One man's Connecticut home has no electricity, heating, air-conditioning, running water, or even conventional walls. He's made a structure of hay and stucco his home for 20 years, and his meager lifestyle causes little or no harm to the environment.
Small-scale living is the way for David Brown of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He's spent 20 years living in a one room building made completely of hay and stucco, and has saved a fortune on electricity and gas costs. His lifestyle is generously aided by food donations from the local townspeople to feed the chickens on his organic farm. And while he admits that not everyone can live the way he does, he wishes they could.
"A highly efficient wood stove heats his home. He keeps his food chilled in a root cellar. Tiny amounts of propane power a reading lamp and a stove. He once had running water, but his well became silted, and he now fills jugs with water when visiting friends."
"The walls are hay bales 18 inches thick, providing massive insulation that helps the house, with its stucco exterior, retain heat in winter and repel it in summer."
FULL STORY: A baleful of simplicity: Hay house is fuel-efficient

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism
After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.

Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras
The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.

Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.
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