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The Last Straw - Calendar of Events - Natural Building Cob, Straw/Clay, Timber Frame, Permaculture as related materials and methods + heaps of links to many building an eco sustainable home websites
The Last Straw

Natural Building: Cob, Straw/Clay, Timber Frame, Permaculture as related materials and methods

The Last Straw - Who Are We?

Since 1993, the quarterly journal The Last Straw has been sharing news and developments from around the world about straw-bale construction and natural building. The journal includes diverse articles about projects and up-to-date techniques, written by and about those who design and build with natural materials, research them, live with them—and just plain love them.

Welcome to the web site of The Last Straw Journal/TLS! TLS is the only journal published to record the revival and development of strawbale worldwide. Those who subscribe to this quarterly journal become part of the international strawbale community, supporting the revival of bale building and its emerging presence around the world. Members of the straw-bale community are the major contributors to our publication—as authors of articles; contributors of information about techniques, methods, materials and projects; sources of construction details, testing and research; and columnists with knowledge and experience. They also help us keep people informed about workshops, hands-on training, tours and conferences on strawbale and natural building. Members of the straw-bale community are also the major financial supporters of TLS — the ways you can help support this publication are described throughout our web site.

Natural building encompasses a wide range of building materials and methods that are also becoming options for all types of construction worldwide, including strawbale. So, we embrace these approaches to building, along with energy and water systems; green building design principles, practices and products; as well as the use of recycled content products, salvage and indigenous materials. We also are expanding our web site links to a variety of related information sources and resources in cooperative exchanges with associations and organizations, educations and training centers.

Straw-bale construction is a living, changing, growing thing. The caring, committed heart of it remains unchanged — but significant advances in our understanding of how the material behaves and how best to use it continue to develop rapidly. Many clarifications and changes to strawbale's "best practices" have happened since the early days of the technique's resurgence, contributing to better and often simpler and more earth-friendly ways of doing things.

TLS speaks to a broad range of knowledge and experience, providing more thorough, complete, and reliably current information on specific topics than books, CDs, DVDs and videos (which are static and quickly dated or are specific to a project or location) typically provide.

What about the internet? Well, there's lots of information on the web: much of it good, some of it out-of-date, some of it utterly bogus, most of it sketchy and incomplete. The nagging question at the back of all smart people's brains is Do I have any idea if the person on my computer screen actually has any idea what they're talking about? A famous cartoon shows a house pet typing at a computer keyboard; the caption reads, "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Arf. (A corollary in the straw-bale world is the overlooked message in the tale of the Three Little Pigs: "Don't let a pig build your house.")

That said, we wholly recommend that anybody interested in strawbale get as much information from as many sources as possible. Books, booklets, videos, CDs, DVDs, workshops... and definitely the Internet, too. While there are a lot of unreliable sources on the world wide web, there are also some of the best and brightest minds in the field. It takes some knowledge on your own part to be able to recognize which is which.

The Last Straw is an information-sharing forum created for and by many individuals involved with and interested in straw-bale construction. We are committed to expanding and sharing the knowledge, experience and techniques of straw-bale construction and natural building, and to promoting its ever wider use. The need for durable, affordable, energy-efficient housing can be integrated with the need for sustainable agricultural and industrial systems to the betterment of the environment and all life on a planetary level. The Last Straw Journal strives to be an essential link to the actualization of our work together.

Rate Schedule

All subscriptions and orders should be directed to the TLS Business Office
PO Box 22706, Lincoln NE 68542-2706
ph 402.483.5135, fax 402.483.5161
Email: thelaststraw@thelaststraw.org

TLS Editorial Office:
Joyce Coppinger, PO Box 22706
Lincoln NE 68542-2706
ph 402.483.5135, fax 402.483.5161
Email: thelaststraw@thelaststraw.org. Contact the editorial office for information and input regarding issue topics and content development, ideas for articles and issue design and other advice, encouragement, complaint or controversy.

The Last Straw R E S O U R C E S

Whether you're a straw-bale newcomer or a seasoned pro, being able to find the right resources is important to successful projects.

The listings in this section of our web site come from our annual Resources Guide. The TLS Resource Guide is updated continuously throughout the year on our web site. And you can help us keep the information current. If you know of something — or someone — that should be listed and isn't, or if you see something that is outdated that we haven't caught yet, or have any other comments or suggestions, please let us know.

As you do your research, remember that there are as many opinions about how to build as there are builders in the world. The resources listed here should be used with a heavy dose of your own discretion, intuition, common sense and deeper inquiry!

The Resource Lists:

Associations, Guilds and Networks
Sources for Building Bales
Catalog and Mail Order
Codes, Testing, Research
Education, Training Centers
TLS Human Resources List
Internet Resources
Journals and Magazines
Natural Building CDs/DVDs/Videos
Natural Building Products/Sources
Straw-bale Books/CDs,/DVDs/Videos
TLS Web Ad
Words and Meanings

M O R E

Calendar
Looking for a workshopexpo, event, internship, apprenticeship, or job opportunity? Here's the calendar from our current issue, along with any additional events that we didn't hear about before press time.

Bonus Articles
These are some good articles that for one reason or another haven't appeared in print. Why let 'em go to waste? Here you go.

Strawbale Registry
We strongly urge everyone to support this user-defined database of straw-bale buildings, co-hosted by The Last Straw and the great folks at Sustainable Sources.

Surfin' StrawBale
An unwieldy and irreverent pile of links about strawbale.

The Strawbale Resurgence
A history of the beginnings of the current strawbale resurgence and its personalities as told through a few articles and photos from various sources. Read about pioneers Judy Knox and Matts Myrhman, Nina and Steve MacDonald, David Bainbridge, Athena and Bill Steen, and David Eisenberg.

BaleHearts
A pilgrimage into the beating heart of the straw-bale construction revival. A work-in-progress by founders and publishers emeritus of The Last Straw, Judy Knox and Matts Myhrman.

The Green Prairie Foundation for Sustainability
Publisher of TLS Journal.

Index

Subscribe
Back Issues & CD-Rom
Online Issues & Orders
Calendar
Apprenticeships, Internships & Job Opportunities
Real Estate and Properties Available
Resources
Human Resource List (HRL)
Strawbale Registry
Web Ads
About TLS
Contact Us
Website: www.thelaststraw.org

Internet Resources

So many sources of information and resources are available on the Internet, we encourage you to evaluate them carefully and knowledgeably.

We suggest the following web sites, groups and listservs as reliable sources for gathering or sharing information and asking questions. If you have suggestions for other entries, please let us know.

Strawbale Building

Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC improves housing and supports the housing market by being the key Canadian source of reliable and objective housing information, including research and testing related to strawbale. www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca

Cochise County, Arizona, USA. Informat email network for strawbalers in this county of AZ. eweigel@cableone.net

European Straw Bale Gallery. Even if you canÕt read the captions and descriptions of straw-bale buildings throughout Europe and the UK (not in English), you will enjoy a visual tour at www.baubiologie.at/europe/eugalerien.html

European strawbale building discussion list: Strawbale@amper.ped.muni.cz

Archives, subscription options and more: http://amper.ped.muni.cz/mailman/listinfo/strawbale

French Forum. French language only. Created by and for ownerbuilders of straw-bale homes, the forum is a means to exchange information and advice about building with straw bales between owner/builders, professionals and anyone with straw-bale building projects. http://compaillons.naturalforum.net

GSBN (Global Straw Bale Network). A discussion list comprised of invited members including long-time advocates, builders and architects, representatives from the various strawbale organizations internationally. The archives are now open to the general public and, for those inquiring minds that just have to know every little bit of everything that's said about strawbale by these folks, it's a valuable resource!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GSBN-Greenbuilder/ (not in Yahoo's published lists). Log into Yahoo as gsbn123 and use the password bale123.

The International Straw Bale Registry at http://sbregistry.greenbuilder.com A database of build-ings constructed with bales Ð a project of Greenbuilder.com, The Last Straw, SBAT, and DCAT. Included are design details and techniques; costs and financing; buildings open to the public; and much more. Please enter your own SB project information so that the registry can reflect more accurately the buildings constructed worldwide!

Nebraska's Historic Bale Buildings.

www.azstarnet.com/~dcat/history.htm

www.strawhomes.com/sban/ Click on Tour.

http://sol.crest.org/efficiency/straw

www.skillful-means.com
http://www.skillful-means.com/menupages/strawbaletips.html

www.eere.energy.gov/EE/strawhouse/house-of-straw.html

Our thanks to Chug Tugby for this list of web sites for the historic bale buildings of Nebraska.

Okie Baleheads. (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, northeast Texas). Discussion group, workshop and hands-on training announcements, projects, news about bale building. To post message and subscribe: OkieBaleheads@yahoo.groups.com

OkieBaleHeads-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Spanish Straw-bale Network (SSBN). In Spanish only.Web page contains downloadable how-to build, member list, SB buildings in Spain, photo galleries, calendar of events, classified announcements and more. casadepaja@yahoo.es www.casadepaja.com.es

The Strawbale Construction Discussion List at strawbale@listserv.repp.org Archives are at: http://listserv.repp.org/archives/strawbale.html The CREST web site crashed in November 2002
and was resurrected as The Strawbale Construction

Discussion List.

Strawbale Social Club/SB-r-us.

http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/SB-r-us/ or send an email to SB-r-us-subscribe@yahoo.com Choose Òplain text's option to avoid getting the Yahoo advertisements on every email. This is a SB list started by Rob Tom (yet to be seen but often heard from with good information and challenging comments that make us all think).

Strawbale Association of Texas (SBAT) has merged with SBC (Sustainable Building Coalition); online newsletter at

SCBNews@lists.greenbuilder.com

SurfinÕ StrawBale is still one of the most complete collections of links to all the SB webpages. SurfinÕ StrawBale is online at moxvox.com/surfsolo.html and mha-net.org/html/sbälinks.htm The list has not been updated for awhile, so may have dead links. For a list of recent additions, check out IgorÕs Supplement mha-net.org/html/igor.htm

Natural Building

Cob building web site http://cobprojecs.info an expanded, full-feature discussion board including many regional and international forums at http://cobprojects.info/phpBB2

Sustainable Building and Living

ADPSR - Arcitects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility. National Forum, 415.974.1306 http://adpsr.org North California Chapter, 510.845.1000, PO Box 9126 Berkeley CA 94709; http://adpsr-norcal.org

DCAT - The Development Center for Appropriate Technology has a very well organized set of links to a wide variety of organizations. www.dcat.net For DCATO's Forum www.dcat.net click on Forum. A good place to post and receive answers to questions about codes and sustainability.

DirtCheapBuilderNews is an email publication for people interested in alternative, sustainable, or natural building. Published by Charmaine Taylor, owner of www.dirtcheapbuilder.com and www.papercrete.com

Ecological Building Network/EBNet.

209 Caledonia St., Sausalito CA 94965;

415.331.7630, fax 415.332.4072

www.ecobuildnetwork.org EBNet has completed an extensive series of tests and research on the material properties of straw bale structures. Each individual test is available as a downloadable PDF document on this web page. Ultimately, all program results will be combined into a single text, Design of Plastered Straw Bale Structures, to be written by the various test authors, edited by Bruce King.

Hands for Knowledge is an Internet network established during the ISBBC-04 in Denmark to provide a framework for people who want to learn natural building. It is a simple idea about facilitating connection between natural building sites and natural building students, benefiting everybody involved. www.thelaststraw.org (click on Hands for Knowledge at bottom of home page)

jomorandin@livinghouses.net

Organic Architecture

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organicarchitecture

Wide-ranging discussion group on various types of sustainable architecture.

Willing Workers in Alternative Technology (WWAT). A link for those who are interested in learning various skills in Appropriate Technology fields with those who are interested in taking on workers in an internship type of arrangement. WWAT is just the initial networking tool; the interested parties work out the details between themselves. Archives available. To subscribe, send email to

WWAT@lists.greenbuilder.com with SUBSCRIBE in the SUBJECT line.

Green Building

Home Builder Directory The Largest Home Builders and Construction Directory www.builderstate.com

Greenbuilding listserv. To sign up, send an empty email message (no subject) to: listserv@listserv.repp.org with Òsignon greenbuilding's in the message body.

Green Building Professionals Directory.

http://directory.greenbuilder.com Lists include architects through wastewater gurus. There are probably several near you.

Sustainable Sources Online Resources. Green Real Estate. Sustainable Sources Bookstore. Green Building Solutions. Sustainable Building Sourcebook: Green Events Calendar, International Strawbale Registry, Articles, Online Discussions, Outstanding Sites and Groups. www.greenbuilder.com

Off the Grid

Living off the grid listserv deals with methods and equipment requirements for off-the-grid living
Ð alternative energy production, shelter, food production, bioremediation of waste streams and more. Add to your list of Yahoo groups by going to

http://groups/yahoo.com/group/livingoffthegrid

Healthy Home/Sensitivity

EcoDwell. email newsletter of the Institute for Bau-biologie.

www.bau-biologieusa.com/freenewsletter.html

SustainableABC.com, P.O. Box 41728, Santa Barbara, CA 93140-1728; www.SustainableABC.com A source for finding green building professionals, architects and healthy building products, green homes for sale, books and other resources, and featuring interviews with leaders in the green and ecobuilding field, serving the increasingly large community of individuals with environmental sensitivities.