Near-sustainable Living Circa 1880

I ran across this photo recently:



I thought it was interesting because it shows many of the things people are trying to do today:
- Green (living) roof
- Natural building material, mostly gathered from the building site
- Ultra low emission vehicle
- Home wind power
- Eco-lawn

I'm not saying this is how everyone should live, I just like to show it to people who freak out at the thought of the "new ideas" I listed above.

The photo was taken in Decatur County Kansas in the 1880's.  Source: http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/214863

some of those old windmills are still functioning in our area

I have a picture of similar, of our place of some long lost relatives setting out in front of the Soddy, 
I have put the windmills back up and using them to pump water with,  (do have electric back up tho), my mills are more modern than in the picture below, one is a 1934 and one is a 1939 or so,
a 9000 gallon storage tank, that can gravity feed the farm, (do have a pressure booster pump we  us as well normally),
now day if one would use a sod roof, they would have the equivalent of a quality roof under  it  of modern materials, and not have the problem they had of sand working down in the house or the bugs or snakes dropping out of the roof,
the soddies that still stand were stuccoed,  and given a hard shell, to with stand the elements,
most were glad to have the indoor plumbing and electric lights tho, now that can be provide with renewable process,
listing to my folks talk about life with plumbing and electricity, and what I have experienced, I do not desire going that stark simple,
In some ways I am amazed that the life expencetany was as long it was then,

A sod roof is one thing.  A sod house, quite another.