And man, what a film. I connected with this documentary so much, and it was very powerful and persuasive, while being authentic at the same time. Just wow.
Here's the basic synopsis of the documentary:
Michael Reynolds started designing earthships so they could enhance the quality of life, but since our environment is quickly dissipating, he now designs them with our future survival in mind. After building a few earthships, he went on to build the first earthship community in Taos county, New Mexico, called Reach community. These houses, however, were very experimental. Reynolds and his building crew pointed this out to their earthship clients, but many of the clients sued Reynolds because of things that went wrong in their houses. Since Reach was not a subdivision and the houses were built so radically (meaning they didn't follow the state standards), Reach community was eventually shut down and Reynolds' state architect license was taken away.
It took Reynolds 7 years to make Reach a subdivision, and he had to spend tens of thousands of dollars to do so. **Warning: Subjective opinion**. I personally the building standards in New Mexico and the United States are a load of crap. I know it's blunt, but how are we possibly going to move forward and create a world for our future great grandchildren if we get sued every time we try to build outside the box?? Reynolds pointed this same thing out during the movie, and I was getting really angry at the lawmakers and the "rule book" of housing. Just ridiculous.
ANY way..so Reach community was opened back up, and Reynolds realized that in order to fight the system, he had to become a part of the system. He went on to create a bill allowing certain areas to be designated for sustainable housing testing sites. After a lot of work, the bill wasn't passed due to filibustering during the legislative session.
In April 2005, Reynolds and his crew received an SOS call from the tsunami hit Andaman islands. Reynolds and his crew went on to build and earthship there to help the remaining islanders. As Reynolds pointed out, they were all open to it because a disaster hit, so any solution sounded plausible. This eventually contributed to Reynolds' attempt to pass his bill a second time in the winter of 2006, though it still failed.
Eventually, in March 2007, the bill passed and he was able to legally build experimental earthships.
Also, after learning of his work in the Andaman islands, the Architect Board in Taos, New Mexico offered his state architect's license back.
What a story. Reynolds presented a lot of valid, big picture points about our life here on earth and how our government runs. He is very opinionated and likes to swear a lot...but very persuasive and not afraid to look at the big environmental problems, unlike most of the government(s).
Here are some of my favorite points made in the movie:
-Reynolds compares current human way of living as a bunch of buffalo running towards cliff with 1,000 foot drop-off, and he’s in it.
-Take every aspect of own lives and put it into your own hands. Don’t need to go to store to get what you need.
-”I am free”--The government tests cars, tests airplanes, tests BOMBS for pete’s sake in the interest of national security. So why can’t we have a few hundred acres for test sites to test sustainable living? Something that will, in fact, BENEFIT everyone.
--”We have decades left on this planet, and American politics is a f***ing dinosaur that’s not going to make it”-MR
-”Almost like disaster has to happen in order to make the rest of the world start comparing”-MR
-”We got a lot of people who can’t see beyond the rule book, and beyond the rule book is global warming”-MR
I recommend that everyone watch this documentary. There were some very stylistic aspects to this film, and this provides a reality check to the status of our environment and how the government really runs.
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