A Voyage On Earthship

Out in New Mexico recently to see a sublime performance of La Traviata by the Santa Fe Opera, I also spent a few nights at the incredible Earthship community.

The Earthship houses are in a remote part of desert outside of Taos, over the dramatic Rio Grande gorge. They are a remarkable example of how homes can be made to deal with extreme outside temperature differences. They are off the water and power grids, and demonstrate remarkably well how it’s possible to live within our means. They are autonomous, sustainable, and cheap to build.

Everything possible is made from recycled and reclaimed materials, with a wide use of adobe wall techniques mirroring the nearby Taos Pueblo, which has lasted over a thousand years. The south side of the buildings heat and cool using convention glass and louvers, surrounding a beautiful greenhouse area for growing food. The north side of the buildings are ramped earth, keeping the houses insulated, passively heating and cooling, absorbing during the day and radiating at night. Pipes run through the earth side and they can be opened to allow air flow. In my three days and nights there I didn’t have to adjust anything, and yet the house stayed a perfect temperature day and night.

Freed from the usual constraints of architecture, the walls curve and twist in ways that remind me of dragons and lizards. They are often embedded with glass bottles, allowing sunlight to come in diffused in beautiful greens, blues, yellows, and turquoise. They are artworks as much as homes. It’s calming.

Solar panels on the earth roof provide all the needed power, and some of the homes use wind power too. The roof catches rainfall, and the water is used with remarkable efficiency. It’s recycled four times, including kitchen and shower, filtered each time, before finally ending up being used to grow food. It’s a beautiful reminder of how precious our planet’s resources are. Yet being mindful did not mean I had to be over-thrifty. I could write on my laptop, and watch television if I wanted. But that would have been a waste of time with the dramatic, ever-present desert views. It was lovely to hear the rain on the roof. To look through the greenhouse plants and watch the desert light up in low golden light around sunset.

There’s so much I already do in my own home that is similar. Water from the house ends up in my drought-tolerant desert garden. Everything that can be recycled or composted is. My amount of trash is so small, I have not wheeled a trashcan out to the street in years.

But you might not want to do all that. Much of my work is trying to nudge the needle in that direction for people who want to give it a try. But if not, I find it hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this peaceful, relaxing oasis of calm in the middle of some of America’s most beautiful landscape.

If you wish, you can learn more about Earthship Bioarchitecture at their website. You can watch this sixty-second documentary. Or if you are in the Taos area, drop in at their visitor center and tour a house. If that’s too far away for you, communities are popping up all over the planet. Thank goodness.

But let’s face it, most of us are not going to do something that dramatic. Instead, we can make subtle, positive changes to how we live in our current homes. It’s fun – believe me.