earthship

7 miles outside of taos, new mexico is a settlement of houses "off the grid" called "earthship". they are self sustaining and made with biomass walls of used tires, beer cans, and wine bottles and electrified with solar panels. collected water is kept in large cisterns for daily use and reuse. their shape is innovative and functional at the same time. it is said that the utilities on the average "earthship" dwelling is under $100/year. sounds good to an iowan with too much hot and cold weather.