Earthbag homes?

Earthbag homes are homes made with sandbags/feedbags filled with earth and covered in plaster, which can be made with natural materials as well as man-made things like concrete. We want to create our homes in this likeness, stepping away from the more traditional American homes and lifestyle. The benefits of earthbag building are great; because the walls are made of earth, they are very well insulated and protect from most weather conditions and are even bullet proof. You can create stairs, walls, deco... They heat and cool on their own, by being the very earth itself.

Our personal preference for building are polypropylene sandbags. After searching in bulk, we've found the costs aren't too high, and for a basic one dome earth home, about 4 to 500 bags would suffice... We will be collecting any gifts/donations for supplies as well as cash gifts in order to get the homes underway. Our first step is to make our own homes, and then delve into creating a village on the 20 acres we are acquiring so as to create the hostel. Other than sandbags, we will need barbed wire to keep the bags in place, and although it isn't entirely necessary, wood (2x4 etc) would be a great asset in building these beautiful, earth friendly homes.

A home wouldn't be so homey without windows, so Stewart and I have been looking around at flea markets for them. We've scored two so far for under $10, both about the same size. They're kind of small, but for a single dome house, that's almost perfect. But in order to install them, and to make the home actually long lasting...there's the plaster. Fortunately, there are multiple recipes for making plaster, especially earthen plaster. You can use a basic mixture of mud, clay, straw, hay and water, all native to the area. The straw and hay absorb the water, making it thicker and turning it into paste. As you can see in the picture above, he plopped it right on there and paved it out. Currently, he is installing the window.