New Year's resolutions: try out Car Pooling and Car Sharing

Currently, for those who choose to embrace a sustainable lifestyle, transportation remains a critical issue. The shifts are often obliged, as people generally need to reach their workplaces by car and shops, schools and services are often located in different areas of the city. People often need to cover large distances and the transport service is not always able to provide a good alternative to driving. However, as a positive new year's resolution, it would be important to change habits, getting engaged in reducing CO2 emissions but also spending less money on fuels. A rapidly growing phenomenon is Car pooling: the service offers rides and lifts to passengers travelling in Europe. The website guides the user in finding the most suitable travel itinerary according to his needs, get in contact with the registered driver and plan their trip. The service allows you to divide the travelling costs with others and at the same time cover distances in full respect for the environment! Another useful service that we strongly advise you to explore is Car sharing. The initiative, promoting sustainable mobility, allows you to travel freely without the need of owning a car, cutting all costs and expenses, by using shared vehicles available in specific car-parks distributed across the city. The service works with a subscription, very cheap and sustainable for your finances! Give it a try!

"Earthships" spotted in New Mexico

Taos, former Comanche territory, is a county in northern New Mexico, nowadays a destination for visitors interested in green architecture. Inh this area, Earthship Biotecture, has its headquarters. Earthship Biotecture is a company aiming to raise awareness on the potential of a completely sustainable architectural design. This active community has designed and built a dozen buildings of various types with low environmental impact, (many are inspired by the typical houses of the Taos Pueblo, meaning Red Willow). These buildings are completely hidden by the earth and made of natural and recycled materials. Michael Reynolds is the architect who first conceived the project and he is now famous in the United States, but also in Europe, in particular in Edinburgh and Brighton, England, and then in Spain, Belgium and France. In the U.S., the cost per square meter is similar to that of conventional buildings, but in this expectional case the costs are virtually absent. Earthship communities are totally detached from traditional distribution channels: the electricity demand is satisfied by solar and wind power generators and UPS systems with conventional gas backup. Solar collectors, supported by gas boilers, provide hot water. There are houses of various sizes, from 60 to about 160 square meters. The Earthships are covered with earth to provide better insulation and they are also equipped with a system of natural ventilation openings on the roof to cope with the heat, while the bottles in the walls contribute to the passage of natural light. The kitchen is furnished with rustic furniture made of wood, just like the door, following the choice of simplicity.

More decorative effects obtained with a mosaic of color and bottles are on the column that separates the kitchen from the living room. Among the most interesting concepts of the Earthship houses is self-sufficiency: to be functional, the building needs not be connected to the grid or to the water system. The solar panels are able to ensure the demand for energy and heat. A water recycling system then allows the buildings to reduce water waste.

Welcome to Middle-earth... and find a sustainable house!

Welcome to Middle-earth, you would think after taking a first glimpse at the location where Simon Dale has chosen to build his original Hobbit House, entirely inspired by the unreal atmosphere and characters belonging to Tolkien’s novels… and the real issue is that this original house is entirely designed and built in line with the key principles of sustainable architecture. Dale has chosen a closer to nature lifestyle, in full respect of the environment, but also wants to show that sustainable solutions are surprisingly at everyone’s reach. After only 4 months of hard work, Dale and his family settled into their new home, thanks to the help offered by family friends, and curious passersby who have helped in the creation this beautiful fairy tale house.

Dale constructed his Hobbit House with low environmental impact, introducing a series of clever architectural elements:

• Excavations in the hills with low visual aesthetic impact
• Stone and mud taken from digging were then used for retaining walls and foundations
• Oak wood harvested in the surrounding forest
• Bales of hay as insulation for walls, roofs and floors
• Grass Roof
• Refrigerator cooled by air coming from below, through the foundations
• skylight allowing natural light to enter from outside
• Solar panels to produce electricity
• System for collecting rainwater for garden irrigation
• lime-based plaster for the walls
Dale’s challenge is to show that you do not need a big budget or large investments to build an original and sustainable house, suitable for family life and in harmony with nature.