Dear HCN,
Writer Marc Reisner, in
“Deconstructing the age of dams’ (HCN, 10/27/97), notes that rice
straw needs a market outlet. Perhaps straw bale construction is not
popular in California, but it is catching on in New Mexico, Arizona
and Colorado. It is inexpensive, kind to the environment, and a
substitute for adobe construction, which has become prohibitively
expensive. The houses are warm in winter and cool in
summer.
I know from experience, having done a 12
foot x 24 foot straw bale addition, by myself. After framing by a
very able carpenter, the walls were in-filled with bales of wheat
straw. Then I spent the summer stuccoing. The technique of straw
construction is widely available on video tapes and in a recent
book, The Straw Bale
House.
Charlotte La
Tier
Raton, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Turn rice straw into homes.
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