I recently went to visit some friends who have built a beautiful cob house in the hills of their Caribbean island home. Cob, which refers to a mixture consisting of earth, clay, sand, straw, and water, is an unusual choice for building materials in the Caribbean. Nevertheless Cob should definitely be considered by anyone looking to build a natural and ecological home.

The major benefits of using cob as a building material, is that it is very inexpensive and relatively easy to work with. Infact this family made their dwelling place themselves and all the children were involved in the process. The mixture can be mixed by hand although in larger projects some people opt to use more mechanical mixing tools.

The beauty of cob is that it is so organic and it can be shaped and developed with curves and bumps that result in a highly unique building. Extra parts can easily be added on to the original building when needed, so it can be a building that grows with the needs of a family. The finished cob building can be left as it is or finished with a range of natural plasters for a smoother and more sophisticated effect. Continue reading "A Home from the Earth - Building with Cob"

“Love and marriage, love and marriage, they go together like a horse and carriage. This I tell you brother you can’t have one without the other!”

This week I’ve been humming the Frank Sinatra tune above and while the sentiments may seem a little outdated for some, I was reflecting on how some things are just meant to go together. In particular my thought was that Caribbean properties and solar technology were made for each other. I do hope that in the future we will ensure that you can’t have one without the other!

The abundance of sun received by the region is the reason it is one of the most visited destinations in the world. As well as soaking the sun into our bodies we can now invest in more technology that enables us to harness free sunlight energy and use it to power our homes. Continue reading "Solar Solutions for Caribbean Properties."

In looking into ways I can green my home I’m exploring the possibilities of using Greywater.

Greywater? I know it doesn’t sound all that appealing does it? Not like something you want to bathe and splash about in! But in light of the precious need to conserve water, the use of greywater can be an absolute essential for eco-living.

Greywater is the water that’s been used in a household for bathing, washing dishes and clothes, and for practical purposes also includes water collected from balconies and paved areas around a home, which can be contaminated with household cleaning products or other contaminants . It is generally not that dirty and much different from blackwater which is from the toilet and needs to be treated completely separately.

In my last blog I spoke about the benefits of using compost toilets which provides a solution to both the creation of blackwater and wastage of water caused by flushing. If however you were not convinced that a compost toilet is your best option you could instead flush with greywater rather than clean potable water and benefit doubly by saving resources and reusing a resource that would otherwise have gone to waste. Continue reading "Once Is Not Enough – Making Use of Greywater"