$50K in 3 weeks?! NO PROBLEM!

When I started this Kapipal almost 1 year ago I had no idea really what to expect. Really, who would just give a stranger money to make their dreams come true? Turns out, raising $50,000  isn't as easy as you would think.(quit laughing)

Raining cash?

As the Internet grows so do the ways to reach people. There is a number of ways to raise funds online now, but not all of them are open to everyone.
A year ago I found Kapipal was available to Canadians to raise money for things. I stumbled upon it because there was another Canadian who was trying to raise money so he and his family wouldn't be kicked out of their existing Earthship.

Errol Starr Francis built an Earthship and was in danger of having it seized by the bank. Unfortunately, when I stumbled upon Errol's problem it was already too late for me to help much. Errol wasn't able to raise the required funds and was forced from his home. I hope one day he makes it back.


I know Kickstarter is another great way to raise money too, but I was unable to get it to accept a Canadian address. That may have changed from a year ago, but I haven't been back to check it out recently.

What What?

I initially wanted to use Kickstarter to raise funds because you do not actually have to donate anything until you reach your target, then everyone is charged. So, if I managed to get 10,000 people to pledge $5 each I could kick start my project. I figured it would be easier to get pledges from people then it would be to just get straight up donations.

Another issue I have run into is getting the word out to as many people as possible. How do you reach 10,000+ people without constant spamming of your friends and contacts or spending loads of money on targeted ads? Word of mouth will only spread your idea so far and so fast.

Mmm SPAM

I am not a shameless self promoter who has no problems spamming everyone and anyone looking to raise cash. Generally, people do not want to be bothered with some scheme unless it somehow enriches themselves directly. I am not trying to enrich myself at the expense of others, just trying to make a tiny step in the right direction for this planet and for the people who live in my part of the world. I know once I build my Earthship retreat the people will come. Build it and they will come I tell myself.

I still have just over 3 weeks on my initial Kapipal to raise $50,000 to buy a piece of land so that I can start construction of an Earthship retreat and education center for the people of Southern Ontario.
I know it's a daunting task and if the 3 weeks passes and I haven't raised the funds I'll just keep trying, because if you don't try then how can you ever succeed? I know once I have the land I'll need more money and more help with construction, permits, plans, material, etc but I just need to take baby steps. One thing at a time.

I might split up the Kapipal into more manageable chucks once this one expires to try to raise money, instead of trying to raise One giant load of cash for land. There are many expenses when designing and building an Earthship retreat and education center and I really need to break them down.

In the meantime, you can donate here directly, you can LIKE my Facebook page to stay tuned, you can Join a group on Facebook to stay informed like all the other people looking to build one of these magnificent structures or you can just talk about them with your friends and family to educate people on the beauty that is an Earthship.

Happy New Year to you all!
ml

So where do you build this thing?

This is probably the thing that takes the longest but choosing a suitable building site is very important when constructing an Earthship. Given the size of Ontario it shouldn't be too hard, except that most of it is not suitable for building Earthships. 

I see potential here

SO, why don't I just build a log cabin in the woods then? I could, and maybe I will later on, but that's not the point here. The point is that I want to show people that instead of taking new resources from the Earth, let's use the stuff we already have that is sitting in piles all around the country.

I have been looking around for months online and out in the field scouting possible locations, but its a daunting task. I can only imagine what people had to go through in the days without all this technology, the Internet really is a wonderful thing.

Possible locations are within a 3 hour drive of Toronto, which puts several areas into perspective. Ideally I would like to be as close to my family and work as possible, but that limits my options when you are looking for around 50-200 acres for $50K

Locations I have found but not had time to visit are: Huntsville, Madoc, Bancroft, Tweed, but that is just searching the  MLS database. It would be great if more people got involved and we all put our collective brains together.

The reason I would like as much land as possible is to preserve it in it's natural beauty, but I also need a suitable section of south facing high ground in order to construct my Earthship. 

If the land is all zoned Conservation then I cannot build on it, so really navigating the red tape will be another task I could use help with.

 

free food

I am also interested in foraging and would love to learn more and be able to serve food that has been grown and gathered from the surrounding area. I strongly believe that most of our food should come from close to where it is grown. 

If there is a few acres that are suitable land for farming that would be good too.

If anyone knows any Real Estate agents willing to help or people selling land or if you just have some spare time on your hands and live in a beautiful part of Ontario let me know and I'll be happy to check out the site.


In the meantime you can donate here: http://www.kapipal.com/soeretreat

It's all in the uUUUUU's

The few things that attracted me to the Earthships concept was that each room was built into a horseshoe or U shaped pattern side by side with a greenhouse running along the front. The whole structure was built facing the southern sky which allowed for maximum light and warmth to enter during the cold winter months of the northern hemisphere. 

What I found amazing about all this was that they were using old tires for the main support walls of the buildings.

The tires basically become 300lbs. bricks, which they encase in concrete (or even mud or stucco in other climates) and form the main outer wall. 

The only problem is it is very time consuming to lay down each course of tires, fill them with soil and sledgehammer them and repeat to turn them into bricks and get the outside done with out a team of laborers.

I anticipate that, besides raising the money to start this, the work on the outside course will be the hardest work on this project. 

I hope to rally some friends and strangers to come up to the work site, pitch in and  help make the dream come true.

Glass bottle wall

A lot of the inside walls and greenhouse and even bathroom can be done with pop cans or bottles and cement to create intricate designs while keeping the overall look and feel rugged.

Adding a fireplace in the larger rooms and a wood burning oven in the kitchen would keep you warm when you needed it while allowing you to prepare meals with herbs and vegetables picked from your greenhouse.

The windows along the whole front of the structure are ventilated and angled so that the plants and the inhabitants could benefit from the natural heating and cooling of the Earth. Skylights make the rooms brighter and more inviting.

The water can be collected into cisterns when it rains and stored for later use if you are not near a potable source of water. You can heat using a solar hot water heater or natural gas/propane for showering in comfort or doing dishes. inside the house the water used in the sinks can be recycled into the main planters of the house to keep the plants vibrant and healthy.

The shower water can then be used as greywater for the toilet, which eventually makes its way to the septic or black water containment facility (but more on that another time) 

You could just hook this house up to the grid if it were available, but the cost of over $10,000 a hydro pole to your land could get costly.

Once I laid my eyes on the Earthships and how they sustain themselves I was hooked. I knew I wanted to build my own someday.

If you can help please donate here: http://www.kapipal.com/soeretreat
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A VIEW FROM THE STARS

I Read the following passage in the first volume of the books my sister sent to me and I liked it so much I thought I would share it with you. 

 Some light beings from Alcyone once sent a representative to Earth to analyze the situation there. The light being came, spent some time on Earth and went back to Alcyone and made the following report:

 “Basically there were three kinds of creatures there. Once type of creature was rooted in the ground. It was very evolved, relative to its host planet. It must have been very intelligent. Without moving from place to place, it took what it needed from the air, the sun, and the ground to sustain a very long and low stress life. It dropped its by-products on the ground around it and they entered the ground and were recycled back into the creature itself. When it died, it entered the ground and became food for its offspring. It was more than a creature; it was a system. It had totally interfaced with its host planet”

"The next kind of creature was also very evolved, but it had to move around to sustain itself. It also took what it needed from the air, the sun and the ground. Some of them took each other. Its by-products entered the ground. When this creature died, it also entered the ground, and all became food for the creatures discussed above. These creatures also took some of the above creatures into them for food. There seemed to be a physical exchange between both of these creatures in terms of both food and air. They each inhaled what the other exhaled. The had interfaced with the planet and with each other."

"The last kind of creature was not very well adapted to this planet. As a matter of fact, this creature may have been an alien. It took from both of the other creatures as well as the planet, and gave nothing back except byproducts which made it difficult for itself and the others to continue living. It seemed to be taking over the planet like some kind of malignant growth. These creatures prolifically multiply, fight each other, ruthlessly slaughter the other two types of creatures, and ruthlessly abuse the host planet. They do not seem to understand their environment, their chemistry, or themselves. 

Possibly,, they should be contained in some intergalactic corral to keep them from harming other creatures and planets, as well as themselves. Possibly, they should be contained in some sort of intergalactic corral to keep them from harming other creatures and planets, as well as themselves."

"In general, this planet was very beautiful and serene until this third creature began to multiply into such numbers that its effect has become a serious threat to the planet itself.”

This situation was examined and the light beings from Alcyone decided to enter these creatures and evolve them from the inside out and awaken them to the system of which they are a part. They have the potential to interface with the planet and make it even more beautiful and wonderful than it was before they came. So it was and the project began…

Courtesy of Michael Reynolds’ Earthship (Volume 1)

Thanks to TVOntario

I fell in love with Earthships about 12 years ago and I think it all had to do with TVO.

I was flipping through the channels one day in my cramped apartment in Toronto when i stopped on TVOntario. I'd always loved their programming for as long as I can remember and I always remember to check it for some quality programming. This time some weird structure caught my eye, was it a house or a secret lair?

I stopped and watched as the narrator took me through an amazing self sufficient house. One that didn't need to be hooked into the water or sewage grid, One that didn't need power transmission lines coming from some far off polluting power plant, One that you could grow your own fruits and vegetables in year round, One that could power itself AND feed excess electricity back to the grid if necessary.

One by one, each a different design, but all with the same concept, To harness the power of the Earth and live sustainably and maximize efficiency.

This was the Earthship

I watched intently as they spoke with many of the builders and inhabitants of these structures. Regular people who just wanted to live with the Earth in a sustainable manner rather then consume our ever scarce resources.

This wasn't just a new concept in design for me, it was a whole new way of thinking.

After watching the broadcast I jumped on the interwebs and started to research these "Earthships"

I learned that a man named Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture had been working on these structures since the 70's in Taos, NM. with great success and some failures, but you have to learn by trying.

I was hungry for more information so I contacted my sister Erin who worked at a major news organization here in Canada and asked her to find out what she could for me.

Being the awesome sister that she was, a package arrived without warning in the mail a few weeks later. Inside were books on how to build your own Earthship as well as some other really great material.

I started reading the books from cover to cover to find out what I could about this concept.

I knew I wanted to build my very own Earthship style structure someday and have been saving up so that I can abandon the rat race and return to the quiet solitude of nature.

If you would like to help me achieve my dream of building my Earthship Retreat you can help by donating here.