Earthships: Off the Grid Homes of Built of Recycled Materials

Guardian article on Earthships in Canada

  • Tell me about the story in your own words.
  • Tell me why the event interested you.
  • Write about the impact of this event/development on society, culture, science, or on the environment.
  • What would be a good area for further investigation, or what further questions would have in this area based on what you read?

In Canada, the Native Americans (First Nation People) have a housing shortage, and many people live in cold, tiny, broken down houses or trailers. This article was about a First Nations woman named Francine who lived in a crowded trailer with her disabled daughter and her five grandchildren. Francine was chosen to receive a new, donated home–a sustainably-built “Earthship”. Earthships are built of recycled materials, especially old tires that are packed with dirt and buried under adobe mud. These tires and other parts of the building keep the cold out and the warmth in, or in hot months, keep the house cool inside. Earthships are built so that they capture the sunlight (both through windows and solar panels) and circulate the air. These Earthships are “off the grid”–they use solar energy and capture water from rain and snow. Grey water (used water from sinks and showers) is reused to flush the toilets and water the plants. The man who invented Earthships forty-five years ago is named Mike Reynolds. He has built these homes for people in Haiti, India and Sierra Leone, and now believes that Earthships could help First Nation people in Canada like Francine, who suffer from a housing shortage or substandard housing like her trailer.

This article interested me because my family and I are staying in an Earthship in Baja California right over winter break. I was curious about how the house we are staying in was built.

The impact of self-sustaining homes (off the grid) built from recycled materials on society and the environment is very positive. In the case of the First Nations people in Canada, and people in other developing countries such as Haiti, these houses provide comfortable and safe housing, which will improve their lives. These houses are not very expensive to build, because they are made of recycled materials and because big groups of interns from the Earthship Project help build them. The houses are good for people because they pay less for electricity and water. Reusing old tires is good for the environment because tires are toxic and end up in landfill, but in Earthships they are used to keep the temperature of the house comfortable.

Sadly, in our Earthship, we are not off the grid right now because a hurricane hit here two years ago and blew out the solar panels. The owners have not been able to afford new panels quite yet, so we are plugged into regular electric power. We are also not using the recycled water system because it rarely rains in this part of Baja California, so water is trucked in. However, the design of the house does keep in the warmth and cool air flows through the circulation system. Also, our Earthship (like all Earthships) has cut off bottle bottoms built into the walls to provide light and warmth. A question that I have for further research is: What is the ideal climate for an Earthship to be built in, so that all the systems work? Also, can Earthships be built anywhere, such as San Francisco? I am also curious about how the founder Mike Reynolds, came up with the design of the Earthship.

 

 

 

 

Saving the Sea Turtles

 

Article:  Why Life is So Tough for Sea Turtles, National Geographic online

    • Tell me about the story in your own words.
    • Tell me why the event interested you.
    • Write about the impact of this event/development on society, culture, science, or on the environment.
    • What would be a good area for further investigation, or what further questions would have in this area based on what you read?

I read about a place in Florida that saves baby sea turtles that are endangered.  It’s called Clearwater Marine Aquarium. This turtle rescue group exists because all seven  of the world’s sea turtle populations are decreasing due to many things, such as pollution, poaching, loss of natural nesting areas and climate change. The aquarium takes care of injured and sick turtles, and if they recover, they put them back into the ocean. The story also tells about the “ups and downs” of being a sea turtle, such as getting eaten by natural predators (birds, bigger sea animals, humans, dogs), as well as other threats such as diseases, discarded fishing gear or plastic garbage, and electric lights that confuse the babies as they try to leave their nests and enter the ocean after hatching.

This story interested me because this winter break I am with my family in Mexico, where they have a turtle rescuing organization which I am writing about in this blog.

Tortugueros Las Playitas Sea Turtle Rescue–Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Tortugueros Las Playitas is a group of volunteers who save sea turtle eggs, incubate them in a warm greenhouse on the beach until they hatch, and then release them into the ocean. My family and I have worked as volunteers twice (including right now) to help save the endangered sea turtles of southern Baja California.

Female sea turtles land on the beach and walk up a distance until they find a spot to dig their deep holes, where they then lay their eggs. Females can lay between 100 and 170 eggs in one birth. It takes between 52-65 days for baby turtles to hatch from their eggs. The warm sun on the sand helps incubate the baby turtles. When they hatch, the babies scurry back to the ocean, where they face crashing waves, predators such as birds and fish.

So why is it necessary for Tortugueros Las Playitas to dig up the eggs and incubate them in a greenhouse, and then release them?  First, the turtles have been forced to lay their eggs further and further north, as Cabo San Lucas has developed and built so many beachfront hotels and restaurants. The turtles need dark, quiet beaches to nest on, and these are mostly gone further south so the females look for darker places further north. When the turtles travel north to Todos Santos to nest, the temperature is cooler–too cold for the turtles to incubate by themselves. That’s why Tortugueros Las Playitas built the greenhouse incubator, to keep the eggs warm enough to hatch. Also, wherever the eggs are laid, there are many dangers to them, such as horseback riders, ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles), dogs and poachers, who dig up the eggs to sell for “health” reasons (which is not good for the turtles and not good for the humans who eat the eggs either).

I am interested in this project because I want to save these turtles from extinction. In fact, 6 out of 7 species of sea turtles are currently endangered. According to Los Cabos Sea Turtle Release Program (https://www.wildcanyon.com.mx/los-cabos-sea-turtle-release-program/), only one out of 1000 baby turtles makes it to adulthood because of habitat disruption, predators, poaching and fishing nets. I volunteered because I want more of these baby turtles to make it to adulthood. The main turtles that we are helping in this rescue are Green Ridleys and the very endangered Leatherback.

The impact on the environment of this turtle rescue project is to increase sea turtle survival rate in this area of Mexico. By providing a warm and safe nesting place, and a hand-delivered release back into the ocean, hopefully more turtles will survive to adulthood and continue to reproduce.

Some questions for further investigation are: Is it OK for humans to to dig up the turtle egg nests and then re-bury them in a different place? Does this somehow affect the babies growing inside the shells? Does this project really improve the survival rate of the sea turtles? How can we know for sure?

I can highly recommend coming here to Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, to volunteer with this project. It is amazing to see the little turtles hatching and scurrying to the ocean at sunset. I will never forget this experience!