My name is Theresa, but people call me Tree. Perhaps that explains my affinity with these particular members of the flora kingdom. Or perhaps I am just a nut that has fallen out of the tree. In any case, I elected to scope the Internet for various web sites regarding Tree People, whose mission consists of restoring deforested areas with new sprouting foliage. I also researched Earthships, closely related to aiding the Tree People's mission in that these environmentally friendly abodes offer an opportunity to greatly reduce the number of trees needed for housing an ever-growing population, and could thus potentially reduce the amount of deforestation that so threatens our environment.
Feeling guilty for my part in threatening our environment, I took the liberty this year of going out and planting trees with the Tree People in Kern River Valley one sunny Saturday, and learned first-hand what this troupe was all about. I was very amazed by the time commitments and sacrifices the members continually offer for no monetary reward, but simply for the good of nature. On behalf of the rest of humanity that continues to plough and trod and chop down the forests, their compensatory efforts strive to improve the relationship between humankind and nature. Yet, for all the dedicated, selfless, and beneficial work the Tree People have done, I was quite surprised at how little documentation about them I actually found on the Web. Overall, most of the sites that came up when I entered the key words into the search prompt only mentioned this organization once as a peripheral reference among their more larger topics concerning the environment. Since such sites did not really relay much information and, were in fact often so lengthy that it would be all too easy to overlook the small line that mentioned Tree People, I did not submit them to this Ecofeminism page. Apparently, there also exists some fantasy game that involves certain fictional characters known as tree people, which caused any document regarding that game to crop up in my search, as well. Obviously I did not submit those, either!
What I did choose to submit, however, was more relevant to the topic at hand, and devoted more focus to it (hopefully!). For instance, I found site http://fadr.msu.ru/rodale/agsieve/txt/vol6/3/art3.html to be very informative on the Tree People's mission and background. It also had an address to contact and revealed that the Tree People not only help plant trees; they have aided in Southern California floods and have evacuated books from a Los Angeles library fire. This site was probably the most comprehensive one covering the Tree People that I found.
A shorter document that provided more general information was located at http://www.reachout.org/environment/treep.html. Entitled simply Tree People, it gave a simple description of the organization as well as a helpful contact for the general public. However, it did not go into much detail about, for instance, the origination of the Tree People as an official organization, nor a record of their work and projects over the years. Site http://laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us/catdb/SR341 also provided a brief description of the organization, as well as listing several more useful contacts, but it might have been nicer if it had several pictures of Tree People at work or of environmental areas that they have improved.
If you type in http://www.spies.com/krist/photos/backcountry/tree.people.html, you will find a picture entitled tree people. It depicts several bundled human figures inspecting some snowy evergreens. However, I was not sure if this picture really contained official members of the Tree People organization or whether it was more of a random shot of a group of people and trees that lent it the same title. No abstract, caption, nor any background details accompanied the picture, so I could not confirm nor negate my suspicions. In any case, I submitted it to this Web page because I had not run across any other picture claiming to depict the Tree People. I did, however, run across a site (http://www.gsaup.ecla.edu/bill/tree.html) with a graphical depiction of one of Los Angeles' many city streets in two conditions: one picture showed the street framed by concrete buildings that matched the concrete pavement of both the sidewalk and the street itself. If one looked closely enough, though, one could see small saplings lining either side of the street, and indeed, the other picture, presumably a projection into the future, showed the same street lined with tall, mature trees. For even better graphics, as well as additional information about some more specific examples of the Tree People at work, I included two related sites: http://www.sunstock.com/env/env2.html and http://www.sunstock.com/env/env1.html. The former briefly mentioned the Tree People's work in Africa and developing countries and their efforts to repair damaged topsoil and engage in large-scale tree planting, while the latter elaborated on the importance of trees for both aesthetic and practical purposes -- for both their beauty and carbon-dioxide-ingesting powers. On a similar note, the Web page at http://www.globalchange.org/ctrforgc/cgcdoc8.htm detailed the methodology through which trees reduce the levels of carbon dioxide. It only briefly mentions the Tree People, however, and did not have much accompanying graphics. For further reading outside of the electronic super highway (i.e., via the old-fashioned method of reading actual books), a few sites referred to one of several pamphlets written by members of the Tree People. For instance, http://www.ilap.com/~tgmag/enviro/env.AG24_e.html referred to some rather lengthy titled literature, The Simple Act of Planting a Tree: A Guide to Healing Your Neighborhood, Your City, and Your World, written by the founder Andy Lipkis, along with Katie Lipkis.
Overall, I was not very impressed with the sites. Not many existed and most of the ones that did only contained brief references to the Tree People. When I visited the Tree People in person, they had a pamphlet that described their upcoming activities and the dates they would take place. I would like to see a Web page that is periodically updated and that could relay this sort of information to the general public, who are always welcome to accompany the Tree People on their missions or to become members themselves.
Earthships, on the other hand, had many helpful Web sites to browse through. The Earthship Global Website, located at http://www.taosnet.com/earthship, was both aesthetically pleasing and very comprehensive, offering a main menu from which you could choose topics ranging from What is an Earthship? for the 'just curious' browser, to How to Get Your Earthship for the more serious builders. Needless to say, the former adequately answered its own question. I also noted that this particular site was written by the originator of Earthships, himself, Michael Reynolds. How to Get Your Earthship is a must-see for those who are seriously considering building their own Earthship home. It made such a seemingly overwhelming undertaking more feasible by breaking it down into steps for procedures and stages of development, as well as offering helpful considerations to bear in mind when making such plans. It also provided a breakdown of estimated potential expenses.
Another link on this main menu, The Nest Earthship offered an interesting proposal, suggesting that we re-evaluate the meaning of the American dream. The author postulated that people, whether they are homeless or own an expensive house, are struggling alike to survive -- that the homeless struggle simply to make it each day, while the expensive homeowner often struggles to pay the bills or trods off to a job he or she may not even like, just to support this lavish house. In both scenarios, the people involved lead lives filled with fear and stress. The author then emphasized that Earthships offer an alternative to this unnecessarily stressful way of living by being more affordable and efficient.
I especially liked Why the Earthship Concept?, which was almost poetically written. It successfully explained the dynamics of the Earth, humanity as a whole, and the individual as all being interconnected, and that the health and condition of each component affects each other, as well as affecting the whole.
Other options from The Earthship Global Website homepage included ones that listed Earthships for rent or for sale. In addition to listing the prices, the write-up of each home included a brief description of the layout of the house, such as how many bedrooms and floors it contained, and was accompanied by excellent pictures.
For more information on the different options of floor plans for Earthships in the making, The Earthship Page is a good place to visit. It discussed the different architectural designs and included floor plans for 2-level and 1-level Earthships, as well as different room configurations for both. In addition, this site also revealed how grey water was recycled in an Earthship dwelling. I liked the graphics that accompanied this page with its rotating header title and detailed floor plans. I accessed this site via one of several options on http://www.slip.net/~ckent/earthship/. This latter page was insightful, describing Earthships as homes constructed from recycled tires, bottles, and tin cans. It revealed how these homes maintained comfortable thermal regulation through their passive solar designs, solar panels, and/or wind generators. It also discussed the plumbing and water recycling options adopted by most Earthship homeowners. As an added bonus, it had great visuals and excellent photographs.
As someone in class mentioned, it might seem that using old tires, while conserving wood, may still contribute toxins to the environment. But as http://www.worldguide.com/Tech/Materials/build.html#Rammed revealed, this process known as off-gassing, which occurs when tires decay with UV exposure, does not occur in Earthships because the entire structure is covered with earth, plaster, and then a sealant. This location also revealed a bit of trivia: actor Dennis Weaver has one such home.
On the whole, I was very impressed with the Earthship Web pages. I found virtually all of them to be informative, helpful, and graphically well-developed with a professional appearance. And while the sites covering Tree People might merit from some additional features or improvements, there are still many trees to be planted and new Web pages to be made.