China

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I was out in China for work for two weeks and didn't realize the extent of internet censorship out there, so I couldn't check my email or update the blog or facebook group. There's not much for updates, we had a couple couples visit to help Tom out while I was away, but the weather did not cooperate (in one instance there was a heat wave warning and people were told not to do anything outside, and in another it had rained so much that tire pounding was impossible). Thanks to those who came out and visited; hopefully the weather cooperates in the future!

Tire Pounding

First row of tires along the back is done! The tarp and tires on top are just to keep the rain from getting in. Grass is already growing on our dirt pile. Nature's way of telling us we're going too slow...

This is our platform of compressed dirt the excavators made for the home to go on. It's just about a foot above the rest of the ground. Just an easy way to get things level. Some of our culverts arrived (you can see them poking out in the left of the photo). Still not quite ready to put them in yet. The rest should be arriving early next week (the company miscounted their stock).

Zilla surveying his kingdom.

Go Fund Me

Tom started a Go Fund Me campaign where anyone can donate to help out with the costs of building our earthship. The cheapest earthships I've heard of being built (maybe around $70,000) are when the husband/wife/immediate family members are engineers, contractors, and/or tradespeople, who can use their connections to get wholesale prices and call in favours from friends. Even then it's still a lot of work! We unfortunately have no connections so we seem to be paying a premium for everything. I have heard of earthships costing as much as $400,000 (yikes!). Some people are on a very tight timeline so they are forced to pay more. The one near Winnipeg wound up being $250,000+. We are trying to keep costs reasonable by taking our time and finding deals, but since Brandon and area is still in the "boom" phase, deals are hard to come by. Any donations are much appreciated and can be easily made by following the link above :)

Alumni News

We've gotten lots of emails from Brandon University alumni after our story was featured in their Alumni News (page 26 of 32 in the pdf). I've been told the story also wound up in the Solar Energy Society of Alberta newsletter. Cool! Lots of alumni from the '60's and '70's have been living sustainably for years, and are happy/excited to see people from the younger generation trying it too (I honestly have no idea what generation I am---generation next? what came after next?)

First tire row...

The radon and septic pipes still haven't been layed, but in the meantime we can get started on the back wall, since the pipes are all near the front. Here's some pics of Tom getting started. The first row takes a lot of time because all the measurements have to be bang on.

 The excavators flattened a platform of dirt for our home to go on, and made a huge pile of dirt next to it to fill the tires with.

Now to call the fire commissioner so she can come out and inspect. The municipality knows it's going to be a long-term project, but they want to make sure we break ground this summer.

Start date

Lots of people have been asking when we'll get started pounding tires. The excavation crew is nearly done; radon pipes and septic pipe will be going in this week, and then it looks like we can get started on the fun stuff this coming weekend (May 30-31)! Anyone interested in volunteering please email me at sarah.plosker@gmail.com :)

Excavation work

Brand spanking new road going into our property.

They used clay from on-site, so I guess we get a new dugout too ;P

New road, looking the other direction (dugout on left).

Platform for our home!

Flags marking the outline of the building, and where to put septic pipe.