What better way to judge how populated our world is than to observe it from above? If you fly internationally and are by a window you will immediately notice how most of our land is baron and uninhabited. Whilst it may be true that much of the land is hard to live on due to various circumstances, most of the difficulties of building in remote locations stem from our centralised and highly inefficient ways of development. It is true that it may be hard to bring power lines and water pipes thousands of miles, but that is simply not the case for off grid accommodation which these days is easier than ever to use. I have spent most of my adult life building and promoting Earthship biotecture, which is a system of sustainable development that allows anyone to build and live in comfort in almost any location with minimal amount of power and water sourced from rainfall. In Taos New Mexico, where Earthships were originally developed, they live very comfortably with just 8 inches of rain a year. Therefore it is very fair to say that the notion of overpopulation has more to do with the systems of building and development that a centralised system uses.
There is more than enough for everyone’s need, not everyone’s greed. That is a wise statement made by Mahatma Gandhi, and is great place to start when understanding population. Greed is perhaps the key word here, and let it be clearly understood that i am NOT referring to the general public! It is the greed of commercial activities and capitalism that has led to the proliferation of highly centralised and inefficient ways of doing things. The way that commercialism works today means that no consideration is made to the wider implications of the materials used to build with, and the entire approach of how we live, consume, and deal with our waste. These issues are some of the most significant when we consider what problems we face in this world with the ever increasing numbers of people who inhabit it.
Modern construction uses materials that are not best for actually building with, but instead ones that are cheap and quick to work with. There is a severe lack of materials such as steel and wood, which does indeed limit now many more homes we can create for people. However with a change in approach and how our systems operate, we could easily be building much better homes, that perform so much better than conventional homes, and can be made with almost no wood or steel, if not none at all. Not only that but the amount of power and resources needed to run a sustainable home is many times less than a conventional home, which are basically just power sucking inefficient boxes that are made with no consideration for the burdens that they place on those who live in them.
Earthship homes and sustainable homes are incredibly efficient, and even built with a lot of waste materials and natural materials such as dirt, mud and clay. One such home that i have helped to build in the UK, called Earthship Sheppey is so efficient that it even has a NEGATIVE carbon footprint! It is powered by the sun, wind and rain, keeps a stable internal climate with little to no additional heating or cooling, and can keep its inhabitants very comfortable year round with no detrimental effects. In fact it even has positive effects through its creation and use in terms of reusing waste materials, and not requiring any grid power. Wastewater is treated locally and the result is nutrient rich and clean water that can be used to irrigate and grow food inside and outside of the house. Compare that to centralised water treatment systems that have to pump water long distances only to then be treated with toxic chemicals and at high cost and waste due to leaks in pipes etc. The result of all that is high bills and toxic drinking water laced with chlorine and who knows what other chemicals that are added so that the water meets local requirements.
Those who claim our world is overpopulated are completely missing the point. It only appears that we don’t have enough resources because of the way we do things. Once we start to use technology in a smart way we will soon discover that there is plenty or room for many more humans to live on this earth in great abundance, and with almost no cost to do so. The problem is, as always, centralisation of power, decision making, and the way we operate society is to put our trust and faith in ever larger companies who do not want change, because change makes their lives more difficult and reduces their profits. Once we start to understand this and make different choices about the way we do things then finally our world will start to improve.
This is particularly relevant to food, meat and fish, which are also currently a major problem. The seas can not provide enough fish for everyone to eat it, and large scale factory farming of animals is a great atrocity that further causes so much strain on our environment due to water use, inefficient land use, pollution and more. Whilst a vegan diet is addressing this issue, technology is also advancing so that we are now able to produce meat like equivalents using laboratory grown food that are getting ever closer in taste than the real thing. Food production does not need to use up so much land when we start to grow locally, in our gardens, in our buildings, on the roof of all structures using vertical gardening as well as other systems like hydroponic food production.
It is time for change, for so many reasons. Change will come as we collectively start making different choices about the companies and systems we support. As more people choose to become more self sufficient, and start supporting more responsible and ethical people and attitudes then finally we will start to see the kind of changes we need to see this world prosper. I hope this time will come soon, and it is very clear that we are starting to wake up. Commerce is FINALLY starting to consider the most basic things about the material we use, with plastic now becoming a serious issue and changes are happening to mitigate their use. This awakening will take time, and as the pressure mounts on us to change we will start to see more and bigger shifts to the way we do things. We still live as we did in the industrial age, burning coal, chopping down great forests, but i have great hope that soon we will all awaken to a new way, one that is smart, ethical, and has longevity.
Thumbnail Source:
https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Human-Overpopulation-Its-Causes-Effects-and-Solutions
There is a small community in the state I am staying, they are working on participating in earthship housing methods. As at now waste materials are been collected for the project. I admire your courage on your earthship project.
Everyday, people around the world are getting educated on the value of earthship which is how I got enlightened through you.
thank you esther! im glad there is good work happening in your area! i hope more people start doing this also!
The planet is partially congested, that is, it is crowded in metropolitan areas but not in rural areas. Great content
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I commend you on finding and promoting the EcoShip method of building. We have been reading everything you’ve written about it. We’re planning to build an EcoShip on a stand we’ve been given here in Africa (KZN, on an Eco-Estate). I think that this system could do wonders for Africa, where housing is a huge issue, and service delivery very poor. ❤️🤗💕🤗❤️❤️
thank you ! and wow. i have written SO MUCH it must have kept you busy :)
yes Africa is so perfect for this kind of thing.. in every way from water use, power, and a comfortable climate..
Best of luck with your project!!!
I believe information is the major key to enlighten people on the ideology of knowing the amount of space that surrounds the earth through technology and this will eradicate the idea of the world been overpopulated by people
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the overpopulation theory fits many "dark agendas" hence a half truth - creating new cities from scratch would help decongest this so-called theory
A wonderful intervention to shed light on this topic that, for many, is controversial. I interpret it this way too, more than overpopulation, there has been and continues to be mismanagement and misallocation of resources. I admire your knowledge on this subject, so I will try to draw on your experience to adapt and develop my own ideas.
A tight hug and lots of love to you; @eco-alex!🤗
You are right when you say that most of our land looks baron when you see it from 35000 thousand feet above the earth but most of that land is either not livable or difficult to reach. However when I think about how man is looking for possibilities to make colonies on Moon, Mars and other planets so why not in deserts and hard plateaus too. But even that will not solve the problem.
Yes, Earthship homes that will consume lesser power, lesser space and provide better facilities will be an opt solution.
if you saw where i built earthship karuna! it is impossible to reach by car.. only by foot or horse.. but since the main materials in earthships are car tyres and dirt you can build em almost anywhere. as long as you can walk to it.. you dont need trucks as there is minimal cement, metal wood etc.. and the main material is dirt which is on location wherever you are..
I am sure @eco-alex you know this fact that we have at least 30% of our population living in either muddy homes or homes made of used poly packs on the footpaths and whatnot, which need no cement or anything that cost a dime. That's pathetic but the hard truth.
https://www.earthshipkaruna.net/
Let's just Thanos their ass!
Very interesting what you say about Earthship housing, I didn't know about it, I was researching about it last night. I was struck by the wide walls to maintain a comfortable temperature inside. In my country, in the area of Paraguaná I knew mud houses with very wide walls, they put doors and small windows, the idea was to keep inside the cool environment and prevent the penetration of hot air from outside.
The problem of our time is more of lifestyle than of population. Solutions such as the houses you propose are a great alternative. Be well dear @eco-alex. A big hug from Maracay.
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yes earthships are next level in terms of keeping warm or cool.. so much thermal mass its not comparable to much else.. up to 6 feet of it at the back!
The cost of building is always a factor. Your EcoShip method could help use some of those underpopulated methods.
yes.. it can be SO cheap.. i have built a tiny earthship in india for $3000 and it took just two weeks.. it still standing :)