Waldorf News

Earthship: The Freetown Express by Mike Reynolds

In October 2011, acclaimed eco-architect Mike Reynolds and his crew will travel to Sierra Leone to build the world’s first Earthship school for The Goderich Waldorf School. This charity run school began life in 2001 in a tiny beach hut at the end of the ten year civil war. It is now a thriving school of 90 children between classes 1 – 3 in the village of Rokel. Due to new government regulations, the school would have closed in August 2011 unless money was raised for a building. Thanks to a generous donation through RSF Social Finance which came from a longtime supporter of both Waldorf education and eco-architecture, the Goderich Waldorf School can stay open. Here is eco-architect Mike Reynolds inspiring account from his recent trip.

I have come to Freetown to recon for the future building of an eight room school using the Earthship concepts. I am to stay with local architect Alfred Barlatt and get delivered to his home by the school’s founder, Shannoh Kandoh. I walk in to the little apartment that he has for me. He shows me the shower that does not work and the toilet that only works when the electricity is on which is only about half of the time.

I have recently come from our build in Haiti where we built a beautiful little mini villa in two weeks. It has a bucket flush toilet that flushes with the botanically treated water from a delightful bucket shower with banana leaves draping over the bottle brick walls from the open sky. All this is powered using electricity from the sun to pump the flush water which was used to take a shower in the day before and is now stored in the botanical cell. This very simple system is not only a pleasant experience but it always works. I imagine just what is possible here in Freetown… and all third world countries. It is time. Underdeveloped countries have an opportunity to lead the heavy economy burdened developed countries into a new age. This situation could spawn a “shot heard round the world”.

In Taos, New Mexico where we have developed the Earthship concept, we get about seven inches of total precipitation per year. We have developed a water harvesting system that uses the water four times and makes this pitiful amount of water sustain the Earthship homes we have built there. Freetown has something like three metres of rain fall per year. Yet they haul water in diesel trucks to almost every building and pump it up to plastic tanks on the roof tops to gravity

We stopped by a dump while driving home from the site for the school. We showed the dump owner pictures of plastic bottles used as bricks and glass bottles fabricated into beautiful stain glass walls. We showed him tires pounded with earth for thermal and structural walls. We showed him cardboard and styrofoam bagged up and used for insulation. We showed him coloured metal panels harvested from discarded refrigerators and ranges and washing machines used as roofing shingles. He saw a whole new commerce to his business of managing/burning waste. He and his small staff lit up and said they wanted to start separating these materials for us right now.

“Thank you Mr. Mike. We will see you soon?”

We envisioned the garbage in the streets of Freetown being cleaned up while producing building materials in the same movement… but it doesn’t end there.

The Insignificant Economy

Native peoples and plants and animals have existed for many centuries and have not had a significant effect on the Earth’s ability to support humans. These creatures encountered earth phenomena for sustenance. They did not have an “economy”. They did not have “garbage”. Modern humans have been around for only a couple of hundred years and already they have had serious adverse effects on the ability of this planet to support healthy human life. These modern developed humans have an economy. This economy has bred for them a thing called garbage. Are ECONOMY and GARBAGE the ingredients that have caused modern humans to adversely effect the Earth’s ability to support healthy human life? The modern world has a constantly ailing system to sustain a monstrous and oppressive economy and that economy is supposed to sustain the people… IT DOESN’T!!

A greater world would have a system to sustain the people… and the sustenance of the people would sustain a more insignificant economy. Economy should not be a beast… unless it is happy and balanced the people suffer. It should not be a beast that produces mountains of garbage all over the earth. It should not be a beast that wars are fought just to feed it. It should be an insignificant aspect of an independently healthy and secure human existence. Economy is the result – not the means – of sustaining people. Sustenance for people means provision of comfortable shelter, water, electricity, food and sanitation for every man, woman and child on the planet.

The modern world economy produces garbage at an insane level. A greater world based on sustenance for people would transform and consume garbage. Garbage is the result of economy. Sustain the people and you will transcend economy. Transcend economy and you will transform/eliminate the very concept of garbage. Transcend economy. Transform garbage. Have a life. The key to “having a life” for all people is found in the sustenance for all people… not just some people, but all people.

Unarguable Phenomenon

The sun is a reliable “unarguable” phenomenon. It cannot be bought or sold or corrupted. It shines on worms, bugs, white people, black people, plants… It does not discriminate. Without an understanding of its power it is relentless and ruthless but if it is understood it can be a large part of our sustenance. It will kill you if you are trapped in the desert with no cover for several days. It will save you in a freezing climate if you direct its rays into a shelter made of mass. It is up to the one who encounters the sun to understand how to harness its unarguable power and benefit, not die from it. This is the way of all earth phenomena. We understand. We whisper to them and we find sustenance free for the taking for all people. This is the knowledge of unarguable phenomena we need all people to have. This… so all people have everything for free all the time. They do not have to buy the sun. They encounter it. No longer is economy between us and sustenance. In this scenario, all people are equal in their ability to encounter. This is taught and learned. No one can ever take this from you. The economy crashes, you still have the ability to encounter the unarguable phenomena for sustenance. They are always there. They do not make promises they can’t keep. They are transparent. They are true. You are the only variable factor of your own sustenance. All you need is the vessel to float and encounter in this world of sustenance for everyone. The Earthship is that vessel.

For more information on Earthships and The Goderich Waldorf School:

www.earthship.com

www.goderichwaldorf.org