HTF 026: Living In Waste: How Our Trash Can Be Our Treasure with Michael Reynolds In this episode, Collin Gabriel, longtime fan of Earthships, chats with architect and Earthship founder, Michael Reynolds. 35 years ago, Michael designed a living structure that can harvest its own water, power, food, heat and comfort with most of its building supplies composed of used tires, dirt, and trash. He called it the Earthship. Since then, Michael (he calls himself Mike) and the Earthship have propelled an unbelievable movement in sustainable home design, with students from all over the world descending on Taos, New Mexico, home to Earthship innovation, to learn from a team of experts while living in Earthships. Naturally, the Earthship has captivated the minds of aspiring builders, architects, sustainability enthusiasts – humans – who are looking for a better, freer, more organic way of living. As Michael says, "The sun is our powerplant in the sky. That's the point. All we have to do is relate to it." Tune in to hear how Michael stumbled across the Earthship concept, how the Earthship works, where they’ve been built, how they fulfill the needs of emergency crises, and how our waste ultimately liberates us. Host Collin Gabriel, Channelsmith, Hatch Innovation Guests Michael Reynolds, Architect, Earthship Biotecture

• Born in 1945 and graduated from University of Cincinnati in 1969.
• He is a self-described “guy who’s trying to do some sustainable housing for the future”
• He believes our consumerist society is destroying our natural resources and ecosystems.
• And thus called “King of garbage”

In this episode you’ll hear about

• The history of Michael and Earthship Biotecture, and how the Earthship design originated
• How the Earthship focuses on 6 key principles: Comfort, Water, Natural materials, Food products, Sewage treatment, Electricity
• Why we don’t need leaders, just roadmaps.
• How the Earthship Academy is training a growing movement of students across the world.
• New innovations that have been integrated into the Earthship system
• How the Earthship design is being adapted for a diverse set of environments, as an answer to a diverse array of natural disasters

Links to Resources Mentioned

Hatch Innovation

Garbage Warrior Documentary

Earthship Biotecture

Earthship Academy

Earthship Island

Earthship Simple Survival app

Quotes

"The sun is our powerplant in the sky. That's the point. All we have to do is relate to it."

"If you can get past the definitions, you could really live your life!"

"We don't need leaders now. We need pathways, maps. Because people are willing to go. They just need the maps."