what an amazing man – the photos are well worth a look.

Michael Reynolds, known to many as the Garbage Warrior, has made it his life’s mission to develop sustainable closed-loop architecture, or biotecture, using mainly recycled materials, or, put simply, garbage. The main structural material used for Reynolds’ Earthships is tyres.

The model of an Earthship, according to Reynolds, is based on a tree. In the same way as a tree’s root structure takes water from the earth, and the leaves puts out oxygen, and take in co2, thus flourishing and sustaining itself, an Earthship collects and processes these same necessities for life, and is able to sustain an entire micro-ecosystem.

The bulk of the structure of an Earthship is constructed with dirt-filled tyres, pounded until the dirt is compacted. This functions as a thermal wrap for the structure. Once the wall has built up its thermal mass it never goes away, therefore meaning that the indoor temperature is constant year-round. Natural ventilation and cooling systems are built in with buffer zones which often take the form of two layers of greenhouses, which also provide space with optimal temperature and sunlight for growing food. Due to these structural features the interior stays at the right temperature with no extra regulation – this means there is no need to use electricity to regulate temperature.

http://theoverthinker.org/2013/07/30/michael-reynolds-an-ordinary-man-changing-the-world-home-by-home/