Using Recycled Materials To Build Your Eco-HomeIn the western world, it can sometimes seem that we are living in a throw away society so what better way to approach an eco-friendly way of life than to build ourselves an eco home from totally recycled materials.
The building techniques shown on this page have quite literally helped many thousands of people from all over the world to build eco-friendly & affordable housing. By using recycled materials, the costs of these homes are reduced dramatically, making them a great alternative to those communities where no housing is available. We hope you enjoy these totally unorthodox and highly unique approaches to building a home and may these ideas spread to where they are needed. |
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Earthships
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The development of Earthships has been an ongoing process since the 1970's and with all of this practical experience and organic understanding, it is said now that earthships are a beautiful representation of a very pure and naturally sustainable way to live (with an estimated utility bill of only $100 per year).
Being created specifically for temperature control, sustainable water management, waste-water management, indoor food gardening and many other wonderful elements, the earth ships seem to represent the collaboration of many different natural based & sustainable building practices all in one eco-home. |
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Shipping Container Homes
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Shipping containers are fast becoming a great and reliable way to get affordable and stylish housing at a great price and whether you choose to do this yourself, or get the help of professionals, the design opportunities for these housing projects are endless.
You can use any number of shipping containers in your project however given the slender nature of shipping containers, the design phase is often a very important part of these projects (to ensure you don't get left feeling claustrophobic). A very simple and easy way to help open up the space is with lots of sliding doors and large windows which is also perfect letting lots of natural sunlight and warmth into the house. In this video, we wish to share just one example of how you can purchase one of these small shipping container homes for around $30,000. |
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Bus Conversions
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For those who are looking to avoid the planning permission & building permits processes, doing a bus conversion can be a great idea. Simply buy yourself the right kind of bus i.e. high ceilings, good size, good condition etc and then start by re-fitting it with what you want surrounding you.
There are now a growing number of people in this world who are deciding that they want to become more financially free whilst at the same time, clearing out all those old things that they don't really need. For these kinds of people, a bus conversion is definitely something worth considering. In this short video, we can see just how well a bus home can look when it is kept simple, stylish and comfortable. You can also consider adding a number of solar panels to help you with electricity needs and a variety of other solutions for things like water & waste-water usage in the home. |
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Pallet Housing
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There are over 150,000,000 pallets that are dumped in US landfills every year and with this otherwise waste material, it is possible to create a great number of fully recyclable and comfortable houses for people in need of housing aid.
And with house prices rising around the world, we can now see a variety of different pallet house designs starting to be created in what is a wonderful worldwide awakening towards a more natural and free way of life. Here in this video, we wish to share the story of 2 architects who have designed a very simple and easy pallet house that can be used to house a family of 4. This pallet house design comes with a simple and easy set of instructions so you can put it together yourself (perhaps with a few friends) and enjoy! |
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Tyre Homes
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With the growing popularity and understanding of earthship design principles now feeding into the recycled housing market, we can now start to see a range of tyre based structures being built.
So here in this video, we wish to show you how these brilliant & architecturally designed ideas can also become a house reality in a much simpler setting, such as in Ghana. And as we can see from this short video, this relatively new concept has the potential of helping many thousands of people from all over the world to find more affordable housing for themselves. |
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Plastic Bottle Houses
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Using plastic bottles as an alternative to bricks is a wonderful idea that is now starting to emerge in this recyclable housing market, especially in poorer countries where there are no better alternatives for housing.
Plastic bottles are filled with sand or water and then set amongst a cement mortar in the same way that bricks would be used, thus saving a lot of money for a house to be built. We have seen numerous examples of plastic bottle housing and we are always so happy to see that such an overused waste material can be put to good use as a recycled building material. |
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