clay

Until relatively recently we all built our homes from local, unprocessed materials (ie stone, wood, straw, earth). Not only do modern buildings impose a burden on the environment- clearcutting, mining, manufacturing runoff into the air and water, etc- but many of the manufactured materials are making us sick. “Even the mainstream press carries frequent stories of cancers and respiratory problems linked to formaldehyde-based glues, plastics, paints, asbestos, and fiberglass, to name a few favorite culprits,” explains Michael G. Smith in the book “The Art of Natural Building”. Smith gave us a tour around his current home, the Emerald Earth Sanctuary (an intentional community in Mendocino, California), and showed us the many examples of very modern-looking earth structures (including cob, straw bale, clay wattle and slip straw). Original story here: faircompanies.com * This is one in a long series of videos with Smith regarding natural building.

Tagged as: Again, Build, building, clay, Natural, Return, Straw

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