[Cob] Looking for answers (Henry Raduazo): mixing cob withrototiller

[avjyoung at shaw.ca]

I struggle with this one all the time. With everything that we use to build 
our house, and everything that we do to build it, we are finding the balance 
point between the financial cost, the environmental cost of 
making/using/installing something, the lifespan of the material, and the 
time it takes to do any given thing. The balance point changes ALL the time, 
depending on where we are at. We also keep in mind that the energy used to 
build the house is a fraction of the energy it will take to live in the 
house for its lifespan. So far we are comfortable with the trade-off of 
using fossil fuels to make the cob (the rototiller and the backhoe both use 
very little), and electricity to run power tools in order to move in sooner 
and quit living in our decaying little cottage. Once we move in, that could 
easily change... I like to mow my lawn with a hand scythe.....

Also, to make natural building more easy for mainstream builders to get 
their heads round, it helps to make it quicker and easier. That way it is 
more likely to be widely adopted and used.


Anna
cob/strawbale hybrid in Victoria BC

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tim
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 6:30 AM
To: E W ; coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Re: [Cob] Looking for answers (Henry Raduazo): mixing cob 
withrototiller

I may just be off the beam with the general consensus here, but isn't the 
whole point of building naturally to stay away using from fossil fuels and 
machines and to rely on our human strength and what the natural world 
provides?
Using found materials and re-purposing concrete for a foundation is one 
thing...
I know I'm a hopeless romantic about the potential of this movement.