Re the Jan. 6 letter by Chris George of Wellandport, claiming the "Earthship" tire house we are building may be deadly.
He makes vague reference to a Mother Earth News article from the '60s or '70s in an attempt to discredit us and the project as ill-conceived and ill-informed. It's time to bring George into the '90s.
The cover story of In Business, Volume 17, No 5, 1995, "Building Self-Sufficiency into New Homes: An Earthship" by Robert Stoutville, states that there are more than 300 Earthships throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico. Bolivia and Japan. This technology was not abandoned, as George claims.
George's scare tactic of listing chemicals and hazards, ignores the facts completely. A tire pounded full of earth, encased in cement, wrapped with vapor barrier, surrounded by drainige tile as per the Ontario Building Code, exclusive of air and unexposed to ultraviolet light, does not break down. Had he asked for construction details, he would have understood his fears were unfounded.
We, as private citizens, invested our time and money and flew to Taos, New Mexico, to see if this new environmentally appropriate Earshship technology worked. We researched it and read three volumes of Earthship books by Michael Reynolds.
Because I had chemically-induced asthma, we paid to stay in an Earthship for three days to assure ourselves it was healthy housing. As a Canadian canary that can report back, I assure George the air in Earthships is fine. No mystery chemicals in there. However, I would add the ambient air in Southern Ontario is so contaminated from incinerators, that I can no longer reside there.
My statements are based on facts and personal investigations. There's more to the new home that my husband Chuck and I are building than tires. The Earthship is an affordable shelter. This revolutionary architecture is for people interested in sustainable living now.