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Gallery|Environment

‘Earthship’ revolution in the US

Once described as ‘idiotic’, new eco-friendly, self-sustaining homes are proving its critics wrong.

The walls of an 'Earthship' are made up of tyres, pounded with mud, and other recycled materials such as aluminium cans and beer bottles.
By Felix Gaedtke
Published On 28 Jan 2015

Taos, United States – It’s a green architectural movement that took root in the desert of New Mexico some 40 years ago. That’s when Michael Reynolds, 69, began experimenting with building homes out of garbage and natural materials that he called “Earthships”.

“I was [called] an idiot for building out of garbage, but people are starting to realise that maybe there is something to look at here,” Reynolds told Al Jazeera. Although it hasn’t been an easy journey, Earthships are becoming a more mainstream housing option. Today, people are living in Earthships in 50 states across the US, and in at least 25 countries around the world.

Earthships are built by digging at least 1.2m below the earth’s surface, where the temperature remains stable throughout the year, thereby needing no fossil fuel-derived energy for cooling or heating. Exterior walls are made of recycled materials such as truck tyres, used bottles and spent beer cans.

Solar panels and wind turbines on the house generate enough electricity to run electrical appliances.

Earthships also harvest their own water from rain or snow, and store it in a huge tank on the roof. This water goes through a filtration system and is used for drinking and cooking.

More on the story

Staff at the Earthship Academy film an instructional video about how to cut glass bottles to build Earthships.
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There are many different designs of Earthships around Taos in the US state of New Mexico.
Phil Basehart, an architect at the Earthship Biotecture company, shows how water gets harvested in the water collector on the roof of a home.
Solar panels on the front generate enough electricity to run all electrical appliances in the home. Inside, there's a green house for gardening.
Mike Reynolds, centre, with his staff on a construction site.
Interns Sean McGovern-Waite, 25, and Megan McCombs, 27, are part of a three-week internship programme at the Earthship Biotecture company.
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The homes have an aquaponics system that allows vegetables to be cultivated even during the winter months.
Tyres in the middle of New Mexico's desert - part of the walls for a future Earthship.
A view of the mountains from the kitchen of an Earthship near Taos.
The deck of an Earthship at the Reach Community.
A view over the Greater World Community in Taos, New Mexico.
Grey, 4, and Dusty, 6, with their father, Ted Elsasser, bake cookies in their Earthship.