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// Garbage Warrior //

In 2007, the release of // Garbage Warrior //, directed by Oliver Hodge, made public the life and career of architect Michael Reynolds. Reynolds is the creator and owner of Earthship Biotecture which designs and builds versatile, sustainable homes and communities from recycled and natural materials. The ultimate goal of the company is to develop homes that are self sufficient with a zero carbon footprint. The film publicizes Reynolds struggles to develop this sustainable and innovative technology. The problem of developing sustainable housing is not in available resources, technology and design but in architecture and housing regulations. It is a film for all architects to watch regardless what stage of their career they are in as well as any present or future home owner.

Houses use water, electricity and sometimes oil and gas to produce running water, electricity and heat. The problem is that water and energy sources are running out. Reynolds knows that architecture has the potential to help people and the earth by designing and building more sustainable structures but it doesn’t. It is really interesting to learn how he creates these buildings. One of the most interesting things he designed was a foundation out of old tires and compacted earth to create thermal mass insulation. He also works on developing ways to get water, heat and electric so that the homes can have virtually no utility bills. The problem is that he needs to experiment and make mistakes to evolve and advance and the law is preventing it.

The law creates a whole domino effect matrix of problems. The law creates building, zoning and housing regulations. The rules require unsustainable things such as paving, power and building materials. These laws reinforce the use of materials and resources that come from non-renewable resources such as coal and oil or the creation of materials such as plastics, that use fuels to create and produce air pollution and waste. The construction then contributes more to global warming and then adds to global warming long term with the building’s reliance on non-renewable resources for power, sewage, heating and water.

Michael Reynolds tried to change laws so that he could continue building and developing sustainable homes after legal forces told him he could no longer continue. It was very difficult to get a bill passed that allowed him to continue his work because the legal process is so inefficient and slow. There was the issue of making regulation exemptions and violating health and safety in sacrifice of possible improvement. There was also the issue of the politicians’ image and credibility if they approved his bill. The most compelling comment he made through the entire legal process was when he said that the government officials approved bombing thousands of acres in the same state with an atomic bomb to research its affects, having no idea how or for how long it would affect the people or the land and yet they could not approve housing testing on a smaller piece of land with much less adverse outcomes. It was even more frustrating to see how people in India were excited and absolutely loved when Michael and his team built Earthships in their communities when the US was completely against them. Reynolds had said that it would take a disaster for the US to finally accept his technology; but when Katrina hit, the response never changed and his bill was still denied. And yet in India, they welcomed his homes not just because they were in a bad situation but because the engineers and architects there appreciated his innovations and designs.

Politicians should have to watch this movie as well, to be exposed to the problems of its bill process. Since the obvious solution to Michael’s problem of not being able to build and create sustainable homes was addressed by his fight to get a bill passed, the real solution is to change the bill process and legal system so that new laws can more effectively and efficiently be passed. Once new technology is able to be used and developed, the second step would be to change housing regulations and eliminate all of the unsustainable rules.

At the end of the film, the credits stated that throughout the filming of the movie they used only vehicles powered with used cooking oil. Interested, I looked up waste vegetable oil (WVO) and found information on it. Using WVO, a biodiesel, emits up to 78% less carbon dioxide than petroleum diesel. WVO is even more appealing because it is putting to use waste from restaurants and to get vegetable oil plants are grown and absorb carbon dioxide to live. (TriStateBiodiesel.com) For more information visit []. To learn about the process go to [].