Where to get tires for earthship

February 1st, Groundbreaking Women in the Construction Industry. January 11th, Earthship Biotecture Treatise. November 30th, Three Earthship Questions. October 14th, Hobbit House Earthship. I honestly think you are misinformed and should do more research before making claims like this one. The big issue I have is that Earthship concept is 20 years old, sorely outdated and tire pounding as most already know is mostly a useless endeavor and best left to the young folk with lots of energy to spare and no money Tire bales are a much better idea.

I realise recycling is still gathering traction in the US or as the nice lady in the Florida food court told me a few years ago: "Oh we don't recycle in Florida dear" with a nice smirk on her face when I was looking for a recycle bin for my milk carton, but I digress.

Here, in Albera, a local recycler makes it his business to source tires to shred and make a living providing the broken down materials to be used in other industries. An article I read stated that he goes as far as a Kilometers away to get those tires so finding plenty of tires the same size would be a very time consuming if not fruitless exercise. I'm sorry I did look for the link to that article but was unable to locate it at this time.

Earthships are a great idea to introduce the concept that yes you can live a better life and not have to pay utility bills or very little , however as most who spend any amount of time researching the project will soon realise that they will have to modify the Earthship to work for their situation, and let's not forget that it is a Trademarked word and the inventor is out to make money from selling plans , labour and expertise, this is not how I would save the planet as he is claiming.

Making the plans available in the public domain would be a great start so others could help improve the concept. This is my first post and I hope to become an active participant in this community as where I live and what I do is very damaging to the planet and my dream of building an off the grid fully sustainable home is the only thing that keeps me sane.

Stefan, I don't think I claimed anything but the truth and my preference. You are right, they are enclosed, but concrete or mud does not stop gases. The reality is, people will make choices based on the necessity and availability of materials.

I am only pointing out my preference and awareness of my experience. I feel sensitive to the energetic frequency of the material I build with, Im not too keen on tiers, no misinformation, just a preference.

Burra Maluca. Mother Tree. I like I've deleted posts in this thread and I'm seriously considering deleting a few more. On permies we strongly discourage use of the word 'truth' - we much prefer for people to state their opinion and not to insist that their opinion is the only valid or true one.

We also take a dim view of people demanding 'proof' of other people's opinions. That is akin to calling them liars, which is not acceptable. This post will self-destruct in three days. Hello Burra, I agree, my choice of words may have left little room for others opinion.

I am new here obviously, and have been attracted by the principles and practices reflected in this way of life. This feeds a water organization module to filter out bacteria and contaminants. This is then pushed into a pressure tank where it can be utilized for common household activity, except toilet flushing which is done with recycled grey water.

This is sourced from sinks and showers, then filtered through a rubber-lined botanical cell for oxygenation and filtering before use. The idea behind Earthships is not just sustainable construction and recycling used tires, but about creating a house that is largely self-sustaining, working in harmony with the surrounding environment.

On average, a 2, square foot tire home would use around 1, tires that would otherwise end up as scrap. In addition to rammed-earth tire houses, tire-bale homes have also been created, using significantly more tires. Tire-bale homes use square bricks, each of which contain approximately compressed tires and weigh in at around 2, pounds. These are then stacked to create an exterior house frame and finished with a layer of plaster or stucco. He had three things he wanted to achieve through this innovative construction:.

Over time, these building ideas evolved into the horseshoe shaped Earthships seen today. Despite challenges in obtaining planning permission, Earthships have been built across Europe, including Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Czech Republic, with the first official Earthship district created in Olst in the Netherlands containing 23 tire homes.

Tire homes and Earthships take significant time to build and are designed to be permanent dwellings. Here are some highlights from the report: "If tires are reused as a construction material, the unique properties of tires can once again be exploited in a beneficial manner Ahmed The benefits of using scrap tires are particularly enhanced if they can be used to replace virgin construction materials made from nonrenewable resources. Additionally, scrap tires are shown to have significant sorption capacity for organic liquids and vapors Park, Kim, and Edil Recent research indicated that shredded tires do not show any likelihood of being a hazardous waste material or of having adverse effects on groundwater quality Edil and Bosscher Laboratory and field evidence available does not show any likelihood of scrap tires being a hazardous waste or having potential for significant adverse effects on water quality Edil and Bossscher The duplicate results showed excellent correlation for all substances see Appendix C [in report].

These test results indicate that the shredded automobile tire samples show no likelihood of being a hazardous waste. This material is known to absorb large amounts of hazardous organic chemicals from the surrounding environment Park, Kim, and Edil, This can actually impart certain beneficial environmental attributes to shredded tires. In summary, shredded tires leach very small amounts of substances compared to other wastes. By comparison to other wastes for which leach test and environmental monitoring data are available, the tire leach data indicate little or no likelihood of shredded tires to have effects on ground water.

I suspect that several of the substances were released from surface coatings rather than leached from the tire material My summary judgment is that the test results indicate that shredded automobile tires leach very small amounts of substances compared to other wastes.

The leaching behavior does not indicate that use of tires in earthen embankments or other structures would constitute a threat to groundwater or surface water. The minor amount of leaching of indicators and some metals suggests that tires are best used in buried locations above the water table, rather than in surface applications or in contact with open water bodies. Use of shredded tires need not be restricted in ways different from those placed on whole tires.

The test results indicate that waste automobile tires are extremely unlikely to be classified as a hazardous waste. The following is an e-mail from an engineer in Alamosa, CO. As an engineer, I feel the need to respond personally to the technical content of the recent letter printed by the Toronto Star.

This letter raises several concerns which in my judgment are not technically valid. I AM an engineer with training and experience in dealing with these issues who finds the Earthship concept to be an interesting and novel approach to sustainable living. What is "carbon black"? However, to assess the risks to human health and environment posed by the use of recycled tires in Earthships, one must look at the pathways of exposure, and the state in which this potential contaminant exists.

The letter states that, "A tire under proper conditions will break down into the above products. None of these conditions exist when a tire is entombed in an Earthship wall surrounded by packed earth, vapor barrier, stucco, and paint.