UK motoring is naive

Biofuel industry official

Biofuel raises global dilemmas

But in order to move beyond this 5% target, cars must go through a relatively cheap conversion that essentially involves replacing rubber seals and aluminium parts with materials that are not eroded by the bioethanol, explains Andy Taylor, Ford Europe's director of corporate citizenship.

Both Ford and Saab have unveiled bioethanol-enabled models for the UK market, which can run on pure petrol, or any mixture of petrol and bioethanol up to 85%, if E85 is not available.

Saab says its E85-enabled 9-5 Biopower, which costs just £600 more than a standard 9-5, has the potential of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 70% while at the same time improving the car's power.

E85's higher octane rating adds 30bhp to the 150bhp turbocharged engine, and a 15% gain in fuel efficiency can be had at high speeds, said Kjell ac Bergstrom, chief executive, of Saab Automobile Powertrain.

"Turbocharged engines are particularly well suited to the benefits of ethanol," Mr Bergstrom says.

Potential profits

Such confident swagger is turning heads in the world of finance, according to Graham Meeks of Climate Change Capital, a specialist merchant bank.

Racing drivers have been using biofuels for years

"We're seeing an enormous amount of interest from investors in this sector," he says.

"The outlook is fairly positive," Mr Meeks insists - even though "there is some way to go in improving yields from crops", and despite bioethanol remaining a more expensive option than petrol due to "the cost of technology and the cost of feed stock".

In the near future, the biofuel industry can expect ever more support, both the government and from Brussels, as politicians look to both diversify fuel supply in order to improve fuel security, and to meet agreed reduction targets for carbon dioxide emissions, he predicts.

"There is the capacity to mobilise capital to build infrastructure to produce and distribute biofuels, and once you get the scale, the cost will come down," Mr Meeks says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4498934.stm

posted March 20, 2007 11:29 PM         

Hello.
You posted information on green or biodiesel fuels which is something I've always been curious about. I think it has a lot of potential.
Have you ever worried, though, that it, too, could lead to disaster? I mean, we're talking about a lot of production of vegetation for energy consumption. A whole lot. Do you think need and/or greed could cause governments/growers to fall on pesticides, chemical fertilizers, bio-engineering and heaven knows what else to meet that need? I worry that it will. This technology would do us as much harm as good if people aren't willing to do it organically. That's just my opinion but I wonder what others think.

posted March 20, 2007 11:30 PM         

yes, the production methods will be an issue. i think that there will be enough of an awareness and willingness to guide such efforts in the appropriate direction.

such as your own.

when i mentioned technology and knowledge, one area to which i was referring was the agricultural practice known as biodynamics. an anthroposophical concept that i'd think you'd appreciate. with knowledge, and application, such as this, we can do things in a viable, sustainable way.

i'll post a few examples from a previous thread.

posted March 20, 2007 11:34 PM         

What is Biodynamic agriculture? In seeking an answer let us pose the further question: Can the Earth heal itself, or has the waning of the Earths vitality gone too far for this? No matter where our land is located, if we are observant we will see sure signs of illness in trees, in our cultivated plants, in the water, even in the weather. Organic agriculture rightly wants to halt the devastation caused by humans; however, organic agriculture has no cure for the ailing Earth. From this the following question arises: What was the original source of vitality, and is it available now?

Biodynamics is a science of life-forces, a recognition of the basic principles at work in nature, and an approach to agriculture which takes these principles into account to bring about balance and healing. In a very real way, then, Biodynamics is an ongoing path of knowledge rather than an assemblage of methods and techniques.

Biodynamics is part of the work of Rudolf Steiner, known as anthroposophy - a new approach to science which integrates precise observation of natural phenomena, clear thinking, and knowledge of the spirit. It offers an account of the spiritual history of the Earth as a living being, and describes the evolution of the constitution of humanity and the kingdoms of nature. Some of the basic principles of Biodynamics are:

Broaden Our Perspective
Just as we need to look at the magnetic field of the whole earth to comprehend the compass, to understand plant life we must expand our view to include all that affects plant growth. No narrow microscopic view will suffice. Plants are utterly open to and formed by influences from the depths of the earth to the heights of the heavens. Therefore our considerations in agriculture must range more broadly than is generally assumed to be relevant...

Cosmic Rhythms
The light of the sun, moon, planets and stars reaches the plants in regular rhythms. Each contributes to the life, growth and form of the plant. By understanding the gesture and effect of each rhythm, we can time our ground preparation, sowing, cultivating and harvesting to the advantage of the crops we are raising. The Stella Natura calendar which is featured in this catalog offers an introduction to this new study.

Plant Life Is Intimately Bound Up with the Life of the Soil
Biodynamics recognizes that soil itself can be alive, and this vitality supports and affects the quality and health of the plants that grow in it. Therefore, one of Biodynamics fundamental efforts is to build up stable humus in our soil through composting.

A New View of Nutrition
We gain our physical strength from the process of breaking down the food we eat. The more vital our food, the more it stimulates our own activity. Thus, Biodynamic farmers and gardeners aim for quality, and not only quantity.

Chemical agriculture has developed short-cuts to quantity by adding soluble minerals to the soil. The plants take these up via water, thus by-passing their natural ability to seek from the soil what is needed for health, vitality and growth. The result is a deadened soil and artificially stimulated growth.

Biodynamics grows food with a strong connection to a healthy, living soil.

http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics.html

posted March 20, 2007 11:36 PM         

all of this seems a bit much to me...

how do aliens fly spaceships?

Mind Control?

it's all good Naiad..I'm just wondering
if this is the answer...

posted March 20, 2007 11:36 PM         

excerpt ~

quote:

---

clays, crystals, and the grand miscellany known as dusts of the soil, rated consideration long before hunting and gathering gave way to soil tillage. Gilgamesh endured because of his soil magic, and the Greek Dioscorides gave credit to the properties of clay for his extraordinary strength. Pliny the Elder devoted an entire chapter of National History to the subject. Michael Abhensera, in The Healing Clay, tells us that Russian soldiers received 200 grams of a special clay as rations, and the healing arts the world over rely on various mixtures -- Cutler's earth in France, for instance -- because "duplicating its properties through chemical or physical means is impossible." life plus life equals life. dead plus dead equals dead. mere chemistry cannot rebuild life. Indeed, there is a secret life in the enlivened dusts of the earth, and Rudolf Steiner made it his business to bring this reality into a modern context.

---

from The Enlivened Rock Powders ~

quote:

---

Steiner spoke and wrote: "the far planets, mars, jupiter and saturn, work upon the silica beneath the Earth's surface, assisting those influences from the sun which also work beneath the earth's surface. all that works below the earth's surface from mars, jupiter, saturn and the sun to influence the growth of plants works not directly, but in this way. it is first received by the earth and the earth then rays it upwards. thus, the influences that rise upward from the earthly soil for the growth of plants are in reality cosmic influences rayed back from the earth and working directly in the air and water over the earth. these relationships determine how the earthly soil, according to its constitution, works upon the growth of plants.

"modern man knows practically nothing of how the light behaves in the interior of the earth. he does not know that the silicous, that is, the cosmic stone or rock or sand received the light into the earth and makes it effective there.

"precisely with regard to this silicous principle, the earth gradually loses its power in the course of time. it loses it very slowly, therefore we do not notice it. nor must you forget that modern man seems unconcerned about the loss of silica. he thinks it insignificant for the growth of plants. in reality, it is of the greatest significance. we need the silica to attract and draw in the cosmic forces. now in the plant there must arise a clear interaction between the silica and the potassium, not the calcium. by the whole way in which we fertilize the soil, we must eliven it, so that the soil itself will aid in this relationship."

---

posted March 20, 2007 11:38 PM         

Ah, Steiner.

I've read up a bit on biodynamics but not nearly as much as I'd like. Do you happen to have a link available for the other thread?

Now I just need more time.

I do think more people are becoming aware/interested in doing the best they can regarding our soil, the health of plants and the Earth in general. I think incorporating more "natural" and "spiritual" ideas into the way we live our lives will make a big difference in what we can accomplish as a whole, without taking us back to the stone age.

posted March 20, 2007 11:39 PM         

Harpyr is a great source for this knowledge...she has some excellent stuff about it in Gaia's Garden...

(although she should tend to her moderator duties with much more frequency...as that raucous forum is so very out of control....hehe...

posted March 20, 2007 11:40 PM         

http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000534.html

nice thread on gardening ~

posted March 20, 2007 11:47 PM         

I'm not going to waste my time responding to the drivel that spews out of Ms. Coulter's mouth. So not worth it.

Just wanted to give a shout out to naiad.
Permaculture.. ecological gardening in general... really is the answer to so many of the humanity's ills.

posted March 20, 2007 11:49 PM         

******

Hello, Harpyr. I've seen you in and out around here but not much lately. I hope life is treating you kindly.

posted March 20, 2007 11:50 PM         

permaculture forest garden

posted March 20, 2007 11:58 PM         

Honestly, I'm not walking the talk nearly as much as I want to be when it comes to gardening.
But I'm workin on it! Last summer I only grew herbs.. it was my first real attempt to garden here in Alaska (besides helping my grandfather as a child)
The way he extended his growing season was to start seedlings in his basement under lights. Then when it started to warm up, he would roll them outside in a coldframe on wheels to toughen them up during the day and then wheel them into the garage at night. He also had a greenhouse. This year I was thinking of making raised beds for a veggie patch, since I've heard they thaw out faster in the spring.

posted March 20, 2007 11:59 PM         

re-build earth into the eden-heaven that it once was. choose life over death...choose love...choose respect and reverence for everything and everyone under the auspices of creation. a noble mission if there ever was one.

posted March 21, 2007 12:00 AM         

Cities cover only 2% of the earth’s surface, but consume 75% of it’s resources

What if ‘waste is food’ and safe sewage and garbage were prime inputs to food production and building?

What if the urban landscape were edible and contained comfortable, safe dwellings?

What if vacant wasteland in cities were productive and enhancing the environment for living?

What if urban areas were increasing biodiversity and aesthetic beauty rather than diminishing it?

More and more environmentally conscious individuals are contemplating leaving the city to migrate to the country. They are in search of natural surroundings and an escape from the problems that the cities produce such as noise, pollution, concrete, reduced green space, and rectilinear environments. If everyone decides to move out of the city, then an effect is vast suburbanization. This diluted concentration of people creates inefficient demand for land, water, transportation, markets/commerce. Vast open corridors of native flora and fauna, which ultimately contribute to our own well being, will be severed and isolated. These spaces need to be preserved for our own enjoyment and the survival of the other species that inhabit them.

What better way than to create a livable environment within the city. Cities are where the people work and where resources are being consumed so the time is now to create sustainable systems. Cities can make a lot of sense because they concentrate people and resources in one area and decrease the amount of roads, buildings, services that must be present in every community for humans to live. Within our cities, there is a wealth of wasted resources waiting to become the root of our new dwellings and food source.

Food Production/Edible Landscaping

Producing food for human consumption has mostly been relegated to mega corporations whose intent is not always focused on our physical and spiritual health. Individuals and groups in urban areas often feel disempowered to grow their own food. There are vasts and untapped resources (unique growing spaces, organic material) when developing an urban eco-food system. This has been clearly demonstrated, out of necessity, in the high, production city farming of Havana, Cuba. City farming is spreading fast (if not in the U.S., we’re behind the curve, we produce grass clippings). City farms contributed 15% to world food production in 1993 and will grow to 33% by 2005.

A persistent belief that growing food for oneself is difficult and time consuming has led many people away from being connected with their food source. With a creative and whole systems approach to growing food it is possible, with limited space and time, to feed ourselves to a greater degree. To save money and resources (energy) it is possible to grow steadily higher percentages of local food. To do so requires a adaptive approach to managing the foods we eat. Eating more according to the seasons and supplementing what you don’t grow with local producers will reduce dependency on unsustainable systems (foreign energy etc.)

Many edible plants have been relegated to non-food status due to the lack of being able to exploit them for monocultures.

“It is our belief that plants can provide people with the majority of their needs, in a way that cares for the planet's health. A wide range of plants can be grown to produce all our food needs and many other commodities, whilst also providing a diversity of habitats for our native flora and fauna.
There are over 20,000 species of edible plants in the world yet fewer than 20 species now provide 90% of our food. Large areas of land devoted to single crops increase dependence upon intervention of chemicals and intensive control methods with the added threat of chemical resistant insects and new diseases. The changing world climate greatly affecting cultivation indicates a greater diversity is needed.”

(– link to Plants for a Future)

Many concepts of mechanized farming have been brought along in the small scale food production arenas (gardens, etc.). Row cropping, tillage, monocultures, pesticides/herbicides (even organic ones) all are inherently difficult to maintain without vast inputs of energy, money and time. Each of these is part of the battle with nature that is unnecessary to produce food for yourself. A “battle” with weeds, watering problems, bug problems is simply misspent energy. Working with nature (Permaculture) to create a more harmonious, whole systems garden that takes advantage of the vast biological resources that nature provides. Indeed any system in battle with nature is doomed to quick failure without maintaining the vast amounts unsustainable inputs.

(link to No Work Garden class)

Natural Building

Modern buildings are composed mainly of dimensional old growth lumber, energy intensive concrete, and poisonous composites such as flooring, cabinets, insulation, carpeting, and furniture. In addition to their unsustainable production, they are often shipped halfway across the country or the world to get to their final destination.

Many people have the urge to build their own dream home from the ground up. There is an overwhelming existing infrastructure of usable buildings that already exist. In order to build new, many existing materials find their home in landfills. It makes sense to utilize these materials, such as existing buildings, foundations, structural support, or roofing structures. By blending existing structures with natural materials and urban waste, a post- industrial era can begin.

In or nearby most cities throughout the world are the natural materials of clay, sand, fiber, wood, and stone. The use of these materials helps to moderate fluctuations of humidity, sound pollution, air pollution

These materials can be used together to create structural support, insulation, and aesthetic qualities. These materials require and little energy to harvest

Michael Smith in The Case For Natural Building states accurately:

Of course, it’s impossible to build a house with no environmental impact, but it is our responsibility to minimize and localize the damage. Digging a hole in your yard for clay to make a cob house may look ugly at first, but it is a lot less ugly than strip mines, giant factories, and super highways. Nature has enormous capacity to heal small wounds…Many of us religiously protect the trees on our own property, then go to the lumberyard to purchase the products of wholesale clear cutting…Keeping our environmental footprint under our noses helps ensure that we will minimize our impact and protect the health of our local ecosystems, since we see them from our windows and walk through them everyday. Building with natural, local materials, also reduces our dependence on the polluting and energy intensive manufacturing and transport industries.
In nature, waste is food. Something is waste only because another use has not been determined. By closing the loop on existing energy systems, waste products of one system become the inputs to another. A true economy can then be achieved because the waste has been eliminated. Continual inefficiency and loss of input energy is destined for failure. The only way to create a sustainable human impact is to mirror processes already occurring in nature.
Fortunately there are alternative building techniques that utilize non-toxic urban waste products in conjunction with natural materials (such as sand, clay, straw, wood, and stone) to create healthy, inexpensive, energy efficient, sustainable dwellings.

Conventional stick frame homes create hundreds and thousands of short foot long pieces of kiln dried dimensional lumber that find their way into landfills. Outta The Box has created a building system that utilizes this former waste material. (See Urban Insulated Cob page)

This is only one example on how to creatively use an urban waste product. Waste management is now viewed as a problem to the modern city, when it may actually be part of the solution. This is an area that has been relatively unexplored. There is a wealth of untapped resources, often free, waiting to be used.

posted March 21, 2007 12:02 AM         

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

You are looking at pictures of our family home in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour).

The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.

Some key points of the design and construction:

* Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
* Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
* Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
* Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
* Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
* Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
* Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
* Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
* Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
* Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
* Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
* Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
* Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
* Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
* Water by gravity from nearby spring
* Compost toilet
* Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.

posted March 21, 2007 12:04 AM         

What a wonderful string this has become!

posted March 21, 2007 12:05 AM         

I'm a more desire than talent gardener kinda gal too. There's such a big learning curve to it, if you haven't had anyone to show you how to do it.

Love,
GG

posted March 21, 2007 12:06 AM         

Naiad, the picture you posted was also sooo beautiful. Thank you for the posts. Good stuff I don't know when it happened but you've become one of my very favorite people here.

posted March 21, 2007 12:07 AM         

yes yes...delightful string.

GoatGirl ~ i am entranced with your cottage! thank you so so much for sharing all of that here. quite impressive!

i love the entire permaculture concept. thanks to Harpyr for opening my eyes to that.

posted March 21, 2007 12:11 AM         

They look pretty content don't they? I love the permaculture concept too. Working with nature makes a great deal more sense than attempting to work against it.

Yards with grass are a nice concept if you have a flock of sheep to graze on them. We stopped mowing our lawn about 4 years ago, and we've had such nice flowers start in the yard voluntarily. We also had a red raspberry drop in

I've done some sneak plantings of veggies too, and we always have greens about in the yard, and they're usually the first things to come up in the spring. A nice way to go out and suppliment your meal.