One family in Michigan has created a prime example of what they call a low-frequency lifestyle by building their own house and farm using sustainable materials, Second Wave reported.
Larissa Touloupas and Ondrej Pekarovic live with their two children in Cooper Township, just north of Kalamazoo. Their home — built over five years and now nearing completion as they install the kitchen — is made of straw bales covered in stucco from a solar-powered cement mixer.
Straw bale construction is a traditional method that is seeing a recent revival thanks to eco-conscious builders and homeowners. Straw is an all-natural building material that doesn't require polluting chemicals and helps trap carbon to keep it from becoming heat-trapping air pollution.
It's also a good insulator, which means straw bale homes use less energy to maintain their temperature. Not only does that save residents money, but it also lowers the home's burden on the environment. You can even supply the home's energy needs with wind or solar, as Touloupas and Pekarovic have done with solar panels.
"I think you can do it with minimum inputs if you're creative and if you're willing to be uncomfortable. We are so addicted to comfort" as a society, Touloupas told Second Wave.
The couple and their friends constructed the house all on their own, without help from a traditional construction company.
"It was really a collaboration of the universe gifting us the supplies and materials we needed, and giving us the energy and the capacity to do it, mixed with the deep desire to live what I call a low-frequency lifestyle, where the amount of inputs are low, and so the amount of money and resources that you use can be low. Therefore, you don't need a lot of money," Touloupas said, per Second Wave.
The family grows vegetables and berries to eat and sell, further minimizing the amount of money they need to spend. They have water from a well on the property. While their main mode of transportation is a gas-powered car, their second vehicle is an e-bike that they can charge using solar panels or their planned future wind turbine.
"I'm not a purist, and I also don't believe that everyone can live this way," Touloupas said, per Second Wave. But according to her, it's right for her family.
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"[The children] love this life," she added. "Every day we walk through the woods to go and milk our goats and pick up the eggs, and they play on the hay bales. It's always an adventure for them here."
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