Earthship Puerto Rico
It’s 98 degrees and 98% humidity on the east side of Puerto Rico and beads of sweat are collecting on every part of my body. Whomp whomp whomp. Whomp whomp whomp. Pounding and pounding with a mallet hammer, I desperately try to fill a tire with gravel and dirt. But it’s harder than it looks. After 45 minutes I finally finish my tire and take a break, ready to keel over. I sit on the dusty ground, chugging my water which is already lukewarm from sitting in the hot morning sun. This is what it is to build a foundation for an Earthship. For months I had been dreaming of getting my hands dirty building an Earthship and I was finally doing it.
Flashback to September 20th, 2017. Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm ravaged the Caribbean islands. The people of Puerto Rico were in desperate conditions from the outset, but they only got worse. Local stores ran out of supplies, and even though, according to NPR, “residents received food and water from FEMA after Hurricane Maria, but many complained that some boxes were stuffed with candy and salty snacks, not meals.” I heard from locals that people also received items that were expired and even moldy. As you can imagine, water supply was a challenge as well. And just as troublesome, parts of the island would be out of power for almost a year, in what would eventually become known as the longest power outage in US history.
During this time, the Chaparro family, whose land we were building the Earthships on, were a sanctuary for their town. They live on a hill where they have a farm and bee sanctuary. Friends, family and neighbors gathered there when they were in need of food, water and shelter. Their home became a second home for their community. Their selflessness and love has saved many people. When they couldn’t count on the system for food and water, the Chaparros were there.
The Earthships that are being built are meant to be an extension of what already is– a community and education center. The Chaparro family will continue to operate as a farm and bee sanctuary, but they will also have space to teach their community about how to be more sustainable and self reliant. They will be equipped with tools that will help them to step out of the broken systems, such as rainwater collection and storage, farming and possibly collecting and storing solar energy.
Plus, the Earthships will provide excellent shelter for them. They are built into the ground, and with ground (remember the tires and dirt?) so they are naturally well insulated, like a basement. This way, when it is hot outside, the buildings stay cool inside. The rooftops on the structures have special gutters than funnel the plentiful rainwater into the cistern on the side of the hill, so they will never be without drinking water. When another hurricane comes, the Chaparro family will be ready.
Pictured: Earthship in progress. You can see the gutters that travel down hill to the cistern, which is partially encased in a beer can wall. The building to the right, which is also a work in progress, is being insulated with the tires and an additional layer of a bottle wall filled with plastic and other non-biodegradable trash.
Unfortunately, those who rely on the current systems in place will be at mercy of the next storm. When relying on retail storms and governments, they may not have supplies available. Plus, why buy overpriced California avocados at the store when you could grow them at twice the size in your own backyard?
