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"Today is the perfect day to introduce you to the &amp;quot;Garbage Warrior&amp;quot; (no, not because It&amp;#039;s Take Your Kids to Work Day, because it&amp;#039;s Earth Day). Out from under a pile of bicycle and recycling matter comes this guy, who builds houses, or &amp;quot;Earthships,&amp;quot; out of garbage, making those of us who dared to believe we were good environmentalists feel like there&amp;#039;s probably a little more we could be doing to lessen our carbon footprint. Best expressed in photos, the man behind the movement\u2026 (But, first, a brief vocab lesson.) Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy &amp;amp;amp; integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills. Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. 2. A combination of biology and architecture. &amp;amp;lt;&amp;amp;gt; Kentucky-bred Reynolds (above) is described as the ultimate renegade architect, and uses piled-up tires filled with dirt, sand and straw to form walls and discarded appliances and pallets to form foundations and roofing for homes.   The Mexico-based architect has focused much of his efforts in tsunami- and hurricane-ruined communities in India and Mexico, where his projects have been positively received. The above hut is located in Taos, New Mexico.  &amp;amp;lt;&amp;amp;gt;This is what it look likes inside an Earthship. You can see the cast-off clear bottles lining the walls, but you can&amp;#039;t see the self-contained green house and the many other energy-reducing construction components that are known to drive utility bills down to $50 a month.. But, as per usual, where there&amp;#039;s a man building houses with garbage, there&amp;#039;s a skeptical corporation or authoritarian. Since Reynold&amp;#039;s structures defy state standards for what houses should be, Earthship Biotecture has met some resistance.  Lucky for us, all the pioneering and drama is captured in a documentary called Garbage Warrior, which you can buy here. Happy Earth Day! Photos courtesy of GarbageWarrior.com. Related articles on WomansDay.com: 10 Firsts in LEED-Certified Buildings 8 Innovative Green Buildings 10 Magnificent Urban Gardens "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/news/a47069/this-earth-day-meet-garbage-warrior-michael-reynolds-3025/>