Homes made of recycled materials have sprung up across the country in recent years, but it’s the first time one will be built on a First Nations reserve 
 
 Francine Doxtator is on a search for used tires. For months, the soft-spoken 56-year-old has asked everyone she knows – and anyone new she meets – if they happen to have any lying around. “I tell them to just drop ’em off,” she said, motioning to the hundreds of tires haphazardly piled three-feet high behind her trailer. 
 
 Starting this week, these tires and hundreds more donated by an auto shop will be packed with dirt and stacked neatly to form the backbone of Doxtator’s new house – an off-the-grid home being touted as a potential solution to the housing crises facing many First Nations communities across Canada. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Francine Doxtator is on a search for used tires on a small hill just steps away from her trailer. Photograph: Ashifa Kassam for the Guardian 
 
 When Doxtator found out two years ago that she had been selected to receive a new, donated home, she didn’t believe it. Her current home is a rickety trailer – condemned years ago – that sits on a leafy, green lot on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve some 55 miles south-west of Toronto. Its weathered blue and white facade has been chewed at by rust and blankets cover its cracked windows. Inside, the trailer has been ravaged by mice and black mould. A leaky roof and several holes in the trailer send cold air whipping through the cramped space in the winter, while on this summer day it is stiflingly hot inside. 
 
 “There’s seven of us staying in here,” said Doxtator, who helps care for her five grandchildren and daughter who has a debilitating spinal cord injury. Three of her grandsons sleep in one room, while her 17-year-old granddaughter has a small room to herself. Doxtator, her daughter and one of her grandsons sleep in the living room. “We’re all looking forward to the new home,” she said with a smile, adding, “but I still don’t believe it’s happening.” 
 
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 In the next two weeks, on a small hill just steps away from her trailer, her new home will begin to take shape. Designed by US-based company Earthship Biotecture, the C$75,000 sustainable home promises to do away with her monthly utility bills, which eat up about C$150 a month out of her social assistance cheque. 
 
 Instead solar panels on the roof will supply electricity and rainwater will be collected in a cistern and cycled through the house for drinking, showering, toilets and feeding plants. The tires will be used to create a dense thermomass to help regulate the temperature of the home. 
 
 While several of these homes – known as earthships – have sprung up across Canada in recent years, this will be the company’s first time building one on a First Nations reserve in Canada. It’s an idea that has been years in the making, said Michael Reynolds, the architect who has been championing self-sustaining homes made of recycled materials for some 45 years. 
 
 The company regularly carries out humanitarian builds around the world, in countries such as India, Haiti and Sierra Leone. When he came across stories of First Nations families braving below-freezing temperatures in tents or makeshift sheds with no water or electricity, Reynolds added Canada to the list, hoping to showcase earthship homes as a low-cost means of addressing the housing shortages that plague many of Canada’s First Nations communities. 
 
 The build comes just as the Liberal government, led by Justin Trudeau, promised in its most recent budget to invest C$554m in First Nations housing over the next two years. “Really, all government housing is junk. They’re not made with people in mind,” Reynolds said. “This housing that we make is made to take care of people. Feed them, keep them warm, with no utility bills.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest An environmentally friendly solar-powered earthship home near Taos, New Mexico. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo 
 
 His eventual goal is to take the project farther north, to the remote First Nations communities where stories of 15 or more people living in cramped, mould-ridden homes have become the norm. The project on Six Nations is his gateway; demonstrating the homes’ – developed in Taos, New Mexico, at an altitude of some 7,000ft above sea level – resilience in the face of a Canadian winter. “I’m confident right now that nobody will freeze to death in one of these buildings, even in northern Canada.” 
 
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 The company is covering some of the cost of Doxtator’s new house. Forty interns have signed on to take part in the building, each contributing at least C$1,000 towards the project and adding to the thousands of dollars raised by a string of fundraisers. 
 
 Ten people from the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve will also participate in the build. “I really don’t know what to expect,” says Matt Hill, one of the First Nations volunteers. “I’m really curious to see how it’s going to work out.” 
 
 The goal is to create a team of qualified First Nations volunteers who can then help others who want to replicate the project; a vital knowledge transfer given 2013 figures that showed some 37% of First Nations homes are in a state of disrepair, 23% are overcrowded and just over half are blighted with mould and mildew. 
 
 Waiting lists for new housing have become ubiquitous among most First Nations communities. In Doxtator’s community of some 12,000 people, about a third of residents are on the list with most waiting between five and 10 years for a new home. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest The self-sustained home for Francine Doxtator’s family living on Six Nations of the Grand River territory. Photograph: Earthship Biotecture 
 
 The idea of earthships as a panacea to address some of the housing demand on First Nations communities is complicated by the strict building codes that govern new builds on reserves, said Hill. Given the lack of real estate market on the reserves, leaders are instead focused on ensuring homes are built to last as long as possible. 
 
 Also, as some models of earthships don’t qualify for traditional mortgages or home loans, the estimated C$60,000 cost of replicating the house being built for Doxtator remains prohibitive to many. 
 
 As she prepares to move into her new house, Doxtator envisions it as a model that will help push past some of these complications. “I would love to see this happen for more people,” Doxtator said softly. First Nations communities are a perfect fit for these trailblazing homes, she added. “We try and respect Mother Earth. Right now we’re ruining her. We have to look after her so she can look after us.” 
 
 Glancing at the pile of tires, her only hesitation is a superficial one – what exactly would a home built on these principles look like? With a laugh she added, “I just hope it doesn’t look like a Flintstones house in the end.” ||||| An Earthship is a unique type of low-cost home that strives for self sufficiency and is built primarily with recycled materials. These sustainable homes have been installed in India, Haiti, Sierra Leone, and other countries to empower local communities – and now the Earthship team is bringing its housing model to First Nations communities facing a housing crisis in Canada. 
 
 Francine Doxtator and her family are among the first members of the First Nations to collaborate with Earthship Biotechture on such a project. “We’re all looking forward to the new home,�? says Doxtator, “but I still don’t believe it’s happening.�? The new earthship home, powered by solar panels, hydrated by a rainwater collection system, and insulated by recycled tires, will reduce utility bills by hundreds of dollars per month. It will also allow the family to have a more respectful relationship with nature. “We try and respect Mother Earth, says Doxtator. “Right now we’re ruining her. We have to look after her so she can look after us.�? 
 
 Related: First Nation builds spirited solar project in the heart of Canada’s oil sands 
 
 While earthships may seem an ideal solution, there are obstacles that currently prevent their wider adoption. Earthships often do not qualify for standard mortgages or loans in Canada, which puts its cost of C$60,000 out of reach for many. Strict regulations on new housing on First Nations land also prohibits the spread of earthships. The newest earthship installation at the Doxtator homestead arrives as Prime Minister Trudeau has promised the public investment of C$554 million in First Nations communities. The earthship’s best days may still lie ahead. “I would love to see this happen for more people,�? says Doxtator. Still, even the new homeowner is a bit perplexed by the unusual design. “I just hope it doesn’t look like a Flintstones house in the end.�? 
 
 Via the Guardian 
 
 Images via Wikipedia and Adrienne Harper ||||| Wednesday at the Eden Valley Reserve, 90 kilometres southwest of Calgary amid magnificent scenery west of Longview, members of the Bearspaw First Nation will attend a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a pilot housing project that could help change the face of home building on First Nation’s lands across the country. 
 
 Also participating in the sod-turning event will be representatives of Alberta Innovates Technology Futures and Calgary-based Ladacor Advanced Modular Systems who have collaborated with the Bearspaw community over the past 12 months on the pilot project. 
 
 The initiative was driven by the poor state of on-reserve housing, a problem across our nation, as many First Nations people live in sub-standard homes with thin wooden walls. Statistics show that people living on reserves are typically 10 times more likely to die in a fire than the rest of Canada. 
 
 A new house at Eden Valley burned down just before it was to be occupied by a family. Michael Kerr of Alberta Innovates was keenly interested in helping to solve the problems of fire and mould prevalent on stick-built housing on reserves and contacted Joe Kiss, president of Ladacor, a company that has pioneered innovative modular technology by re-purposing steel shipping containers to building hotels, seniors housing and apartments. 
 
 Once the basement is dug, a new home with a strong, non-combustible core will offer greater durability and fire safety, and by the time it is finished will be indistinguishable from conventional construction. 
 
 The house was designed at Ladacor as a collaborative effort with the Bearspaw Community providing input so that it will suit First Nations lifestyle, offering a design from both a technical and cultural-specific basis. 
 
 Following the sod-turning, Ladacor will begin turnkey construction in its plant using four steel containers giving it an eight-foot ceiling height. 
 
 When it is shipped to the site in two sections, it will be assembled as a complete 1,280-square-foot home, complete with kitchen, bathroom, living room, three bedrooms and a deck. 
 
 All of the interior materials and appliances are of high standard and the walls will use high impact, fireproof and mould-resistant drywall. 
 
 The exterior will be wrapped in cement plank siding and the roof is all-metal. 
 
 Savings are achieved by the use of factory-production efficiencies as well as savings of on-site construction expenses for labour on a remote site. And this type of pre-built modular construction is also much faster than a conventional build. 
 
 Ladacor will have it totally built, fitted out ready for delivery to the Highwood Pass location, and then it’s just a one-day job to lower it by crane onto the basement area. 
 
 A family is keen to move in by early September. A monitoring program will then commence to test both cultural acceptance and technical performance, but plans are already underway to build a second on the Stoney reserve. 
 
 Kerr says that by supporting the construction project Alberta Innovates Technology Futures is helping to commercialize the modular system, offered by Ladacor, with the hope to see many more of these built on reserves across Canada. 
 
 Being modular, homes can be totally pre-built in its Calgary plant by a staff of 50 designers and tradespeople, and easily shipped by rail or road to any remote location. 
 
 Ladacor completed a 60-room Days Inn hotel in Sioux Lookout, northern Ontario, utilizing 120 shipping containers and will complete another 63-room, four-storey hotel in Bruderheim, Alta., in September. 
 
 It is about to commence work on a 20-suite, three-storey apartment to be delivered to Edmonton and is in the design stage for a 48-unit supportive living facility for Hythe, Alta. 
 
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 Nineteen buyers, sommeliers, retailers, educators and wine writers are ensconced in the Blackfoot Hotel for three days this week judging the Alberta Beverage Awards. 
 
 Their daunting task is to find the very best of wines, beers and spirits available in the Alberta marketplace from among 19,000 products available in this province. Due to the number of craft beverages — beer, spirits and mead — now produced in this province, competition director Tom Firth, beverage editor for organizer Culinaire Magazine, added an Alberta specific category. 
 
 Results will be published in the magazine’s October issue. 
 
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 David Parker appears Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Read his columns online at calgaryherald.com/business. He can be reached at 403-830-4622 or by email at info@davidparker.ca
– Could earthships be the solution to the housing crisis in Canada's First Nations communities? US company Earthship Biotecture thinks so. “This housing that we make is made to take care of people. Feed them, keep them warm, with no utility bills," the company's Michael Reynolds tells the Guardian. By contrast, he adds, “Really, all government housing is junk." But what's an earthship? According to Inhabitat, it's a "low-cost home that strives for self-sufficiency ... built primarily with recycled materials." Earthship Biotecture has built earthships for people in need in several countries, such as Haiti, India, and Sierra Leone. Now it is building one on Canada's First Nations reserve. According to the Calgary Herald, the reality for many reserve residents is overcrowded, sub-standard housing. Take Francine Doxtator, for instance. She lives in a leaky trailer, "ravaged by mice and black mold," with her disabled daughter and five grandchildren. Soon, however, Doxtator and her family will be the first First Nations family to move into an earthship. "I still don’t believe it’s happening,” she tells the Guardian. The $57,000 house, funded by Earthship Biotecture, contributions, and fundraising, will include solar panels, a cistern to collect rainwater, and hundreds of old tires that will "create a dense thermomass" for temperature regulation. Local volunteers will help build it. The hope is to eventually have a local team that can help others build earthships of their own. But, one of the volunteers tells the Guardian, strict building codes may be a hurdle, as well raising the money to build an earthship in the first place. As excited as she is for her new digs, Doxator does have one concern: “I just hope it doesn’t look like a Flintstones house in the end.”