I’m compiling a map of broadly ‘eco’ places – anything that is involved with a low impact, sustainable approach to life, from Transition Towns to permaculture farms, and interesting buildings. Other than the ones I already knew about, finding...
Part of the joy of doing everything yourself is what we politely call ‘learning from experience’, or more commonly, ‘f**king it up’. Yesterday was a ‘learning’ day. First, I discovered just how close to a hot stove flue you can put...
Eco-DIY and Building Advice from the Eco Home Centre: Self build the way forward for communities?: This is a picture of the Wintles development in Shropshire that is based on the principles set out in ‘A Pattern Language’. The houses wer… read...
ThisTED talk by Dan Philips is fantastic. In it he discusses why consumers, the building industry, and society at large need to break out of the comfortable patterns that lead to massive waste, and how he makes use of that waste to create unusual, and highly personal...
Eco, low impact, sustainable, off grid, communities – whatever label you attach to them, it certainly feels like the movement of ‘alternative’ communities is gathering pace, and at the same time, starting to attract people that even a few years ago...
In the hope that we might complete our land purchase sometime soon, work continues apace to get all our assorted junk ready to move. Today saw both trucks started up for the first time in a while, our solar panels hauled down from the roof, and the rainwater...
One of the most beautiful houses I have seen, built by Lisa and Rich. You can read more about it on the Natural Homes websiteA beautiful cob home in England
Film offers us a powerful tool to shift awareness and inspire action. It offers a method to break our dependence on the mainstream media and become the media oursleves. We don’t need to wait for anyone or anything. Just imagine what could become possible if an...
An amazing days progress on the roundhouse – Helen, Michael, Alexey, Jim and Edie got almost all the slate floor laid and very fetching it looks too. I fitted the last of the flue, and the fire was lit. Suddenly the little house seems to have come to life. Next...
Although its not something I’ll have to worry about for a good while yet, the thorny subject of what kind of education I would want for my child, is hovering at the edge of my mind. I have always maintained that school is basically a lottery, in which having a...
The cob fireplace gets its first proper layer Today I thought I’d try and get the heating sorted out in the roundhouse, and so several barrow loads of cob mix later and here are the results. It’ll need a fine finish layer, but its getting there. The actual...
