One home in Tucson is getting the spotlight for its unique design that incorporates upcycled bottles, rocks, mortar, and telephone poles.
The 2,700-square-foot home is now listed on Zillow for $432,500, and real estate agent Holly Greenhalgh, who is representing the home, told USA Today that it has been "a discovery each day and week that passes." She also told the Arizona Daily Star that she felt like a "museum curator" during one open house.
The home was built room by room in the 1960s by its original owners Theodore and Meletis Bryson, who had no construction experience. They slowly filled it in with discarded bottles from the local dump, so the home had no predetermined design.
"The bottles keep the house really comfortable," the late Theodore Bryson told the Star. "Insulation is basically air pockets and what has more air than an empty bottle?"
This home isn't the only example of how alternative building methods can help regulate internal temperatures, saving owners money on heating and cooling while helping to decrease our reliance on planet-heating fuels like oil and gas.
For example, one TikToker shared her off-the-grid home made of garbage like tires and empty bottles. Earthships like this are designed to heat and cool themselves sustainably, meaning you need no wood or grid electricity.
And one San Antonio-based company is harnessing an ancient building technique to create earthen homes that insulate well in both hot and cold climates and are even hurricane- and fire-resistant.
You, too, can save money on energy bills and give the environment a hand by simply weatherizing your home, which can slash your pollution footprint by 1,600 pounds of carbon annually. You can also consider making other earth-friendly upgrades to your home, like installing solar panels or capturing and using rainwater.
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