This website is a diary and information resource for earthships (completely sustainable home).
I am currently building an earthship in Kodaikanal India. An earthship is unique in part because it is made from earth rammed car tyre walls. The word Earthship was coined by Architect Michael Reynolds (USA), who was the creator of the Earthship concept some 20 years ago. I have been involved with Earthships since 2002. Earthship Brighton was the first project I was involved with, and was an award winning first for the UK. I have also spent some time training with Michael Reynolds and his team in Taos, New Mexico, USA. I am documenting this build as a personal diary as well as a useful resource for others who are doing a similar thing. I am building an authentic Earthship with all of the systems and components that allow sustainable living, off grid with all the comforts of a modern home.
This approach is well suited to different sectors of new housing. Whilst Earthships can lend themselves to self builds for poor communities, and to cheap self builds, it can also be adapted to luxurious living; and yet still being carbon balanced in the truest sense of the word. Going green doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your creature comforts if you don’t want to. It simply means, in this case, working in harmony with the planet, and local resources; and as a result yourself.
My personal wish is to live as self sufficiently as I can and with as low ongoing expenses as possible. This includes utility buils as well as rent/mortgage etc. I feel that if I can basically live happily for free, then I can choose what I want to do with my life. That to me is powerful. Also we have the potential of climate change. Being self sufficient in terms of power, water and food means that when the grid goes down, I'll barely notice. There are SO many reasons to do this. My ultimate dream is to make communities. Right now I'm doing what I can to encourage and help others. There is so much desire, and so little action. It had hard to self build. This website will eventually become a great resource for people who want to build and connect. Right now you can look at many pictures month by month as we build. There will be much more detail coming in the future.
Earthship Karuna is designed as a 39 foot roundhouse with tall walls and roof. It has a part second floor mezzanine which will be the sleeping area. The building is not bermed with soil since we are in a sub-tropical climate.
The roof will be insulated with natural materials sourced locally, probably coconut hair. There will be extensive grey water treatment food producing planters within the building. Power will be derived primarily from a combination of solar power and hydroelectric power, with a generator as backup. I am building it in an organic farm/guest house that has existed in the mountains of Tamil Nadu since 15 years. The past three years has seen the development of the community side of the farm. Currently there are three new builds happening, with this being the first and only true Earthship in India.
The site was leveled between May -November 2008 and tyre ramming began in Early January 2009.
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