[Cob] PaperCob!

[Dognyard]

GlobalCirclenet wrote:
 
> This "almost-all eco-earthen house" apparently doesn't have a roof,
> windows, doors, appliances, utilities, foundation, or anything else.
> Because all those things require other materials not "so eco-earthen".

They do? 

Foundations of dry-stacked stone are "eco-earthen"...can't get much more
"eco-earthen" in fact. Windows are what you make of them and may be both
detrimental and beneficial to a heating/cooling system at the same
time...and your heating system may be passive solar gain and a wood
fire...your cooling system may be earth berms, a cold sink, or simply
opening said windows to allow the air to move through.

Roofs as well can most certainly be eco-earthen. Use totally natural
materials if you don't mind re-roofing every few years or so. Insulate
the ceiling with wool. There are hundreds of options for making an
eco-earthen roof...from practical to impractical...but all of them
do-able to some extent or other, in some part of the world or other.

Who says you must have appliances?  You can cook on an open fire indoors
or out if you prefer, and cool your food by suspending it down your well
as we did to some extent when I was a child. On a hot day, if you opened
the cover to the well, it was like standing in front of an open
refrigerator. Who says you must have utilities? No one says you MUST be
hooked up to gas and electricity. Solar, wind (if you have it), candles.
We can all get by with a whole lot less than we do, other than someone
who says they know better is constantly trying to convince us all we
MUST have these things.

People need to dream and experiment. That's not only how we discover new
ways of doing things, but it's also how we re-discover what we've lost
from the past.

I hope to h*ll that no one is such a sensitive soul that they heed the
narrow-minded cynicism normally regurgitated by "GlobalCircleNet".

Keep Dreaming. Try. Fail. Succeed. LIVE. Grow. Teach others what you
learn. But just keep dreaming. The right dreams will come together at
some point, despite those who claim otherwise.

>From me, thank you for being brave enough to just toss your ideas out
here, allowing us to think, analyse, rethink, and dream along with you.
For anyone who offers only sneers and criticism in return....shame on
you. Add your handful of cob to the dream and help build it. Don't just
kick it down.

Karen in Alberta