At the end of June, Kate, Martha and I set off on a European straw bale tour – the last part of my Nuffield scholarship. By train, bus and tram we travelled through Switzerland, Northern Italy, Austria, Slovakia with a touristy stop in Bratislava, Germany on the way back mid July. Kate is writing a journal for www.greentraveller.co.uk about the trip. I have written a two thousand word summary about the findings from my study but my full report and presentation are struggling to get going at the moment. The full report will be available on www.homegrownhome.co.uk by the end of the year and the summary is available now on request.
The above photo is of a house Werner Schmidt and his team designed and built with large straw bales in the Swiss Alps. It is 10 years old but looks like brand new. Amazing views looking out of and at this great house!
Filling in time on trains, buses and in hotel rooms I’ve been reading the following titles by US authors. I’d recommend them all;
The Omnivore’s Dilema by Michael Pollan ISBN 9780747586838
The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken ISBN 0-88730-704-3
Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken ISBN 978-0-14-311365-2
My favourite though, is the one I’m half way through – a UK book hot off the press - Meat A Benign Extravagance by Simon Fairlie ISBN 978 1 85623 055 1. Fascinating analysis of agriculture and land use. http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=simon+fairlie
This is my favorite house design today. It's modern and made mostly out of glass and steel. Its cozy, minimalist and environmentally-friendly. If I had the chance to rebuild my house, I'll make it similar to this one.
Posted by: Barrett Clepper | September 01, 2011 at 12:30 PM