[Cob] natural building

[dhowell at pickensprogressonline.com]

	Yes, in a way, it is the point to be natural and use human strength,  
but man kind's true strength is his brain which allows him to make  
tools that make the job easier. If you dig all your footings by hand  
(not with a shovel or pick axe) you may never get done. If you use  
chunks of urbanite and place by hand (someone already used a machine  
to mine limestone/ clay/stones and transport it and used a cement  
mixer to pour into forms made of 2x4's which were made at a mill).  
Then you start bending over to pull that man-made tarp with 100  
pounds of cob on it, and load into a wheelbarrow (man-made) only  
after all that you apply cob with your hand. So really, there's no  
way around using the genius of human ingenuity. But if you wanted to  
be truly natural but build a real sized house it's gonna take your  
whole life and all the while you'll have to live in a fox den. Not  
sure what you would eat since you can't kill or grow anything without  
tools. To what degree is fossil fuels being use it building cob  
accepted? My personal experience is that if you don't have a job, and  
someone else takes care of all your material needs, then you can take  
10 years to build your house for $500, but most of us don't have that  
luxury.

Damon