I don’t like to drift from job to job never quite learning it by heart, so I set my sights on the external retaining walls for the week. In the background tiny Jennifer was getting so much joy out of using jackhammer on the paths that no one could help but smile.

The tires were pounded pull of earth already so we began laying soda can “bricks” and with the cement mixers tied up for the slabs it was time for an upper body workout hand mixing mortar. Using tires that would be otherwise in landfill and compacting them with earth is an amazing building material, it’s slow and hard work, but great thermal mass for the building. The cans and 3:1 cement mortar is concerning quite a few interns. People are still going to use more cans, so mining for more aluminum to make them rather than recycling seems like a misstep. There is also a huge amount of cement in these earthships (even with the cans) which makes them lower maintenance and faster than using say lime or a more natural building material, but as we slide down the Post Peak Oil slope, time is about the only thing we might have excess of. Renewable materials and light maintenance are the building blocks of a more sustainable future, I fear for some cans as walls and rubbish pounded along with earth into tired might be an excuse to make more waste, not less.