Cob: Re: cob life - how do they do it?

Fri Sep 27 22:09:21 CDT 2002

Angy, 

It takes creativity (and a willingness to live an alternative lifestyle :)  A composting toilet system, wood heat (for a cheap way to make a stove: http://www.electricrailroad.com/Stove/Stove.html), oil lamps for light, a root cellar (or similar) for food storage, rainwater catchment for water... etc. But no matter how much you scrounge, it will cost you *something*.

We are putting up a small cabin (unfortunately not cob, because of time constraints. That's what the house will be when we get around to building it!). It will be some land that we own out in the middle of nowhere (ok, not really, it just feels like it to this city girl :) There is no electricity or natural gas nearby; our neighbors all use generators, wells and septic. We are going to use the composting toilet system described here: http://www.weblife.org/humanure/. Our greywater will be used to water our garden with a design like this: http://thenaturalhome.com/greywater.html, or maybe something similar, but more simple. We will have no running water, but are planning on putting up gutters that empty into 55 gallon drums (which we got for free) and pumping water out with a handpump as needed. I'll filter the water we drink & cook with, but it'll be a simple (read: cheap) system, nothing elaborate. On warm days we plan on using a solar shower, on cold winter days we'll take baths with water heated by the woodstove. We'll have a root cellar for food storage and maybe an ice chest for our soymilk & stuff that needs to be kept super cold. See if your local library carries a book called 'Living Without Electricity, And Liking It'. 

As for finding free/cheap recycled stuff, keep your eyes open. We find stuff all the time just sitting out on the street... We picked up a really nice sliding glass door with side windows the other day. Also look on the internet for a materials exchange in your area. There's one here in California called CalMax http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/, there might be something like it aorund you.

Ok, I started this email thinking I would just jot down a few ideas, and I ended up writing a novel :)  Sorry about that!

-Cari

ps. Since this is actually my first post to this list (been a lurker for a *long* time now), maybe I should say "Hi" to everyone :)

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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Angy, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It takes creativity (and a willingness to live an 
alternative lifestyle :)  A composting toilet system, wood heat (for a 
cheap way to make a stove: <A 
href="http://www.electricrailroad.com/Stove/Stove.html">http://www.electricrailroad.com/Stove/Stove.html</A>), 
oil lamps for light, a root cellar (or similar) for food storage, rainwater 
catchment for water... etc. But no matter how much you scrounge, it will cost 
you *something*.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>We are putting up a small cabin (unfortunately not 
cob, because of time constraints. That's what the house will be when we get 
around to building it!). It will be some land that we own out in the 
middle of nowhere (ok, not really, it just feels like it to this city girl :) 
There is no electricity or natural gas nearby; our neighbors all use generators, 
wells and septic. We are going to use the composting toilet system described 
here: <A 
href="http://www.weblife.org/humanure/">http://www.weblife.org/humanure/</A>. 
Our greywater will be used to water our garden with a design like this: <A 
href="http://thenaturalhome.com/greywater.html">http://thenaturalhome.com/greywater.html</A>, 
or maybe something similar, but more simple. We will have no running water, but 
are planning on putting up gutters that empty into 55 gallon drums (which we got 
for free) and pumping water out with a handpump as needed. I'll filter the water 
we drink & cook with, but it'll be a simple (read: cheap) system, nothing 
elaborate. On warm days we plan on using a solar shower, on cold winter days 
we'll take baths with water heated by the woodstove. We'll have a root cellar 
for food storage and maybe an ice chest for our soymilk & stuff that needs 
to be kept super cold. See if your local library carries a book called 'Living 
Without Electricity, And Liking It'. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As for finding free/cheap recycled stuff, keep your 
eyes open. We find stuff all the time just sitting out on the street... We 
picked up a really nice sliding glass door with side windows the other day. Also 
look on the internet for a materials exchange in your area. There's one here in 
California called CalMax <A 
href="http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/">http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/</A>, 
there might be something like it aorund you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ok, I started this email thinking I would just jot 
down a few ideas, and I ended up writing a novel :)  Sorry about 
that!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Cari</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>ps. Since this is actually my first post to this 
list (been a lurker for a *long* time now), maybe I should say "Hi" to everyone 
:)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>

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