Sustainable Housing
The Garden of Eden building plan includes a variety of sustainable structures that range from permanent earthen buildings that last for hundreds of years with little to no maintenance or repair, to semi-permanent dwellings made of recycled or re-purposed materials, to tents that can be put up in an hour.
We currently have a several sheds and a chicken coop built out of pallets salvaged from the landfill. We fabricate roofs and covers from re-purposed billboard tarps; they provide rain cover as well as additional storage space and shade. This enhances our ability to control the indoor temperature during summer heat. We have a teeny tiny home village made from scrapped shipping crates. These are hundreds of pounds of wood and countless resources invested in manufacturing and transportation that was forsaken to rot in a trash pile, and we alchemize it into free housing for people in need. The City of Arlington has made it very difficult for us to thrive and has drained much of our energy, yet this is an important factor in why we are doing what we are doing. We are engaging lawful practices in court to get recognition for our freedom to live a sustainable life - even if it is "not up to code". We have lots of info on this available on youtube. Additionally, there are plans being made now for housing for interns and long term inhabitants in both dorm and individual style dwellings of a variety of building styles including tents, tee-pees, earth bag buildings, and cob buildings. We have the resources and know how to expand very quickly with very comfortable buildings at a high degree of sustainability, but have been on hold due to the city's attempts and enforced slavery upon us. We are not scared nor are we backing down. We are pushing forward without compliance, spending hundreds of hours using the law to prove we are free and can build our own buildings for our own way of life despite that they are not the standard approved by code structures. We of course are aware of how unsustainable these buildings are. It is very important that conscious and free beings are free to choose for themselves what kind of homes they want to live in and build. The resources and know-how are worthless if a dictator is forcing compliance on the way of life. This is an essential aspect of our purpose not just in building but in every facet of life. So we are taking lawful steps to get recognition of our freedom so that not only we but everyone can live free. Only responsibility can lead to the Golden Age~*~ |
Sustainable Living Quarters Human inhabitants at the Garden of Eden have a few options of where to make their own nests. There is one large bedroom inside the main house that is set up as a dormitory for short term inhabitants. With bunks made of pallets and a curtain divider, it is efficiently and tastefully decorated to serve its purpose of sheltering Eden's helpers. Outside, there is a geodesic dome structure, made of wood and tarps, that was brought and built by former GOE inhabitant Christian in 2011. About 16 feet in diameter and height, it provides an open and unique dwelling space inside. In 2012 a 30 foot RV was donated to the Garden of Eden and set towards the rear of the lot in the shade of a mature pecan tree. The trailer has since been gutted, bits at a time, and the interior has been resurfaced with lovely weathered fence panels and wood flooring all received through free, sustainable, second hand channels. Further back on the lot there is a 1985 Chevy Suburban frame that in 2013 was gutted and buried underground up to its windows. The windows are framed in tires and the top of the frame was buried with another foot of earth. The interior has been refurbished to accommodate a queen size bed in the former seating area, with the original deck of the rear left open and carpeted. Above and around the rear end there is a pallet structure that extends back another ten feet or so creating a little room for entry and storage for the vehicle's inhabitants. In the spring of 2014 we erected a lovely cottage of cob, reused pallets, salvaged tin roofing and donated carpet remnants. It essentially cost us no money, only the energy it took to build it. With our own bare hands and feet, we mixed literally a ton of cob and applied it, one big muddy glob at a time. About six pallets wide and four deep, it is a cozy and earthy. It offers a more private feeling as it is nestled in a dome of branches of a large mature tree at the edge of the plot, hidden away from the sight of most angles on the lot. In 2015 we are creating a tent villa, a cluster of well appointed glamping space for visitors who come to Eden during warm seasons. Again alchemizing waste into resource, we will utilize a rich score of free tents salvaged from the wreckage of a music and camping festival, along with our favorites- more pallets and carpet remnants, to create this simple and functional space. |
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