mark masters wrote:...truth is, tires, like everything else, are breaking down. They are off gassing what they are made of. I have come to the conclusion that I would rather not have this type of material near where I live.
I honestly think you are misinformed and should do more
research before making claims like this one.
The truth of the matter is that those tires are fully enclosed and will not break down in your lifetime and gas or fire is not an issue since they are not exposed to the elements / air / sunshine and regular wear and tear that nature throws at it.
The big issue I have is that Earthship concept is 20 years old, sorely outdated and tire pounding as most already know is mostly a useless endeavor and best left to the young folk with lots of energy to spare and no money... to spare.
Tire bales are a much better idea.
http://www.touchtheearthranch.com/tirebales.htm
However sourcing tires in this day and age is becoming harder at least up here in Canada. I realise recycling is still gathering traction in the US or as the nice lady in the Florida food court told me a few years ago: "Oh we don't recycle in Florida dear" with a nice smirk on her face when I was looking for a recycle bin for my milk carton, but I digress.
Here, in Albera, a local recycler makes it his business to source tires to shred and make a living providing the broken down materials to be used in other industries. An article I read stated that he goes as far as a 1000 Kilometers away to get those tires so finding plenty of tires the same size would be a very time consuming if not fruitless exercise. I'm sorry I did look for the link to that article but was unable to locate it at this time.
Earthships are a great idea to introduce the concept that yes you can live a better life and not have to pay utility bills (or very little), however as most who spend any amount of time researching the project will soon realise that they will have to modify the Earthship to work for their situation, and let's not forget that it is a Trademarked word and the inventor is out to make money from selling plans, labour and expertise, this is not how I would save the planet as he is claiming. Making the plans available in the public domain would be a great start so others could help improve the concept.
This is my first post and I hope to become an active participant in this community as where I live and what I do is very damaging to the planet and my dream of building an off the grid fully sustainable home is the only thing that keeps me sane.
my .02 watts...
