occasionally, i learn something from reading my local newspaper- more often it is about the stupidity and shortsightedness of my neighbors here- but this week the 'letters to the editor' section actually enlightened me. we are apparently having an environmental fair this week at one of our local catholic churches- which is great. many experts and vendors and who not will be there but what caught my attention was 'straw houses.' i had no idea what they were talking about- so i googled it and here is what i found:
building your house from straw
straw house plans
those are only 2 out of over 1,300,000 google hits. i was flabbergasted. where have i been?
"Straw bale building construction has recently become popular with people looking to build an inexpensive, ecologically sound house or other structure. Straw bale construction was devised in the mid-1800s in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, and some straw houses are still standing in the American midwest. Such houses have been built recently in the United States for as little as $4 per square foot."
take a look- i am fascinated. also, as we look ahead to summer vacations- it's important to note that travel is blamed for more than one quarter of greenhouse gases. before you think- 'my god- she wants to ruin everything- consider this- you can plan eco-friendly vacations. think about purchasing 'carbon credits.' many companies and non profits are sponsoring programs where consumers can use money to offset investments into eco friendly technologies and what not. here are a few places you can tabulate what the costs would be- and see just how inexpensive offsetting can be- while helping give back to the environment.
nativeenergy.com
my-climate.com
a cross country flight ranges from $23-$36. not bad. apparently, expedia and travelocity offer their customers the option of offsetting- and will even tabulate the cost for you. worth a look.
3 comments:
What about the Big Bad Woolf?
Fantastic post, Betmo. A friend of mine from Chicago, years ago, sold her loft in the city and bought land in Wisconsin, where she built a straw bale house. This was about ten years ago.
As for the travel tips - I am trying to be part of the solution, and am in discussion with another travel company to that end. Going to link your post to my blog today.
I had a chance to tour one of those houses. The day was very hot outside, but the straw made super insulation and the interior was at least 10 degrees cooler inside. Double the savings, especially here in hot Florida.
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