Videos:

Sandgarden Principles Description of the underlying philosophy behind the Sandgarden. Explains how we use waste to create a home that sustains us for about $15,000. Such a home releaves one of a 30 yr mortage while offering a truely rewarding lifestyle.

Larry Santoyo describes "Permaculture for Humanity" in a 5 star interview with Jamia Donaldson of Peak Moment TV (Peak moment 146).  If you're new to permaculture or want to relive that moment when you 'got it', this is a must.

Green Thinking This is a wonderful presentation of the viewpoint we hope to convey on this site. I just found it on the net and it is one of my favorite videos.

Green Thinking has added another great green video describing their aquaponics system.

Text:

We make four assumptions that dictate our philosophy at the Sandgarden. These assumptions control our choices and our behavior. They define our place, our life, and our community.

1. Money: We assume that most people go to work in order to earn money. The money earned is mainly used for housing, food, utilities, necessities, waste, and entertainment. This suggests that if one can create a home that provides shelter, food, utilities, necessities, minimal waste, and entertainment without spending much money, then one could stay home most of the time. Of course, there are actually infinitie options between never earning money, sometimes doing it, and making money for it’s own sake. But the less it costs to live, the more time you can afford to spend at home doing things that save money and bring joy.

2. Family: We assume that it is good for kids to be raised by parents who spend most of their time at home, caring for family, place, and community.

3. Earth: We assume that those who spend most of their time caring for family, place, and community will also care for the Earth. Such people will have a “small carbon foot-print”. They will be inclined to listen to nature for solutions to problems. In doing so they will be less tempted to travel, shop, and consume.

4. Listening: We assume that learning to listen to nature, and to practice what has been learned by listeners of the past, will be essential in the transition to post-carbon life. Those who do this will help secure a future for themselves and their relations. This is precious.

The Sandgarden
When complete, the Sandgarden will cost about $15,000. We arrived here four years ago and it will require another before the Sandgarden will heat and cool herself. But she already grows food, processes waste, provides fire protection, produces construction materials, and generates wild life habitat. Many of these goals were partially reached within the first year. Best of all, since the day we arrived the Sandgarden has been a wonderful place in which to live, grow, and celebrate waste. This was possible because we were always self-contained; always able to be comfortable and take pride in our place. Now, all we really need to finish is the exterior mud plaster. Hopefully we’ll find others to help do that when the days begin to cool. Come winter we should finally experience the rewards of self heating.

So, for about $3,000/yr over five years, a family could immediately occupy a place and begin the loving process of home making. The Sandgarden was designed to avoid the need for building and other permits, so those costs were not an issue. Our hobby is our home, and that saves travel and entertainment expenses.

Importantly, we arranged with a friend to develop the concept on his land, so we didn’t have to buy. We love it here and we contribute as much as we can in terms of money, effort, and good heart. We are very lucky, but our arrangement is fair and readers with similar intent should be able to make some arrangement with someone. Obviously, if one has skills needed in a transitional world, finding a place won’t be hard.

Many worry about a lack of security if they cannot afford to own land. Security through ownership is an illusion. You can buy a piece of paper that says that the government will charge you (taxes) for the right to exclude others from some land. It also includes the right not to be excluded from the land yourself and to use and modify it through a permit and taxation process. There are many ways to loose this "ownership" paper and be evicted from the land.

However, if you create your version of the Sandgarden, you will possess skills that will assure invitations to live in many places. The security is in the knowledge and the joy is in truly knowing your place.