The Magazine For Those Of Us Who Won't Just Lay Down And Die!

With ingenuity, with preparation, with creativity, with determination, with inventiveness, and with faith, we will overcome!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Another Earthship-type Design, Only Easier!

This morning I listened to an episode of the Survival Podcast, hosted by Jack Spirko (pronounced "Spearko", like a spear, or lance).  The Survival Podcast is, for me, a great way to spend some free time, or even while I'm working, if I've got a good set of headphones for my smartphone.  This episode was no exception to that rule!

The theme of the podcast was Earthship houses, but the guest was NOT the fairly world-famous architect and inventor of the Earthship building, Michael Reynolds.  This podcast was an interview with Biotechture CEO Mark Kirkwood.  Originally from Oregon, Mark lives somewhere in Texas now, heading up Biotechture Training, a cooperative non-profit organization.  Biotechture Training is dedicated to building community, as opposed to secluding oneself from society as a whole.  Additionally, Biotechture Training is focused on providing training for a means of enabling normal people to be free of the grid, free of dependence upon the "System", and to live decent lives in a happy way.  Ah, happiness!  That's a good thing, indeed!

Here's a link to their website - Biotechture Training.


Having perused their website, I found that the prices for their upcoming training sessions are VERY reasonable.  For instance, the upcoming Sustainability training course, a two-day event, costs just $100, a very reasonable amount.  That class will occur on February 23 & 24, 2013, near Austin, Texas.

Another upcoming class, a two-week aquaponics course, to be held outside of Dallas, Texas, costs just $350, or $250 for one week.  Good deals, I'd say.

A third course that will be happening from September 16 through October 25, 2013, an Earthship build course, involving the actual construction of a complete house, will set you back just $1200.

All these classes require you to camp out, whereby you provide yourself a tent, sleeping gear, cooking implements, etc.  You are REQUIRED to rough it, which adds to the experience for sure.  In the end, that newly created house will look like the Garden of Eden to your weary body!  Ha, ha!

The point is, you don't have to live in houses that are made of inferior, potentially hazardous materials, that cost you more than most of us earn in three to six years.  $20,000 - 30,000 will get you an excellent house using this newer method of Earthship construction.  That, my friends, is a deal worth looking into.

Ciao,

Panchito

4 comments:

  1. That had to be one of the best interviews Jack has done in a while. I really resonated with Mark's message both on permaculture/aquaponics, his shelters & the state of the USA. Does anyone know how many of Mark's designs have been built? I'd love to see one here in the Southeastern USA. Also, learned more about Rocket Mass Heaters. I especially like the idea of combining the recycled materials with Monolithic Dome & Earth bermed for cooling/heating properties

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Hamp, thanks for the comment. Yeah that was a great interview. I've been checking into lots of videos and articles about all this stuff - permaculture, aquaponics, Rocket Mass heaters, etc., expecting to actually NEED them in the near future. I feel like I'm the only person in my little, opulent village that is even aware of any of this stuff. I, however, have undoubtedly had a much different life than anyone else here. No one else I know of here has lived in a communal setup, but for myself. I also spent about 5 years living in a tent, traveling all over the Western US, always in the middle of nowhere. That tends to give one an unusual outlook on life, I guess.

      I really appreciate your participation in this discussion and invite your continued input! Thanks!

      Ciao,

      Panchito

      Delete