Earthship Biotecture from Taos, New Mexico, has contacted Earthship New Zealand looking for 20 square meters of land here to build a demonstration model earthship on. This is hot on the heels of their recent trip to Australia where they have been drumming up a huge amount of interest with Mike Reynolds speaking tour.
Given the low technology entry point for owning and living in an Earthship, with its appeal to many who may have recently lost their homes and are unable to afford a conventional replacement; the ideal location is Christchurch. Once land has been identified Mike Reynolds and Earthship Biotecture plan to come out and complete a build with possible potential for speaking engagements and media time.
So we are looking for some accessible land where we can build a structure similar to this one built in Haiti.
From a building regs point of view this would be a non-permanent (demonstration) structure, possibly under 10 sqm, for which it may be possible to ask for retrospective building consent. My first thoughts are that maybe Canterbury University School of Civil Engineering or CPIT might be able to use this as a learning tool, although it doesn’t have to be restricted to Christchurch. Please spread the word, use your networks and get in touch with us here at Earthship New Zealand if you have any leads. We are happy to assist with setting up this opportunity which can only be good for the cause of Earthships in Aotearoa.
Hi
I may be able to help with space to build your earthship demonstration structure. I have a small home on a large residential piece of land on a back section in New Brighton. It is very close to the shopping area and there is lots of parking. Obviously as I live there the site has power and water, there is also generous garaging if you want storage. You can phone me on 03 382 1322 sunday to wednesday or thurs to sat in the evenings.
Cheers Lesley
Hi. I love the idea of Mike coming to NZ. I am an artist and have designed a funky house I want to build when I can get it all together, meanwhile I have a perfect spot in my small back yard for a small earthship studio. That would also save me having to do the traditional thing. Some materials available.
I am able to be contacted on 04 298 8883
Cheers and all the best.
Diana
Hey this is great news! Keep us all in the loop on progress. Cheers Adam
Hi Mike and Others. I have a half acre at Makikihi. 20 mins south of Timaru . The land is semi rural and north facing, 100 m from highway one, providing visible exposure. I believe in earthships. Have been considering building one there myself.. To consider being assisted and being able to assist in the construction of a demonstration model , I am thoroughly excited. Darren
Kia ora, I am a trustee at Parihaka Papakainga. This is a Maori reserve and an old Maori settlement built as a refuge for those persecuted in the land wars of the 1800s. The people used non-violent resistance to try and stop their lands being stolen but in 1881 the village was invaded by soldiers. Hundreds of our people were sent away to prison where some died. The village was ransacked. The women and children left behind were abused. Now over a century later we have some land back and the community is rebuilding and we have several families waiting to build houses. We have permaculture plans for the village, our own water supply and are planning our own power supply system. Most people here are really poor so to learn how to build an earthship would be really valuable for us. We have land so please get in touch if you are interested in building here. The next Peace Festival should be summer 2012-13 where there would be an audience of several thousand.
Hi I am Dave. I live in Christchurch. I have always been interested in this kind of sustainable living. New Zealand is so wracked with building regs now that this knd of self build project is just about impossible which is a shame. There is so much we as individuals could do to reduce our carbon footprint and I guess this is the extreme but a great idea to build a demo house to at least get people thinking. Typical New Zealanders are not great on carbon reductions with their love of all things 4X4 and V8 and the historic power hungry building methods. Even when you try to do something like instal a solar panel, there are heaps of regs and fees to overcome.
So welcome Mike Reynolds and good luck. You may have more luck with a scheme like Parihaka Papakainga, there may be a bit less red tape involved.
Hi mike and friends. I am an artist from Otago. Myself and some like-minded friends are very interested in ‘Earthships’, sustainable living and carbon footprint reduction. Any info would be precious.
If possible, I intend to build an earthship. I’m guessing it’s gonna be a battle with the red tape people. More and more people are becoming aware of the need for this type of self-sustainability.
New Zealand, with it’s access to water and good food producing land would be perfect for this. Not to mention the ‘alternative’ mind set there is amoung us!
All the best.
Cheers, Neal.
When is he coming? I’d love to meet the man who has designed the home of my dreams!!! HAHA
I have 1-2 & 3 of your earthship books, I am a sheet metal worker by trade, and have undertaken several internal and external renovation projects and DIY over the years, Im 49 not out, and working as I Quallity Control and Quality Assurance inspector, I have Nace coating certs, and ISO-9001-2008 Quality Management and audting certs, my father was a bilder (done his time in Ireland) and my 2 brothers and I were his unpaid labourers whilst growing uo in Taranaki NZ. My wife Toni and kids (21 and 23 years old) now live in the small country town of Kirwee in Canterbury, we have a 2000sqm approx block of freehold land on the westcoast of the South Island in Kumara, which is a blank canvas, all Pongas and Manuka. We have just had it surveyed (as it was 4 x 480sqm sections) the Westland District Council may be more accommodating in regards to building restrictions, as our block is rural, and we have no nieghbours on any of the boundries and its a corner section having 2 roads as boundries on 2 sides (google Greenstone road Kumara NZ and see for yourself) its on the corner of Greenstone Road and Union Street. We are planning to start a project this summer aroung October or November 2012. Im a member of Earthships NZ. I have had a obsession with Earthships for many years, and have friends in the North Island who have built Rammed Earth housing. Our block of land has no power or water, and hadnt been surveyed until about 4 weeks ago since the late 1800’s I can back up all the previous tpying with copies of emails, and other documents. If you have no firm location, for your proposed NZ Earthship experiment, or would like another owned my motivated people, please contact me. We have some savings and in the traditions of the advice from the earthship books Ive read, we would be looking at building this out of out=r own pockets as we could afford it, so our budget would not strech to a 100% completed project. Anyway drop me a line if there is any interest, we would see our project as taking a few years to complete 2-5 maybe depending, but would been keen on some professional advice, and input with not only building one of these beatiful beasts, but also helping to convice the local council etc. I have had an interest in living of the land and permerculture for many years and have consumed many hours reading multiple books many of which I have on my bookshelves. I am an ex shear (5 years) ex professional possum trapper, have lived in the backblocks of NZ and camped in the middle of nowhere for weeks many times, I believe I have stood on parts of the earth where no man has stood before in the remote regions on NZ on hunting trips in the wonderous forests which adorne this Godzone country of our.
Very sincerly.
Maurice Enright.
Sorry about the typing and spelling its 2.45am here and i just typed the message and sent it on through, so I guess the message is, that was from the heart, straight from the hip and what you see is what you get with myself, The comments regarding Shearing possums and the bush are just background info, i guess designed to tell you Im not an office guy sitting in Auckland sipping a latte and looking at the wall street journal, and checking out my shares. I was a shearer for 5 years back in the 80’s and I am proud of that and being a professinal possum hunter, living of the land and my own skills, and pitting myself against nature everyday, having no boss and feeling free, wow that was good, I had a family and young kids and now they are a bit more less dependant the wife and I are looking towards getting som freedom back, and sidestepping the politics and bulls*%t of the modern era, etc.
M.E.
Great to Have Mike in NZ! please keep on posting about the project, me and some friends are very excited with the idea of building an earthship and would go anywhere to do it.
Hi, I still don´t understand what do you do with the solids… and the gases, could you be more especific in that matter?
Great to have your input Maurice and your block in Kumara sounds exciting. FYI Latte sipping office workers also want to change the world for the better sometimes too. 😉
Eduardo – can you clarify what bit you’re not clear on; is it the sewage treatment? NZ’ers have grown up with septic tanks and onsite sewage treatment for generations. This is similar to that. The treatment of sewage over time breaks everything down. There is no waste in nature.
Whatever we can do to help get Michael Reynolds to NZ to give us all the real deal on Earth Ships, we are keen!!
My partner and I are very excited at the prospect of sharing some time with Michael and would love to help any way shape or form. And though there are already numerous offers of space to build an Earth ship, we are also offering the possibility to build here in Central Otago on our land. Arohanui
Hi admin, sorry if my comment’s regards to Latte sippers, I enjoy a good latte myself, I guess I was trying to emphasize that I am not tyre kicking, I work in an office myself these days, so my apologies. FYI, my wife and I have just returned from the coast today and had a meeting with the WDC (Westland district council) planner as we are trying to get the ball rolling with vehicle access to the block (its right next to a tar-sealed road, we still need there permission in regard to where its allowed and other requirements) I asked what the councils stand was on alternative dwellings, and when asked, “what type of dwelling” and earthship was my reply, the planner had never heard of them, so took us to another council member, who deals with building consents, building codes and standards, she introduced us (not giving him our names or giving us his) as “these people want to build a house out of old tyres” when he asked what type of dwelling again I said “earthship sir” and again this good man had never heard of and earth ship, the guy would have been 50 years old at least, was slumped in his chair the whole time my wife and I were in his office, he had both of his shoe laces undone, and 1/2 a dozen bottles of beer and a bottle of wine sitting on the shelf behind him. He was pretty negative, and said “why not build out of timber etc” he said they would look at the concept and structural integrity, and especially the weather proofing side of things as it was an adobe type of dwelling. The westcoast is quite wet, and they said they would have concerns about keeping water out and would need to look at hoe we would propose to do that, he mentioned they had knocked back a straw-bale design, earlier in the year, and the consent was only granted after the owners agreed to adjust there plans and budget, to accommodate the WDC stipulation that the outside was a traditional cladding (not plaster etc) and they were allowed to use straw on the inside. My wife and I have met with the WDC, before today with other steps along the way to getting the block surveyed and other normal stuff. I am not perturbed by the lack of knowledge, or by the ignorance and the fact that there would have got a great laugh out of us once we left the council building. I will just have to try to put together a decent proposal and follow the advice by Mike Reynolds in his book Earthship Vol 2 Pages 245 – 251 and maybe some advice by the people and organisations who visit this website. How many earthships have been built in NZ thus far? Hey again I just want to apologise if my comments regards to office people and sipping coffees, ok, I meant to offend no one, I had more the presence of mind that, “one can portray themselves as anything they like on the Internet” and was merely trying to confirm that I was me and not someone pretending to be an earth loving greenies, and a fake, wasting peoples time.
Any and all feedback both positive and negative is most greatly received, and if anyone else is having to deal with councils etc, and has advice or history that may help myself and other readers, please feel free to let me know.
Regards.
Maurice Enright.
Kirwee.
Canterbury.
New Zealand.
How can I get a copy of this book or report.
National Earthquake Technical Assistance Contract
EMW-92-c-3852-Task Assignment 63 WJE No. 952009
May 7, 1995
I am very interested in helping out with this project any way that I can. I would love to give my time and energy towards building an earthship. I plan to build something very similar myself someday, so the experience would be invaluable to me
Fantastic! Michael Reynolds wants to come to Aotearoa, well I cannot wait for that to happen as I have only in the last few days been told about Earthships and to check them out on Youtube. Well, I can tell you this, I am hooked – Michael Reynolds you are must be the child of Mother Earth. Like most of those who have commented, I too have a freehold piece of land I want to build an Earthship on.Keep us posted on your arrival Michael…Nau mai haere mai (Come, Welcome).
Fantastic! Michael Reynolds wants to come to Aotearoa, well I cannot wait for that to happen as I have only in the last few days been told about Earthships and to check them out on Youtube. Well, I can tell you this, I am hooked – Michael Reynolds you are must be the child of Mother Earth. Like most of those who have commented, I too have a freehold piece of land I want to build an Earthship on.Keep us posted on your arrival Michael – Nau mai haere mai (Come, Welcome) so see you soon.