Taos, NM, June 2015
A few miles out of Taos we visited a small development where houses are built with recycled and renewable materials. Houses are totally off grid, solar and wind provide  power. Collected rain water, snow melt and condensation provide water. It was fascinating. I admire people who live with such attention to taking care of mother earth. I need to do better, even small things can make a difference. 

Model home/Earth Ship's office. Seminars are held at this location, attendees are university students and people wanting to learn how to build an Earth Ship house. They claim anybody can learn to build one of these amazing houses and can be built in any part of the country. (One is currently being built in Williams AZ, about 30 miles from Flagstaff.) We were able to tour this house, there was signage and a video explaining more about the Earth Ships. We could also see the many systems in operation. It looked complicated but they claim not so much once learned.

Since the house is built into the ground we could walk on top the roof, the roof has a slant which enhances the rain collection, the water runs down the channel into the water system inside the house.

All houses have a greenhouse incorporated into the floor plan used for growing food, we saw some tasty looking veggies. Gray water from sinks and showers is filtered and piped into the greenhouse. The filtered gray water is also used to flush toilets.

House in the construction phase. I wanted to get a closer look but being a construction site and private property, it was understandably off limits. Looks to be a good size house, all the windows to the south will give it tons of passive solar power. Behind this house in the distance are more Earth Ship houses. Again, it's private property and not really a tourist drive. Although at the office they have a listing of one for sale, they also have one house that can be rented for a weekend stay. 

This interesting building is in the same area as the office, it's used for seminars and meetings. The decorative gizmo on top is actually a wind turbine for generating electricity. 

Interesting wall by the office house. The old tires on the bottom are filled with dirt pounded in with huge sledge hammers (by hand), referred to as rammed earth. This provides a good support base as well as a thick wall for insulation. The rammed earth tires are used as the foundation in the houses then covered with an adobe type mud. What a great way to use old tires. Old bottles are often incorporated as a decorative feature. There were so many innovative ideas used in these houses. If you're interested in reading more, check out their website, Earthship.com.