Update

As the house is coming very near completion we continue to discover more things to inspire us, and our passions are expanding if you can believe it. Wow looking back over the past three years it is interesting to see where passion has led. From our first date three years ago, to marriage 6 months later, buying our land with mom and dad joining in the fun, completion of our cob wood working shop, building our sustainable earthen home, education programs, tours, publicity, policy, politics, and gardens. All while weaving much learning into each of these phases. Passions outside of our manufactured culture has provided us more personal reward in such a short period than either of us had known throughout all our previous years. We hear the stories about following your passions, or the importance to choose a job that fulfills your passion, but at every step of our lives we are veered away from them, towards… earning an income.

Even as the rains fell the day of the tour for the Board of Directors of the BCSEA, there was a passion for collecting rain water. In one day, our 2500 ft2 roof collected 1250 gallons of rain water. So despite digging into the damped humanure compost to show off our composted manure, with us soaking wet, we were happy as pigs in “good stuff” knowing that our recently emptied rain cisterns were being filled. One inch (2.5 cm) of rain basically gives us 1300 gallons of water. (For the nerds 2500 ft2 at 1 inch depth translates into 360,000 cubic inches; 1 imperial gallon equals 277.4 in3 thus 1 inch of rain equates to 1297 gallons).

When Do We Move In?

Seeing as we are speaking numbers, here’s another. Forty-Four! No not Ann’s age. This is the number of working days until we can move in, +/- 100 of course. Hopefully by the end of November we will be reuniting with old clothes that seem new, and be leaving our comfy little mildew ridden filth soaked (opposite of heaven) hole of a trailer. Yes a mud home never looked so good. All the used lighting is virtually up, all the ceilings done, most of the interior brown coat complete. Just have to finish the final plasters, build range hoods, finish the earthen floors, build exterior deck, bathroom cabinets, some window sills, install trim, sand and seal all the kitchen cabinets, some milk paints, and that is it. Wow does finishing ever take a long time!

Insulation

This past while we have observed how insulation of buildings has become the icon of green, from products sold from green businesses, to discussions on the radio, and with the redefining and greening of the building code. Interestingly many professionals seem to agree that in our climate, insulation is only one small part of building a sustainable home. Considering insulation as the end-all be-all while ignoring thermal mass, embodied energy of products used, and lifespan of the building is quite irresponsible. Even more irresponsible are the manufacturers of all these “products” who are driving green building in unsustainable directions. As someone pointed out to us, living in an insulated sealed plastic bag drives him crazy so he opens his windows… ahh building science defeated by good common sense, and fresh air.

Redefining Green

Talk, talk, talk and more talk about climate change, economic failures, and environmental degradation. And even more talk about what to do about it. From the debates on carbon taxes, cap and trade, political bickering, and the endless talk of where to get our energy. It is all sounding so complicated to get ourselves out of the expanding mess we created.

But wait a minute…we are trying to solve these complicated problems with the same complex thinking that got us into this crisis in the first place.

What if we took a step back and looked at the problem from a different perspective, a simpler perspective.

Instead of looking for solutions to maintain the current status quo of increasing energy use and increasing consumption of natural resources, why don’t we consider changing the entire way we think and live? Maybe we don’t have an energy crisis at all but instead a social opportunity; an opportunity to create a more fulfilling life.

We all complain about how busy we are working to pay for all of our stuff, from our mortgages and fuel, to our food.

Stop focusing on the problem…Focus on the solution.

How many people out there crave to have more time to work around the home, garden, attend community events, have friends over for family meals, or just some down time? Instead of having this big problem that makes all of our heads spin to the point where many of us actually prefer to remain ignorant, why don’t we just get rid of the problem and the guilt by creating a better way to live? A life built upon a close knit community where food and shelter become the focus of our lives enabling greater individual fulfillment.

Take housing for one. (Property developers and builders looking for big profit need not read further). What if we were to redefine what green building was? If all new dwellings were truly green or sustainable they would meet the following criteria.

1. Less than 400ft2 per occupant. This smaller size means less embodied energy to create the home, less energy to heat/cool the home, and less space to store stuff. More time spent outdoors means fitter healthier bodies and less health concerns. More time bumping into our neighbors and the natural environment translates into feelings of belonging and individual value.
2. Simple homes that have a life expectancy of more than 500 years. If simpler more affordable homes were created suddenly we have less homeless and struggling families, less social ills, and more land to grow food. Sustainable energies power these homes either from the grid, community power, self generating, and our own healthy well fed bodies.
3. Less stuff to plug in. These homes dramatically reduce their energy requirements because of their size, passive solar design, natural and LED lighting, and the occupants choosing to buy less stuff to plug in.

All we need to do now is to figure out how to get off of the current rollercoaster and onto fulfilling sustainability.

The grand finale of the month

What do termites and a cob house have in common? Absolutely nothing! Termites won’t eat our home! After dinner we talked about how scared our culture was to eat what some other cultures eat, like termites. But what about termites… actually Isopterans. (Ann used to work as an entomologist). Well Ann discussed how nervous she was to try one…and could only think about how unappealing they look under a high powered microscope during dissection, so Parker and Emily to the rescue.

Emily was the first to eat a termite, tearing the wings off and eating the butt then the head. Then, not to be outdone, Ann ate one, as I looked on disgustedly. Then Grandma Merrily and Parker, while Ann cheered. Boo of course had always eaten the flying protein morsels and his acrobatic leaps provided much entertainment. I couldn’t be shamed as they continued to go down the hatches. So… as Emily collected a whole pile of heads… which she is saving as dessert, I couldn’t be outdone. So I did it, tore the wings off and down it went, followed by a sip of rum of course. Papa Howie declined watching us all in disbelief.

I only hope after this update that the kids aren’t taken away…as the kids mom called while they were eating termites. Parker was explaining to his mother very matter of factly about eating termites, while he yelled at his sister, “Emily, those are my heads”! Hearing this comment, Ann collapsed laughing and rolling on the trailer floor trying not to be heard by the kids’ Mom on the other end of the phone.

We learned that organic locally processed (wings removed) protein is at our fingertips… goodbye Maple Leaf Foods. We spent the rest of the evening making sure the chickens got their share too as we all ran around in circles being chased by five happy hens.

(cross-posted at www.eco-sense.ca)

I had finished the update… until we decided on tomorrow nights dinner. Ann suggested rabbit as we had one in the freezer shot and dressed (actually undressed) by our local goat farmer. Parker was the first to ok it. I can’t explain my reaction… to Parker’s response “If we can eat termites then we can eat rabbit!”

Welcome to reprogramming. As Papa Howie said, “Bugs Bunny it is then”.

Termites are also the world’s most efficient bioreactors turning cellulose into hydrogen. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite#Termites_as_a_source_of_power

(cross-posted at www.eco-sense.ca)