We all are
still shocked to see an utter devastation in Nepal caused by a disastrous
earthquake on April 25 this year. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake was the most powerful
disaster to strike Nepal since 1934 which killed more than 7500 people and
injured 14000 plus people.
To add fuel
to the fire, deadly avalanche triggered by the quake in The Everest base Camp
killed 22 people and hundreds of people are reported to be missing in Langtang
Valley due to another massive avalanche.
Centuries
old historical sites and monuments recognised as UNESCO world heritages in
Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan Durbar square have been collapsed and turned
into rubbles. The aftermath of the quake has made hundreds of thousands of
people homeless and as many villages across the country are completely wiped
out.
The country’s
bad social and economic situation caused by a decade long Maoist insurgency and
the ongoing political crisis has gone worse after the quake as the state now
has to make one of the biggest investments in the history for the rebuild and
reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructures.
Nepal’s neighboring countries and supporting nations around the world have committed
providing billions of the dollars for the rebuild and reconstruction. At the
same time while many business and social entrepreneurs and organisations like
Chaudhary Group, Non Resident Nepali Association have announced to make
thousands of homes, the debate still rages as to whether it should ape its old
style and character or develop a new one.
Obviously after the dire consequences of the quake, almost everybody is talking about the
construction of quake resistant homes with smart engineering and it might take
quite a while for the government and the organisations involved to conclude
what would the most suitable home option for villages and cities of Nepal. Since
we are spending enormous amount of money, in my personal opinion, houses we are
building should offer us more than quake resistance. We can’t deny the fact
that the global warming and pollution have deteriorated our environment. Cities
of Nepal like Kathmandu are intensely polluted with the excessive use of
plastic. Lacks of clean drinking water, electricity and organic food have been adversely
affecting the health of our people. In such situation, a unique, modern and environmentally
sustainable housing style called EARTHSHIP in my opinion could address all
these issue and can be a perfect solution for this crisis.
What is an EarthShip?
An 'EarthShip' in
my personal opinion is a complete revolution in a housing industry. Earthships
are very green, sustainable homes which can be built in any part of the
world and still provide electricity, potable water, contained sewage
treatment and sustainable food production. It is the most versatile and economical
sustainable green building design in the world.
The great
thing about these designs is Earthships catch water from the sky (rain &
snow melt) and use it four times. Water is heated from the sun, biodiesel
and/or natural gas. Earthships can have city water as backup. Earthships do not
pollute underground water aquifers. Read more about this awesome way of living
below.
1)
Sustainable does not mean primitive
When people
hear about sustainable, off-the-grid living, they usually picture primitive
homes divorced from the comforts of the 21st century. And rightfully so, as
most sustainable solutions proposed until now have fit that description.
Earthships, however, offer all of the comforts of modern homes and more. I’ll
let these pictures do the talking.
2) Free Food
Each
Earthship is outfitted with one or two greenhouses that grow crops year-round,
no matter the climate. This means you can feed yourself with only the plants growing
inside of your house. You can also choose to build a fish pond and/or chicken
coop into your Earthship for a constant source of meat and eggs.
3) Brilliant
Water Recycling
Even the
most arid of climates can provide enough water for daily use through only a
rain-harvesting system. The entire roof of the Earthship funnels rain water to
a cistern, which then pumps it to sinks and showers when required. That used
‘grey water’ is then pumped into the greenhouse to water the plants. After
being cleaned by the plants, the water is pumped up into the bathrooms for use
in the toilets. After being flushed, the now ‘black water’ is pumped to the
exterior garden to give nutrients to non-edible plants.
4) Warmth
& Shelter
The most
brilliant piece of engineering in the Earthship is their ability to sustain
comfortable temperatures year round. Even in freezing cold or blistering hot
climates, Earthships constantly hover around 70° Fahrenheight
(22° Celsius).
This
phenomenon results from the solar heat being absorbed and stored by ‘thermal
mass’ — or tires filled with dirt, which make up the structure of the
Earthship. The thermal mass acts as a heat sink, releasing or absorbing heat it
when the interior cools and heats up, respectively.
The large
greenhouse windows at the front of the house always face south to allow the sun
to heat up the thermal mass throughout the daytime.
5) Energy
Solar panels
on the roof and optional wind turbines provide the Earthship with all of the
power it needs. As long as you’re not greedily chewing through electricity like
a typical first-world human, you’ll never be short of power.
6) Freedom
With all of
your basic needs provided for and NO bills each month, you’re free! You don’t
have to work a job you hate just to survive. So you can focus your time on
doing what you love, and bettering the world around you.
Imagine if
the entire world was able to focus on doing extraordinary things instead of
just making enough to get by. Imagine if even 10% of the world could do this.
What would change?
7) Easy to
build
At a recent
Earthship conference in Toronto, Canada, a married couple in their forties
shared about how they built a 3-story Earthship by themselves in 3 months. They
had never built anything before in their lives and were able to build an
Earthship with only the printed plans. They did not hire any help, nor did they
use expensive equipment to make the job easier.
If one man
and one woman can do this in 3 months, anyone can do it.
8) Cheap
Earthships
are exorbitantly cheaper than conventional houses. The most basic Earthships
cost as little as $4000 (The Simple Survival model) with the most glamorous
models costing $70,000 and up, depending on how flashy you want to be with your
decorating.
With these
cost options, Earthships can fit the needs of everyone — from the
least privileged to the most worldly.
(Note: Since community spirit is very high in Nepal, one can help each other to build it, so no expenditure is required to build it.)
9) Made of
recycled materials
Much of the
materials used to build Earthships are recycled. For starters, the
structure is built with used tires filled with dirt:
If there’s
one thing we’re not short of on Earth, it’s used tires! There are tire dumps
like the one pictured here in every country in the world. There are even places
that will pay you by the tire to take them away.
The walls
(above the tires) are created by placing plastic and glass bottles in concrete.
When the Earthship team was in Haiti after the earthquake, they employed local
kids to both clean up the streets and provide all of the bottles required for
building their Earthship. Plus, they look pretty sexy.
10) Think
Different
The most
powerful thing Earthships do is force people to think differently about how we
live. If housing can be this awesome, and be beneficial to the environment,
then what else can we change? What else can become more simple, cheaper and
better at the same time?
It’s time
for us to re-think much of what we consider normal.
Science and
Engineering
The designs of Earthships are extraordinarily quake resistant and scientific. Haiti earthships projects have been
very successful and you can see how people are able to get a complete
scientific and green house with just $4000 from the following video.
Little Andaman Island off the coast of India in the Bay of
Bengal badly affected by Tsunami has got a new revival after the earthship
projects. Look at the following video to find out the more.
Of course
many politicians and business corporates will be against this smart idea as their
business and corruption would shut down. We are naturally one of the most
beautiful countries in the world and now it’s the perfect time to get rid of
commercially designed concrete forest and go for environmentally sustainable greenhouse.
The choice is ours and let’s make it happen.
Watch
the following documentary which provides you a clear understanding of how the
concept of Earthships started and how we can use our waste products to create a
healthy and self-sufficient green modern home.
