About 10 miles Northwest of Taos, we saw some of the most interesting houses, known as Earthships. Mike Reynolds first started designing and building them in the 1970's.
The visitor's center shares how the houses work. The other houses there can not be entered because they are privately owned. You can however arrange to rent a place for the night or week if you plan ahead.
Earthships are normally constructed with used tires filled with compacted earth. Recycled cans and glass and plastic bottles are also used for aesthetics and structural elements.
The houses heat themselves passively with solar gain through south facing windows and thermal mass storage in the earth- packed tire walls. The homes generate their own electricity by solar or wind. They also are designed to harvest rainwater, grow food and filter wastewater.
Although Earthships have some issues, they have some great designs and people around the world are tweaking them for their areas. Earthships are located in all 50 states and more than 20 countries.
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