Check you THIS VIDEO of a home built entirely of scrap material. I've often dreamed of doing something like this, and with $2200USD in one's pocket, it would apparently be possible. [I think the Canadian version would need to be a little more insulated, though.] Also visit the official site of the Scrap House. New addition: Just found THIS LINK to a bunch of green building videos. (I haven't seen them yet, but they might be useful.)
I suppose things are ok. I'm healthy, anyway. I am moving at my usual snail's pace and learning the important things at the same rate. For instance, I've learnt that I should not live anywhere near a city. Cities are fine for some folks, but not for me. I suspect I'll be able to get things done once I'm living in the right place (where the mentally insane are not hounding me every time I walk down the bloody street - no joke). Besides, Toronto isn't the least bit interested in sustainablility - it's interested in condos. I'm back to Tokyo on November 8th and hopefully moving to Canada for good next year. If I can find some land, I'll build a small (~500sq. ft) bale infill home and add on if and when room is needed. If I can't find land right away, I'll stay with an organic farm about 200km north of Toronto.
Earthships Douglas, Great posts of the building movies. Thanks! Have you seen the Earthship buildings? https://www.earthshipbiotecture.com/defined.htm https://earthship.com/ https://www.earthship.org/build/modular.php https://www.dreamgreenhomes.com/plans/earthship.htm Edit: Oh, and of course: https://www.tnstaafl.net/Earthship/body_earthship.html ...a chronology of building an Earthship Also, one site in a StrawBale House "ring": https://www.balewatch.com/ OBTW, it's not just Toronto...I have extreme difficulty in trying to discuss sustainability when everyone wants to talk about TV, professional sports, and the latest SUV they intend to buy...sustainability isn't in the vocabulary of the "normal" people out there. Good luck! 9anda1f
Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing, unfortunately. And speaking of which, up until 3-4 weeks ago, I would not have given second thought to living in an "intentional" or "eco village". I'm now thinking it might be alright just to have interaction with like minded folks. It gets lonely being the only "hippie" in town...
Amazing how much lonliness there is in cities, eh? Cities will be much better when the oil runs out and all the roads are parks, gardens, food forests, soccer fields etc. That scrap house movie was rad, thanks, Dougie.
Glad you all like the video. I hope to find similar things to post in the future. I had a day where I just hit a whole bunch of sites all at once. In one of them, there was a feature on a guy selling kits to 'chip' chest freezers to convert them into chest refrigerators. The resulting efficiency makes them even better than the super-efficient Sunfrost fridges. Groovy. As for cities, yeah, they are great for some people*. For me, they tend to be places where I retreat into myself to the point of paralysis. I am headed back to Tokyo in a few weeks, but when I get back to Canada, I'll head for more peaceful environs. *Curiously enough, the noise pollution of modern cities is such that is has a negative effect on the health of the digestive system - particularly the stomach - whether a person has psychologically adjusted to the noise or not.