TikTok user OfficialGoodful is obsessed with homes made from trash.
Called Earthships, user Goodful shared a video of these "100% off-the-grid" homes with their 86,000 followers. The homes are made with upcycled materials including tires and empty bottles.
@officialgoodful who wants to move to an off the grid eco-home? 😲 #sustainableliving #ecohome ♬ Similar Sensation (Instrumental) - BLVKSHP
"I am obsessed with how pretty this looks," the voiceover says in the video as it pans across rainbow walls made from upcycled glass bottles.
What are Earthships?
Earthships have been around for decades. Developed by the architect Michael Reynolds, they are homes meant to be entirely off-grid, using solar energy instead. Made from natural and upcycled materials, they're also meant to be accessible for anyone needing or wanting to hand-build their very own unique home.
Creating an Earthship home can be done anywhere that allows off-grid buildings. In states like California, for example, an off-grid sustainable home is permitted, it just has to follow the state's building, health, and environmental codes.
You can build your own Earthship — there are step-by-step kits available. On average, it will cost between $100 to $250 per square foot to build an Earthship. Price depends on whether you're doing it yourself or working with a contractor and what type of materials you're using.
In Goodful's video, Earthships are built with tires filled with dirt, and walls made from stacked bottles and cans.
Why build an Earthship?
Aside from the affordability, Earthships are off-the-grid living at their purest. The homes are designed to heat and cool themselves sustainably, meaning you need no wood or grid electricity. This is useful to help mitigate the burning of fossil fuels, which is the leading producer of greenhouse gases causing climate change.
Earthships can even become their own mini power plants, with photovoltaic panels, charge controllers, batteries, and inverters. Earthships can reduce the power needs by at least 25% compared to conventional homes.
Plus, Earthsips can be designed to collect rainwater, grow food, and reuse grey water, such as shower and laundry water.
What people are saying
One TikToker says Earthships offer hope for the planet after all, while another said it's their "ultimate dream home."
Another user says they grew up in an Earthship. "I knew it would catch up with me one day."
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