Garbage Warrior

[KontanKarite]

If you can find it, watch it. It's very insightful. It's about an architect that builds houses out of garbage. It's quite brilliant actually. All the materials he uses for building is 100 percent recycled and reused. Not only that, but get this; his houses are self sustaining in heating/cooling, water, and sewage. Slap a windmill on top of it and you have electricity as well.

He created cheap housing with almost no utility bills to be paid. They also come with attached greenhouses that you can harvest your own private stash of vegetables, so you also take a cut on food bills.

The dude's a fucking genius and every house he's built doesn't even look like the garbage he used. They actually look very badass and quite surreal in shape and structure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYJ0dsd-x0

[KontanKarite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jdIm7grCY&NR=1

Another piece about Garbage Warrior and such.

[emeraldlonewoulf]

I took a look at those this morning. I can't wait until I can afford a piece of land so I can put so much of what I have been researching into effect! Every time something like this comes up, there are a couple more details to learn.

You are right, the guy is a genius, and he's got guts, too.

I just look forward to the day I can stand back and look at my own house I've built with my own two hands, and know that while maintenance will be important, I'll never have to pay another electric, gas, or water bill. Basic needs will be covered.

I think one of the reasons I get so excited about things like this is that they can be accomplished so much more cheaply than conventional construction. I don't want to wait for ten years to start paying on a house I'll still be paying on in 30 years, especially when I can build a home that can be nicer, sooner, and have it paid for, and not be hemmed in by a thousand other houses. Another advantage is that you can't bust through the walls with a single sledge hammer blow, like so many of the new houses that have sprouted up in the last few years.

Hmmm, shall I pick a wall consisting of layers of paint, stucco, chicken wire, styrofoam, insulation, drywall, and more paint, or three feet of solid earth? Which sounds more secure, never mind the advantages of thermal charging. Which sounds like it will stand up better to wind, storms, earthquakes, etc?

[KontanKarite]

Oh yes, I do so SERIOUSLY plan on doing this when I'm about 30 or 40.

These houses provide food all year round, ever utility you could imagine is free and self sustaining. What would you really need from anyone else? Medical attention? That's really about it. Imagine having every single one of your needs taken care of without having to work for it. It's called freedom.

To think, the only reason you ever even bother to work when living in a house like this is to pay for your very very small mortgage, property tax, and whatever you think you WANT instead of need.

[emeraldlonewoulf]

It is about a completely different perspective, one that many people simply can't grasp. To me, it is something that comes naturally. I see the logic behind it immediately. For many people though, the basic tenets of a lifestyle like that are completely foreign. They have to get over the "weirdness" factor before they can see the benefits.

I love to see how different people combine the different types of technology, new ideas and old. It is this kind of project that gives me hope for the human race.

[Raptor]

Originally Posted by emeraldlonewoulf

For many people though, the basic tenets of a lifestyle like that are completely foreign. They have to get over the "weirdness" factor before they can see the benefits.

I found it slightly hard to get past the weirdness, it is so very different. But I'm starting to think I could enjoy living like that.

I'd be interested to know how well these work in other places... like here (England). I don't think you'd get that much electricity from solar panels, but I guess it would still save on heating.

[KontanKarite]

Windmills. Windmills in England. There's more than one way to create self sufficient energy. In fact, it'd behoove you to have BOTH solar and wind generating energy to ensure that your batteries are always charged to the max.

Set up some satellite internet and you're damn good to go.

[killer_asian_Dax]

That is absolutely amazing. The part I'd have to get over is being so far out from the city. Being born and raised in a somewhat densely populated city, even when I move around, I always find myself moving to other densely populated areas.

The buildings themselved don't even look bad. They look perfectly suited to Arizona land. Maybe even parts of southern California.

Great find Kontan! Thanks!

[KontanKarite]

Oh they look good anywhere.

They also have them in India and parts of Mexico.

The island of India that they're on is more temperate as well. LOTS of rainfall and such.

[Raptor]

They do look pretty good, theres certainly much worse looking housing in cities.

I've always been quite skeptical of alternative power thanks to a physics teacher I used to have. He used to spend a lot of time explaining why things wouldn't work. Like a wind turbine that a hardware/DIY company was selling for personal use here, might have been Currys or similar. Anyway he was against them because if you checked the specs, they had a minimum and maximum tolerance for wind speed. Then he got some weather pattern data and worked out that you weren't likely to get enough use out of them to repay the money you invested in buying it and having it installed, if you used the lifetime that was given for that turbine. I imagine that even if he was right at the time, theres probably been improvements on that sort of technology.
And thats dependant on location again, some areas would probably be fine. I'm pretty sure I watched something on TV about people using solar energy to heat water more succesfully than electricity production here. A reduction in bills would be nice even if they aren't completely eliminated.