OK its weird. Visits to this website have just gone ballistic and we don’t know why. PLEASE TELL US!
Our friends at traffic management says that almost all of it is from people searching for “Earthships NZ” and variations thereof via google. Now referrals from another likeminded website I could understand. But lots of original googling suggests that someone somewhere in the media might have mentioned Earthships in a New Zealand contxt and that has got everyone coming here.
If you are one of those people. It would be great if you could take a moment to leave a comment below or drop us an email to say ‘Hi’ and ‘why’. Cheers and welcome.
Nga mihi
Rob
There was an earthship on Grand Designs on TV on Sat night.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…… thanks for that! I worked with Duncan and others who was the site manager on the Groundhouse build in Brittany. They want to come to NZ for a build!
Saw the grand designs earthship in Brittany. Am very taken with the idea of building our home this way here in Matakana. Am starting my research. Thankyou for putting this site together.
You’re welcome Helen. I’ve worked with Duncan and Sian who were on Grand Designs. There are plans and expertise available in NZ to build an Earthship for you. Having spoken to just about every stakeholder in the building process, its not as daunting in NZ as it sounds on the likes of Garbage Warrior. Feel free to ask any questions. Cheers Rob
Hi, I was lucky enough to borrow the DVD Garbage Warriors at the local library here in Australia. I had no idea what it was about, but took it out and watched it at home. It is so inspiring to see self sufficient living as a real possibility. I used Google and came across your website that way. We have a block of land on Gt Barrier Island which is still vacant. Maybe……….this could be a real option for us?
Saw the build on Grand Designs and realised that this is just what I have been looking for. I have just bought land in the North Island and until now have had no idea of what and how to build to remain eco friendly and not destroy the lay of the land. This type of sructure will be perfect. All I need is to be able to look at plans when I’m back in NZ in November!
Come across earthships years ago on youtube. Decided I would have to have one before the vid had even finished. Currently have a nice quater acre block with nice house on the outskirts of ChCh which has stood up well, timber on concrete slab, vege garden, water bore, septic tank and big woodburner with wetback. Big morgage though, but I have a good bit of equity in it. Considering selling up while the market is heating up and buying the block for the earthship. Better sooner than later. Life style blocks pretty popular around Canty’ at the moment. Started doing the homework and ended up here. Nice to see resources available in NZ now. Ta.
We were planning on building with earthbags originally, but with us being in a seismic zone it was considered risky with the weight of the walls. I was looking into other green building ideas when I saw earthships. I wanted to see if anyone had done any here so i did the earthship NZ search 🙂
Keen on seeing what resources are around in regards to Earthships and i stumbled upon this web page. I’m an Architectural Draughtsman of 5 years myself and am keen on learning more about Earthships. I’ve read the old books of Michaels and watched most of the movies of his etc In the hopes to learn enough to one day build my own. A long with a few other mates who are tradesmen etc and possibly set up a small community of Earthships here in Canterbury. The idea being to make it as affordable as possible. Non profit style etc. That and I’m also interested in Permaculture living to 🙂
Anthony please send me your details as I need to create a register of professionals who can help the increasing number of people wanting to make a start on their own Earthships in NZ.
info@earthships.co.nz. Cheers Rob
Hi there, I heard about the doco ‘Garbage Warrior’ from one of Tim Lynch’s fantastic Green Planet Radio interviews:
http://www.greenplanetfm.com/members/greenradio
It was also shared By Bryce Langston on his new blog Cells of Earth:
Earthships just make so much sense to me. The economic system is not working anymore and it’s time to take our power back in terms of money, food, energy and community. More and more of us are waking up to this and looking for a better way of living. I am a furniture maker in Chch and have done some building. I am very keen on alternative architecture. I’d be keen to help out on a project in Canterbury for the experience if anyone is building one. Perhaps we could band together and do a community project…? Earthquakes may be an issue here as already mentioned…
Cheers!
Simon – great to have you on board. There are some people currently in ChCh wanting to undertake a community project – its just about trying to get a start right now. I am hoping they can get something organised soon. I’ll email you some contact details.
I came to this site hoping there might be a movement to build an earthship in Christchurch. Much of Mike Reynolds and co’s work has been done in disaster relief areas, as these places often offer more flexible building policies, as well as the obvious need for new homes. I’m happy to see that there does appear to be a sustainable construction movement brewing here, and I would love to become a part of it. I’m a young American college graduate with some minor carpentry experience, but would mostly be useful as a laborer and organizer. I’m planning on spending the late summer and fall in Christchurch, please let me know if there will be an opportunity for me to help!
I was lent Garbage Warrior by a friend and watched it last night, much to my delight. I’m twenty two and terrified; even once I finish my degree I don’t see the world out there as a particularly fertile field of opportunity. Where there isn’t war and destruction there’s disempowerment, financial collapse and environmental ruin. I’m becoming increasingly aware that the kiwi quarter acre dream may be outside my grasp, that my generation doesn’t have the opportunities our parents had, and so I’m looking into alternatives for my future. I want to be able to have a family off the grid, to live self-sufficiently so that I’m not beholden to a system I have no faith in. I’d like to find out how much it costs to get one of these projects off the ground. I know there must be pitfalls that I, in my naivety, wouldn’t predict.
Hey there! I can’t remember where I initially came across the Earthships concept – whether it was word of mouth or trawling through the web escapes me, but I was WWOOFING all through the US last year and had done some research on them and signed up for a two week build on an Earthship in New Mexico, but unfortunately they were full at that stage. My only regret of the whole trip is not going to Taos (as planned) to stay at one of the display Earthships I heard they have there….ran out of time and money because I had been working unpaid for a year, but it is definitely on my list of things to do on my next trip! Funnily enough, I didn’t watch the Garbage Warrior doco until after my return, which meant I subsequently became even more obsessed with the cause! It is one of the driving factors behind me applying to go back to Uni next year with a view to study Environments and potentially get into sustainable construction etc. Totally inspiring! In answer to you original question…I had breakfast with a mate this morning and he was referring to the doco and he mentioned that the Earthship NZ website was larger and better structured than the AU one, so I thought I would check it out. Thanks for existing!
*punches the air with a victory fist* its so great to hear the positive vibes about the website – its the only reward I currently get whilst we await an further Earthship or two to get built in NZ. There are builds currently looking to ramp up as we speak, so there is tangible progress being made. Please get involved and follow us here and on Facebook. Keep the vision alive.
I watched the ‘Garbage Warrior’ Vid off You tube. I also saw the Grand Designs home built in france. I am a architectural designer who thinks there is a better way to build our housing and therefore am starting on my journey to learn more. So far it all makes simple good sense. 8)
Hi, I am always interested in sustainable living & recycling, so, googling I came across earthship NZ….I am just an ordinary person, I will love to see an earthship home build in NZ….
I found this site after I was told about the Garbage Warrior tour of Australia. I have always been fascinated by Earthships and I would really like to build one here in New Zealand and perhaps help others build theirs too.
I just started watching the peak moment channel on youtube and would like to build one in the next couple years ans was curious if nz had any already
Thank you all for sharing your storys! I would just like to share another technique of building with earth which I see as being a solution for those that want to build an earth home but with more of a modern cleaner look! : )
I am 30 yo. I have been fascinated by eco living since my late teens. Back in 2005/06, I picked up some work building mud brick homes in the Blue Mountains (NSW, Australia) for a small family business called Form Block Australia. Their technique involves screwing together prefabricated form boxes which you fill with a mix of wet earth and a small amount of cement (determined by the council/testing people). The next day, you unscrew the formwork, lift it up to the next layer and screw it back together and the process continues. We were doing about 60 blocks per day at 1 feet high, 1 feet wide and 2 feet long. It does not take long to throw up a large solid wall! You can buy a Form Block kit from the MacGreggors via their website: http://www.formblock.com.au – check it out!
My wife and I are now looking for land around Nelson/Motueka/Mot Valley areas to buy land to build our mud brick house now. I cant wait! 😀
I would just like to know…are we allowed to build them here? What kind of bureaucratic hoops do you have to jump through? OOh I want to get involved.
Yes you can build them here and there aren’t as many hoops to jump through as people think. It is not impossible in NZ, its very do’able.
I am interested in building an earthship sometime in the future. I searched earthship on google then considered going to a workshop, maybe in Australia. then thought maybe there would be workshops in NZ. That is why I searched Earthship NZ
I was given a documentary/video from a friend about Mike Reynolds and his Earthships. I’ve been fascinated ever since. That’s what brought me here to Earthships NZ. I plan to sell my place here and build an earthship. Some like-minded friends want to do the same thing.
We know the current system is not sustainable and is damaging our home… ‘Earth’!
Was surfing through links and came across the website. Very interesting. I had a part time business back in the early 90’s refinishing countertops & bathtubs, the slogan I had on my van was Repair, Recolor, Renew, Recycle & Conserve. So I have been interested in new ideas along these areas.
I am looking at buying some land in New Zealand and building shortly; at present it looks like somewhere in Northland with straw. I came here after searching for more NZ earthship info after seeing an earthship-focused presentation at a permaculture group meeting here in Sydney tonight.
My main concerns with the earthship designs are: suitability for wetter climates, drainage, suitability to sloping blocks, architectural flexibility (especially regarding the capacity to integrate with the outdoors, and enjoy the sounds, smells, breeze and light of the surrounding land). It seems the earthship designs work great in flat deserts with low precipitation and can certainly work elsewhere (as has been proven internationally) but in my view perhaps these designs make too many sacrifices or are less suitable for certain types of sites and/or building situations.
For the site I am looking at, I’m more attracted to the potential of timber-frame non-loadbearing straw, possibly in combination with wood or stone cladding, mud or cinva bricks as this seems more appropriate in many ways.
For example, our site is remote so hauling anything there (old tyres, bottles, tins or other rubbish, etc.) is an expensive hassle. In addition, there is no running water yet (we look to use the roof as a catchment area) so the concrete that is often used in earthship designs may be more than a bit of a challenge to mix! We are looking at a plateau site atop a south-facing slope; we would want northern openings for sun but also the commanding 270 degree views southward – classic earthship designs do not suit this case – nominally for thermal regulation purposes, though in northern New Zealand we do not have the degree of thermal regulation problems as the New Mexico earthship communities since we are in a more temperate climate. Few people will be on our build, so using a timber frame and putting up a roof first enables us to protect straw bales while being positioned by our small team, rather than using a load-bearing straw wall that needs to be finished rapidly and settle (or be braced down to settle artificially rapidly) before a roof can be added. Another benefit of a timber frame with straw infill is that it’s easier to get planning permission, whilst straw’s high insulation properties offset the thermal losses of north/south dual windows and allow us to make use of the additional natural light that results.
Each site is different. Different tools and techniques can be more appropriate in different situations. Many decisions represent tradeoffs. Best wishes to fellow natural builders: maintain an open mind, and draw inspiration from everywhere!