Lets Make Papercrete

( http://ryanishungry.com ) has put together a nice video of Mikey Sklar and Wendy Tremayne making papercrete at their future hotel Green Acre in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• papercrete
• green
• acre
• mikey
• sklar
• wendy
• tremayne
• ryanne
• hodson
• jay
• dedman
• ryanishungry

[schoorl200]

"your sequestering all the carbon in the paper, it is not gonna be in the atmosphere"

Well that might be true but it is bullshit anyway. How would the carbon from paper come in the atmosphere anyway? From burning! so we wont burn the paper but burn something else instead to make energy.

But we drive around in a truck for mixing

It is the same like saying: "I use my pee to fertilize my plants and that way the ammonia does not get into the atmosphere" It wasn't gonna be there anyway

[sklarm]

@schoorl200 recycling paper is the primary issue. New Mexico does not recycle paper. They simply collect and ship it to Mexico, China or to a recycle plant in Snowflake, Arizona if the international markets are not buying. That is a massive fuel expense. The truck used less than 3 gallons of fuel to produce a 600' long fence.

[kode1303]

Great work! Just a few comments:

Newsprint is CO2 neutral, which makes papercrete even better.

Have you calculated the CO2 emmission from the big US truck?

Would solar/wind electric motor be an option?

I guess the whole topic is politically loaded, but here in Denmark you don't have to be a left wing tree hugger to go green and be in a society for everyone: We have FREE medical care, FREE university education and 21% of the power comes from wind power.

[sklarm]

CO2 emissions are extremely low when compared to taking the truck for a drive to the nearest Home Depot. That would use more fuel than building dozens of structures.

Denmark sounds like a fine place. All of power is provided by us on site. Despite our countries pathetic medical and educational systems we make due.

[sklarm]

Papercrete is not toxic so I do not see if affecting your MCS. However, papercrete if not dried properly can mold. Keep the pH very high with type-s hydraulic lime and never let it stay wet for long periods of time.

[FaeryComeDraw]

Could you use papercrete as an insulation for a cob home?

[sklarm]

You could use papercrete in combination with a cob home. I'd recommend using a non cement mix. If you are doing cob you must have a good source of clay. Consider doing a paper, clay mix. Add lime to the paper/clay mix to help reduce problems related to mold, insects, and flammability.

[starsquid]

They didn't print the newspapers, they're merely collecting them. Otherwise, the newspapers were going to end up in a landfill. So they're reusing the paper as a building material, which would be very green. As for the use of the truck, well maybe that's not ideal but you have to use what's on hand, and I don't know how efficient/inefficient other types of cement mixers are.

[TheKingdomofErnor]

actually, paper in the US comes from tree farms and not virgin forest, since, you know, trees grow

[mrathke78]

You could cut your time some by not shredding the paper by hand before you put it in the mixer. The lawn mower blade is more than sufficient to chop it when it's with the water. Nice video though...are you going to build a home too? I'd like to see that process.

[heavym3tal]

they could use a motor with blades to shred the newspaper, but that might not be real "green," lol.

[schoorl200]

@sklarm And that is exctly what I said: recycling is a good thing. But my remark was on 'sequestering the carbon' that is bull.

I am not critizing yr efforts, on the contrary

[schoorl200]

@schoorl200 Having said that, it is still a good idea to re-use any type of material: I use paper for mulching in my garden and yes, I burn carton on a cold morning in my fireplace for that initial (but short) high production of heat.

Other than papercrete, one could also try hempcrete (yes, from hemp fibers)

[zekehooper]

I can see useing a tractor's PTO for mixing instead of driving around.

[eyechubcunt]

paper can be used better or paper, Portland cement and galvanised steel is hardly green, but for a fence even less so.

[fookingsoc]

VERY COOL!....

Would brown cardboard work just as well as newspaper??.....Would paper with longer fibers work better than paper with short fibers?....Thanks In Advance for the Info!

[superfluteman1]

If you are planning in getting any tensile strength out of those sticks you need to place them parallel to each other in straight rows. Then you need to to the same perpendicular to the previous ones, going across the top.