I used to think I was an environmentally friendly person. Then I visited the Earthships of New Mexico and realize I’m a total slacker.
I’ve long practiced “reduce, reuse, recycle” habits. I try not to use plastic if I can avoid it and conserve water, paper, and electricity in a dozen ways. This is nothing compared to what Earthship dwellers are doing. These people and their houses are a showcase of next-level sustainable living enthusiasm. But they’re also probably a little “out there.”
What’s an Earthship?
In brief, an Earthship is a type of passive sustainable housing. They’re also called “solar earth shelters,” predominately made of natural and upcycled materials. They’re also creative art projects. Earthships can support life entirely off the grid.
I learned about Earthships while staying in Taos during my long solo road trip. There, I found an entire community of these unique dwellings.
How to Build an Earthship
Earthships are called ships because you can live sustainably indefinitely like a ship.
These homes are made entirely from recycled materials like used car tires, bottles, tin cans and various plastic. These objects are combined with reclaimed wood and adobe mud. They construct them into interesting and creative designs to form the basic structure of the house. Most of them also have earth piled up around them so they’re partially submerged. They look like art projects coming out of the ground.
Aside from being made from all recycled materials, Earthships are wholly sustainable and self-sufficient. This enables you to live entirely off the grid if you choose.
Water and Electricity in Earthships
Electricity comes from solar panels with energy stored in batteries. Heat comes from the sun via specific window positioning. Cool air comes from underground pipes and ceiling vents on the roof. The most impressive part, though, is the water.
Water comes from rain and snow and is saved in underground cisterns. It is filtered through a complex natural filtration system created with layers of peat, soil and plants. Grey water is used to water the plants and is filtered and re-filtered many times. Even toilet water is recycled to feed the plants.
Each Earthship has plants in large greenhouses to facilitate the water filtration system. They also provide food.
Once the house is built, they say that it could last forever. Once complete, the owner doesn’t have to pay gas, electric, water or sewage costs. Also, the large indoor greenhouse can grow even many tropical fruits. On my tour, I saw figs, pineapples, avocado, and more common foods like tomatoes and wheat. Owners could save a lot of money on food too.
Touring the Earthships in El Prado
Earthships are concentrated mostly in and around El Prado, New Mexico. This is where pioneering architect Michael Reynolds owns many acres of land. Reynolds built the first Earthship there, and now there are over 100 homes in the neighborhood I visited. Earthships, however, can be built in any part of the world. In any climate, they’ll still provide electricity, potable water, contained sewage treatment and sustainable food production.
The first Earthship we toured was the visitor’s center. It’s a single-level, solidly built, exciting and impressive structure. Much of the wood was reclaimed, the indoor garden was thriving, and it looked like a really cool normal house. You wouldn’t know that it was utterly sustainable unless you started to peek in closets – which we did. We could see the complex plumbing for filter water, underground tubes for cool air, and battery packs for energy.
Learning to Build an Earthship
After we left the visitor’s center, we toured a few other non-occupied homes. These homes are used for teaching and training others to build Earthships. Being self-sustaining during a pandemic is a significant benefit of an Earthship and interest grew during that time.
Our guide said some people build their own Earthships, while others hire the company to build for them. Because there are few building codes, some homes in the “subdivision” looked questionable. Essentially, they will sell you the land and teach you to build yourself if that’s your choice. Many people choose this route.
Structural Considerations for Earthships
One house, spectacular in its design, looked like it was about to topple over. It was two stories tall and had beautiful rainbow patterns and sculptures built into the house’s walls. Toward the end of the tour, she told us the building inspector made them stop construction on it. I’m not surprised. In one area, we could see the exposed roof beams, holding a massive ceiling supported only by stacked pieces of wood. It all looked incredibly unstable.
When I asked about some building construction I saw, our guide said Earthships are very stable. She said their base of dirt-filled tires provides flexibility and incredible stability.
Sustainable Living in an Earthship
Overall, despite the non-traditional building techniques, the Earthships were terrific. It’s a lesson in how much more sustainable we can be. Setting up solar electricity, water collection and filtration systems and a greenhouse can be achievable for almost any homeowner.
Seeing the Earthship community makes me want to be more sustainable. I’m ok, but I can always conserve more and use less plastic. I bet you can too.
If you want to test it out, Airbnb hosts about half a dozen Earthships.
Read more stories about New Mexico here.
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