Earthship. If you’ve watched the movie, or the TV show it inspired, Snowpiercer, perhaps something along the lines of the gigantic train comes to mind. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong. These homes can be massive, rising out of the earth like a mirage. But they’re more than that. They’re eco-friendly, off-grid–and increasingly appealing in the shock waves of COVID-19.

History: Earthship

In 1971, a University of Cincinnati grad named Michael Reynolds built his own house. But, unlike most who turn to creating their own home, he eschewed traditional building materials. He made ‘bricks’ of cans. The Continental Can Company heard about this idea and was taken with it, flying him into Chicago to talk about sponsoring him. Unfortunately, a second meeting resulted in this plan falling through–they were worried about the liability if the house collapsed. He eventually moved to New Mexico to create a collection of buildings using “biotecture.” (1)

The Earthship Goals

 The structures are self-sustaining, with “no lines com[ing] into or leav[ing] the house.” He believes there are six important areas to address: food, water, power, shelter, sewage, and garbage. But, although his buildings are made from recycled materials, including garbage, he’d prefer you don’t mention it. He “hates [the word recycling]. . . along with the words sustainable, green, and organic.” In his opinion, “what I do is just logical.”

Certainly, there’s a logical approach. Houses face the sun, catching the light with huge solar panels. The walls also catch heat, using “material that will store heat over time,” such as “recycled tires that were… filled with soil [and] weigh close to 300 pounds making the walls of an Earthship an extremely sturdy thermal mass.” Shower water is reused for toilets, then “purified with the help of beneficial bacteria and a peat moss filter” and put back into the toilets. (1, 2)

Taking The Earthship Away From COVID-19

“The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the need for architecture to play by new rules,” says Biotecture.com.
Taylor Bode, who was mentored by Michael Reynolds thinks that Earthships are those new rules.“The moment right now is reflecting the social and systemic fragility. But if you start to build up a level of self-sufficiency, you start to have more independence.”

For his part, Reynolds sees the Earthship model as the ultimate in self-sufficiency. “[Earthship dwellers] don’t have to pay for heating and cooling. They don’t have to pay electric bills. They don’t have to pay for garbage pickup, a sewage bill, a water bill, and they are growing a lot of food,” he brags. “I’d like to make it so that every man, woman and child would have access to food, shelter and water. Living should not be stressful.” (1)

The Financial Impact

With the virus attacking not only our health but our economy, a world where everyone has access to this kind of housing sounds like a dream. Judy Sutton, who retired to an Earthship community in 2010, says that propane, at $200 a year, is her largest expense. An Earthship built by Reynolds and his company costs anywhere from $180-$250 per square foot, Bode’s Earthship cost “$10,000 to build because they did all the labor themselves.” (3, 4)