Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Talking about a revolution

Let's start with the basics.

1. I want a cob house. Why? Its inexpensive, incredibly resilient, friendly toward the Earth (its made out of it!) it looks good, and it helps with heating (stays cool in summer and warm in winter). 


2. I want upcycled doors, windows, and furniture. That ought to give it character and reduce (even a trivial amount) some waste about to go into a landfill. 


3. I want an excellent outdoor organic garden. I want to produce my own food, and then eat most of it. This could have a whole post of its own, so I'll save all that stuff later, but this is important to understand for the next step of what I want. 


4. So what to do with what I don't eat?  I want compost heated water for showers and baths. I think we can consider it reasonable that here on my future property all earthly materials will be composted. So there are two really important things to think about with compost. The first is that it produces a crazy amount of heat due to all the decomposition it goes through when breaking down the things we put in it. The second is that this heat can be used to produce something useful, like hot water for my showers and luxurious baths. Check out this awesome youtube video about a guy who did it on his farm with outdoor showers. The shower runoff goes to feeding mushrooms which ties into #3. Yum!


5. What about my waste? I want compost toilets.< Here is an awesome link explaining more about compost toilets. This was in my last post, but its so awesome, how could I not talk about it again. Having just learned about this last night I already feel bad using flush toilets when I know this could be happening instead. I, of course, don't think I live in the right place to have a compost toilet, but that makes me feel worse like there are parts of the world where people shouldn't be looking out for the environment's best interest. Anyway, stepping down from my soap box, I'd suggest you go check out compost toilets and learn about how they don't actually smell bad!!


6. You may wonder how I plan to keep my house warm in the winter. I want to install a rocket stove mass heater. In addition to making the most out of your fuel source and creating great warmth it fits in perfectly with my desire for a cob house. Oh how things fall together!


7. Related to want #3 I want indoor gardens and plants. I think nature should be a more integral part of our lives. Check out these awesome devices to maximize indoor gardening space. You can even make your own at home. I checked out the designs and I can't figure out how to get the materials in Korea or I would have tried by now. 


I see all the above as possible and easy to achieve. They seem like very realistic goals. Of course there are still things I need to figure out to make it work, but these are things I haven't even looked into yet. I'm certain there is an answer waiting for me. If not now by the time I decide to enact this wonderful plan there will be a solution. So the main problem that comes to my mind right now is "What will I use as a water source?" Like I said I haven't even looked into this, so maybe the answer is out there right now, maybe you know it, maybe you'll leave it for me in the comments... or maybe I'll find it later when I look for it. So following is the "dream" I'm not sure its realistic. I think it's probably outside my budget, but I can tell you I would love it most. 

8. I would love a green house in the style of a botanical gardens tropical environment. I want to grow bananas and tropical fruits. I want Koi fish ponds. I want a pet snake that would love this place most. I  want frogs. I haven't looked into this one much at all, but thought I'd share. 


1 comment:

  1. This is one of the best posts I have ever seen. So many amazing links and reference. Truly a well done job. What excites me most is that it describes my future life. How extraordinary.

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