Off-the-grid "earthship" homes in nonmetro New Mexico

The Washington Post feature by Nick Espinwall appeared today.  It's about a community of sustainable, off-the-grid homes built from, well, garbage, in nonmetro Taos County, New Mexico, in the northern part of the state.  Here's an excerpt about the community built by Mike Reynolds, 76, who began building these structures in the 1970s:  

Earthships are off-grid, self-reliant houses built from tires, dirt and garbage that have long been an offbeat curiosity for travelers passing by the ski town of Taos, but suddenly look like a haven for climate doomers. Residents of the 630-acre flagship Earthship community treat their own waste, collect their own water, grow their own food, and regulate their own temperature by relying on the sun, rain and earth, which Reynolds and other adherents call natural “phenomena.”

* * *  

“They were talking about a freak on the mesa in New Mexico building buildings out of garbage. That was scandalous,” Reynolds said. But he gained more followers as people became more conscious of climate change, and 2020 brought a surge of interest in new construction.

The structures used to sit dormant for a while once built, but they've become more popular of late--popular with both old and young.