This technology is not only affordable and sustainable, it is also totally earthquake-resistant, making it perfect for use in rural Nepal.
We partner with other international NGO's to rebuild homes, schools, and community centers in difficult to reach places of rural Nepal. As part of our mission to spread this technology, we also host weekly trainings where we teach Nepal's emerging class of architects and engineers to use this technology. We encourage foreign volunteers to join us in this effort and work side by side with the locals to help them rebuild their communities, one house, one school at a time.
Our Mission
Good Earth Nepal's mission is to employ and promote Earthbag technology and other sustainable building methods and to teach these methods to others. Using the soil from under peoples's feet we help villagers in developing countries build disaster-resistant, affordable and eco-friendly homes and schools, and teach an emerging class of builders, architects and engineers to build safely and sustainably.
Our Long Term Vision
Our long term vision is to build with the earth, not against it. To develop and build structures with and alongside members of the local community, and in accordance with the community’s needs and desires.
Our Core Principals
BUILD IT BETTER
In rural areas, villagers traditionally build with mud, stone and straw, or whatever else happens to be cheap and locally available. Or they use more "modern" bricks or cement-costly to manufacture, difficult to transport and requiring highly skilled labor.
Either way, impoverished families skimp on materials, labor and design, to save mon. The result? Homes and schools quickly degrading in even in the best of times. Communities torn apart by earthquakes, typhoons and floods, with thousands of lives lost. An endless cycle of building and rebuilding, and weak, inefficient structures doomed to fail.
This building regime is also toxic to the environment. Brick and cement factories pollute the air and water. Trucks gulp fuel and belch fumes. Mining and extraction deplete scarce natural resources.
BUILD IT SIMPLE, BUILD IT SAFE
In a complicated world, sometimes simpler is better. Our Earthbag designs brilliantly leverage the soil beneath our feet into safe, attractive and ecologically-sustainable homes and schools. Our Earthbag structures are easier to build than conventional structures and stand up to even the most extreme of natural disasters, so they'll serve their communities for generations to come.
Earthbag homes and schools are also inexpensive, costingup to 50% less thanstructures using more traditional materials. And because they look and function just like "regular" buildings, they're welcomed by all communities and cultures.
BUILD A LIVABLE PLANET
We believe builders can be stewards of the environment and should build with the earth, not against it. Earthbag technology requires no factory-manufactured bricks or blocks and only a bare minimum of wood, steel and cement-and the fuel and trucks needed to transport them. This reduces fuel and materials consumption, pollution and carbon emissions. That's good for the villages, good for the cities, and good for everyone.
BUILD IT TOGETHER
Experience has shown us that truly lasting change is best accomplished at the grassroots level. By helping communities help themselves, instead of relying on assistance from afar. We don't "give" things to people. But we do lend them a helping hand, and teach them to build safely and on their own.
You won't see us helicoptering into a village and leaving things behind. But you might find us living and working alongside the villagers, for months at a time. Or hiring local builders and tradesmen. Or teaching the most promising young architects and engineers to buildsafely and sustainably.
WE LEAD
With Dr. Owen Geiger, widely considered the world's leading expert in Earthbag technology, we design and research, and share our innovations with governments, international aid agencies and partner non-profits. We publish in peer-reviewed journals, and lecture at colleges and universities. We take our leadership role seriously, and consider it our mission to raise the bar for Earthbag builders all around the world.
