What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

Garbage Warrior (2007)
  • Rating: (373 votes)
  • Runtime:86 minutes
  • Director: Oliver Hodge
  • Country:UK
  • Actors:
    Michael Reynolds
    Herself
    Chris Reynolds
    Herself - attorney
    Shauna Malloy
    Himself - Taos County planner
    Dave DiCicco
    Himself - senator
    Carlos R. Cisneros
    Himself - senator's aide
    Ron Gardener
    Himself
    Nilesh Gupte
    Himself - senator
    Clinton Harden Jr.
    Himself - senator
    William H. Payne
    Himself
    Lee Rawson
  • Genre:Documentary
  • Producers:
    Sally Jo Fifer
    executive producer: ITVS  
    Oliver Hodge
    executive producer: Open Eye Media  
    Mette Hoffman Meyer
    executive producer: TV2  
    Lynne Kirby
    executive producer: Sundance Channel  
    Ann Rose
    supervising producer: Sundance Channel  
    Rachel Wexler
    producer  
  • Plots: Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing. An extraordinary tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is above all an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world. Written by The Works International
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  • User's comment: by packoftwenty

    The first part of this film shows the huge amount of wood, and manpower, that is being used to build an Earthship. Just look at the cost of Earthships, and you'll see that they cannot be the solution to the problems they claim to solve.

    Strawbale houses can be built for £10,000 (Google "£10,000 Strawbale House") - Brian Stinchcombe built such a house in the 1990s, and of course, the local planning officers had to put a stop to it, because their rich building industry friends, (who would never give them bribes of course), couldn't allow the rest of the population to see that you could build a house for only £10,000, and a super insulated, super quiet, super eco-friendly strawbale one at that.

    When are we going to see a film about Brian Stinchcombe's £10,000 strawbale house, or any other £10,000 strawbale house? Earthships use the most labour intensive (and stupid) form of construction possible - tyres rammed with earth.


  • Also known as: O arhitektonas ton skoupidion (Greece - festival title),

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