Garbage Warriors

Garbage Warriors

 

Last Sunday (1/30) a group of guys from Taos dropped by to finish the Earthship that they had started sometime before my arrival.  These guys are led by their fearless leader, Michael Reynolds, who is the subject of the film, "Garbage Warrior."  Mike has been building homes form tires, plastic bottles and anything else he can get his hands on for quite some time now.  At times he has gone toe to toe with the building authorities losing his architecture license for his efforts (though I think he has it back now).

 

From the start this was a motley, irreverent and at times vulgar crew, but they were also lovable.  They descended upon the scene like a swarm of locusts bringing with them a team of local Haitians to help out.  From the moment they got here, it was asses and elbows everywhere.  I swear I saw sparks fly at times.  They started packing tires with dirt to serve as the foundation for the cistern that would catch water from the roof.  This was then covered with a layer of concrete.  They dug one hole in the ground, lined it with 2 layers of 10 mil plastic sheet and added 3 tires.  After building a domed shape with rebar and wire mesh, the space was covered with a concrete top.  Above the tires they placed a flush toilet that would use grey water.  Like a traditional septic tank, the solids will be contained within the tire chamber and the liquids will seep through the tires and eventually raise high enough to exit through a pipe into 2 more holes they dug.  These were also lined with plastic and then filled with dirt and plants.  This black water system would use the nutrients from the septic tank to feed the plants.  By means of evaporation and transpiration, the liquids will dissipate.

 

The (bucket) shower was roughed out with another batch of rebar and wire mesh, complete with arched entrance.  The main living structure, which already had a concrete ceiling, got a 2 foot layer of bags loaded with plastic bottles to serve as insulation, more rebar and wire mesh and another coat of cement.  The hole in the center of the ceiling was covered with a mushroom structure which uses plastic shingles from the same plastic bottles that are so ubiquitous here in Haiti.

 

Throughout the project, plastic bottles were placed at regular intervals in all of the walls.  These will eventually degrade under the relentless assault of the sun's UV rays but they look really cool for the time being.

 

They landscaped the grounds and when they left it was a very artistic expression of Mike's passion for using whatever garbage is available to create comfortable and pleasing living spaces.  That said, however, I see several problems with their design.  The bottles that decay will leave holes that in many cases will need to be filled.  The mushroom, while quite impressive looking, will fail by any of at least 4 vectors.  The space between the bottom of the mushroom and the hole in the roof is large enough that during a horizontal rain event (i.e. hurricane) it will undoubtedly leak.  When the plastic shingles degrade, the roof will leak during a normal, vertical rain event.  The weight of the mushroom roof, which has concrete sections between the plastic shingles, is way too much for the bare rebar that supports it.  During an earthquake it will shake rattle and roll before crashing down.  And finally, the exposed rebar will eventually rust away until it can no longer support its load.

 

But in the meantime, it looks way cool.

 

 

The US contingent of the crew was pretty interesting.  One night they were on the front portico doing some awesome gymnastic and advanced yoga moves.  One trick they did was to balance on one foot as they lowered themselves low enough to knock over a bic lighter with their nose.  I tried it with a (short) beer bottle and eventually got it, but lost my balance on the way up.

 

Most of the other nights were spent drinking copious amounts of alcohol and teasing each other about their (lack of) manhood.  Lots of politically incorrect stuff that I did not let bother me.  Perhaps it was because they were extremely helpful during the day.  At one point we had a small footer to dig for our front "Galri" (veranda).  One of the guys, affectionately known as salty dog due to his tenure in the navy, came over with their electric jack hammer and with the spade bit broke up enough dirt in 5 minutes to keep our Haitian boys shoveling for the next half hour.  They also offered to help us pour the slab and gave us advice on how to mix our earth plaster.

 

Being either the oldest, or nearly the oldest, person here at GRU (depending on who happens to be here at any moment) it has been at times difficult for me to hook up with many of the kids here, who are mostly in their 20's and 30's.  But I had no problem feeling comfortable around these guys and we all hoped we would meet again down the road.

 

Martin left the same day they did, along with Tim.  But Tina from Canada arrived that same day as well and she's a pip.  She's a plaster expert with her own natural building company and has been here before.  That was made clear by the warm reception she received from many of the folks who had met her on her first trip.  She's got a lot of energy and fits in well with our otherwise all-male crew.  I look forward to working with and learning from her.

 

The house is progressing well and ready for a growth spurt.  The window shutters are up and after only one day most of the final coat of plaster has been applied to the exterior.  I'll start tomorrow putting up the posts and beam for the galri and within a couple of days it should be done.  By that time the final plaster coat will be completed on the exterior and we'll be looking for things to do while we wait for the cob floor to dry before going back inside for the final interior plaster coat, the final earth floor layer and the bamboo dividing wall.

 

Will try and get some pictures posted if I can get access to a mac for a bit.