Cob: Re: cob philosophy

[Lyric]

I am sorry it took me so long to reply to this, I was away from the computer
all weekend. :) Also please understand that this reply is not meant to be
argumentative, simply a few things I wanted to add. Comments offset by **

<snip>> Here is something I posted in 1998.
<snip>
>
> Specifically that of: low cost as the "ideal" ethic of a "correct" cob
> culture.
>
> Each of us is in an economic reality - some folks have less $ ( either
> by
> choice or circumstance ) and some folks have more. These are realities
> of our
> personal lives & we are faced with either living within our economic
> means or
> changing them ( having access to more $).

*** While this is absolutely true (that some have more financial resources
than others), those who have what may seem an unlimited disposable income
usually want to save money as well (because that same disposable income
could go to other places such as vacations t the islands or what have you).
That aside however, I have never felt (and I may be wrong) that any of the
books or other materials I have researched have stated in any way that it is
wrong to spend more on the building. I always took it as "this low amount is
possible and may or may not be desirable."
>
<snip>> I am troubled by this for two reasons:
>
> 1. It ignores the fact that for these cast off materials to be available
> to us
> they still had to be manufactured by someone. And if the materials are
> low/no
> cost because they are industrial seconds, that simply means that another
> unit
> of the same industrial product that was not a second was produced to
> take its
> place ( a gain for you, but an additional loss for the planet). Only a
> recycling that reduces pollution , unnecessary transportation or
> wasteful
> original manufacturing has real benefit to the larger world. I mean,
> recycle
> & reuse as much as you can - just don't hold it up to be more than the
> personal
> bargain that it is (if that's all that it really is). It's important to
> be
> brutally honest with ourselves on this - no delusions are needed - we
> have
> enough of those already.

****Oh oh! Brutal honesty is my favorite. :) I have the bad habit of
offending people with my own honesty so I enjoy it when others are brutally
honest. :)  If we call the manufacturing process, trucking, stores, etc. to
be the embodied energy of a product then a first use product has 100%
embodied energy yes? Regardless of the fact that some of those products have
more than others they all have 100% of their amount of embodied energy when
we bring them into our lives and in fact with our driving to bring them home
we might say they have increased their capacity in that step as well. For
this example lets just take a sink. Now if I go buy a sink at the hardware
store or at the local antique mart or pick it up from someones trash bin it
still has 100% embodied energy, because that can never be taken away.

But I think the point that is being missed here is that if 50% of people
aquired used sinks from the trash bin or what have you then there would be
fewer new sinks being manufactured. And that is where the savings comes in.
Not that my one sink will save the world but that I can only control myself
and do my part and hope others follow my example. No, embodied energy does
not change that is true and many people miss that point when thinking
recyclyig is valuable but missing that point does not reduce its value
either. You don't have to know why a carrot is good for you to gain the
benefit of eating one. :)

On factory seconds... agreed, they are not the savings to the planet many
believe however they have another benefit that you neglected to mention that
is a benefit, and that is in keeping these things out of the landfills. Many
manufacturers will discard such things into the landfills by the truckloads
and so you are doing that additional benefit. The system is a mess and it
does little good for anyone let alone the planet but you do what you can do
and hope someone smarter than me comes along and fixes the system, thats all
we really can do. ;)

>
> 2. This bothers me even more - the idea that removing cob from the
> economic
> mainstream is a superior goal. Again, if you can get free from modern
> economic madness by all means do so. Its just that there is a WHOLE
> WORLD
> of people for whom that is not reality. For cob to be effective in the
> lives
> of most people it (cob) must find a way to fit into the mainstream
> patterns of
> economic life. To say that cob must be in a non money world as much as
> any
> honest cobber can stand is selling us all short. We as cobbers need to
> work
> on all fronts. If we see cob as limited to only a frugal & humble being
> then
> we are marginalizing ourselves and cob into a position that will keep us
> on
> the fringe. Again - the fringe is fine if that's where you personally
> want to
> be - its just that the fringe is just that, the fringe. But if we truly
> want to
> change the beast we must strike at its heart & like it or not - being
> able to
> have an economic impact on the lives of people will do that in a way
> that the
> economic and cultural margin cannot do.

******I think this precise reason (And I absolutely agree with you for the
record) is why the workshops in particular are such an advantage. The only
way to combat cob remaining on the fringeof society is education. This
includes not only owner/builders but also the building inspectors and other
officials. Ignorance on any subject is its downfall no matter how wonderful
it might be.

As an example of ignorance, my children told my ex-husband on the phone
about our project one night. They were espousing to him the glories of water
catchment... his response? "But, ew, thats not safe, birds poop on the
roof!"

Talking to people and educating them in the most gentle of ways can bridge a
lot of gaps. There are of course companies now albeit very few who build cob
professionally for others who would prefer to have it done rather than to do
it themselves. I think this is a wonderful step in the right direction.
There are other ways and so many avenues that still need to be explored and
worked out but I do think that it is slowly heading in that direction. The
more houses there are for people to touch and feel and see, the closer we
come to the ideal of cob being an accepted, commonplace choice.

Cheyenne

"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of
thought which they seldom use."
-Kierkegaard