Hello World!

Dear Reader,

This is my very first blog post ever! And I'm so excited it gets to be about my upcoming WISE Project.
As my title suggests, I am designing a sustainable home that I could potentially live in someday. Ever since I stumbled upon an article about why these buildings called earthships are so awesome, I've wanted to build one myself. They are basically little biospheres. They collect rain water and filter it for all uses in the home (thus not requiring any water from other sources), they use a geothermal heating system, and the energy used is part solar and part wind. Also, they're built out of tires, cans, and dirt, making them very insulated and recycled.
I want my house to incorporate these aspects. However, I don't want to build an exact replica of the general earthship model. I want to create a house using aspects from other sustainable home ideas, like earth sheltered homes, the tiny house movement, and others.

I have always felt passionate about overcoming environmental issues. This is the primary world issue I'm drawn to. Though I also like living a comfortable lifestyle with the luxuries of heating, plumbing, quality furniture, decor, and electricity. I want to give back to the earth in some way, and I believe designing this house is the first step to reaching that goal. Saying this, I also plan to review my daily routine and come up with ways to make that more "green".

In order to successfully complete this project, I need to figure out the model for my house, learn how to draw blueprints, learn how to use SketchUp (an online 3D design program), and of course, become better at managing my time. The last reason is actually one of the primary reasons I took this course. And what better way to practice this than designing my future home? :D
I am fearful, however, that I won't self discipline myself enough and end up scrambling towards the end. I am not quite sure yet how to divide up the first two weeks of my project, but that will be my next blog post, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!