Cob: A building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, an water, similar to adobe. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive. It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building & sustainability movements.
Cobitat: A house made of cob and other natural or recycled materials
Cobitat: A house made of cob and other natural or recycled materials
Education & Service through Natural Building
Our mission is to spread the knowledge and practice of natural building and appropriate technologies so people become more connected with each other, themselves, and the natural world.
Whether it be cob, strawbale, stone or wood, we promote the use of local, natural, and recycled materials to create well-designed structures that are beautiful, healthy, and functional. And, we insist on having fun while doing it!
Cobitat for Humanity is the cottage industry (no pun intended) of the Be the Change Project.
Whether it be cob, strawbale, stone or wood, we promote the use of local, natural, and recycled materials to create well-designed structures that are beautiful, healthy, and functional. And, we insist on having fun while doing it!
Cobitat for Humanity is the cottage industry (no pun intended) of the Be the Change Project.
Workshops & Gift Classes
We share our knowledge and experience in a couple ways:
The first way is through the conventional workshop model where people pay us for our teaching. This supports us financially and helps us continue with our mission.
The second way, and the way we wish to grow, is through gift classes. These classes are offered as a gift and are free of charge. If someone feels like contributing money, time, or materials in response to the gift, that is certainly welcomed. Our hope is that through our gift classes we can spread Natural Building knowledge to more people while creating a loving community that operates outside of our capital-based economy.
Here's what we offer (click here for more detailed course descriptions):
The first way is through the conventional workshop model where people pay us for our teaching. This supports us financially and helps us continue with our mission.
The second way, and the way we wish to grow, is through gift classes. These classes are offered as a gift and are free of charge. If someone feels like contributing money, time, or materials in response to the gift, that is certainly welcomed. Our hope is that through our gift classes we can spread Natural Building knowledge to more people while creating a loving community that operates outside of our capital-based economy.
Here's what we offer (click here for more detailed course descriptions):
- The Full Shelter
- Cob Ovens
- Benches & Walls
- Apprenticeships
- Pallet Buildings
- Appropriate Technologies
- Kids Build!
Our Current Project:
The Pallet Shed
Check out this great article in the Reno News & Review (also pasted below)
Cobitat is currently building a pallet shed as a gift for Urban Roots Garden Classroom, a local, and very cool, nonprofit.
Our next volunteer day is Saturday, June 11th!
We need materials, tools, and you!
Click here to learn more about the project and how you can help.
Our next volunteer day is Saturday, June 11th!
We need materials, tools, and you!
Click here to learn more about the project and how you can help.
Upcoming Classes
- The Pallet Shed - offered as a gift!
- The Strawbale Vault - The whole enchilada from the foundation to the roof. Now a "Barn-Raising" and free Sept. 3-5 in the Big Smoky Valley of central Nevada.
- Cob Oven - Learn how to make your own this October 1st.
Building blocks New projects seek to Be the Change
By Kat Kerlin
katk@newsreview.com
More stories by this author...
This article was published on 06.23.11.
Kyle Isacksen applies a wet clay plaster to a pallet tool shed. PHOTO BY KAT KERLIN Be the Change, www.indiegogo.com/The-Be-The-Change-Project. Cobitat for Humanity is hosting a strawbale vault workshop Aug. 13-20 in Big Smoky Valley. $500. For more information, call 287-1329, or visit www.cobitatforhumanity.com.
Kyle Chandler-Isacksen is slathering wet clay onto a wall built from straw bales and wooden pallets. He’s working on a tool shed he and his new Cobitat for Humanity business has donated to the under-construction Urban Roots Farm in west Reno. Through Cobitat, Isacksen builds natural structures and teaches workshops. He started it about a month ago after spending six months in Southern Oregon learning about cob and natural building techniques.
But Cobitat is a “cottage industry,” so to speak, to support what he’s really excited about: the Be the Change project he and his wife, Katy Chandler-Isacksen, are trying to get off the ground after a soul-searching trip across the country.
The Isacksens’ vision for Be the Change is of an urban homestead in Reno devoted to family learning and service. It would be car-free and electricity-free with an organic micro-farm, a permaculture and natural building demonstration site and host to service groups like the Bicycling Superheroes, who travel the country dressed as superheroes and help whoever needs help. There would also be a spiritual and service component, and it would operate on a gift economy, where everything is offered freely, and community connections are more valuable than cash. The Isacksens were inspired after living at such a site this past year.
Katy and Kyle first came to Reno in 2004 and taught at the High Desert Montessori School. Later, Kyle managed the River School for a couple of years. Teaching tapped into their desire to be of service, and the River School helped them make strides in sustainable living. But they were looking for “an integrated vision” that combined living simply with service and spirituality.
“So we decided to do a family walkabout,” says Kyle. “We traveled cross country looking for the bigger vision.”
Their travels eventually led them to La Plata, Mo., and the Possibility Alliance. It’s an off-grid, Ghandian community on 80 acres. It welcomes more than 1,000 people a year and 10 residents, features permaculture gardens, workshops, nonviolent social and political activism—and, says Kyle, it operates primarily on a gift economy and about $11,000 per year. For Kyle, it embodies “living simply so that others can experience abundance.” That regards not only a low carbon footprint, but also the idea that the less you have, the more you can give.
“Their quality of life is huge, and their footprint is miniscule,” says Kyle. The Isacksens spent about seven months there before deciding to create something similar here, through Be the Change.
The Isacksens are used to living simply. They and their two young boys have lived in a 200-square foot strawbale cabin. Kyle doesn’t have a car. They have few possessions because, for starters, where would they put them?
“It’s hard to do gift economy stuff if you have to support a big lifestyle,” says Kyle.
The Isacksens may have few needs for their lifestyle, but they need about $55,000 to find and fund a home for Be the Change. A donor has offered to match at least $20,000 of what they raise. With the match, they’ve raised $38,000 within their first three weeks of fundraising.
“It’s an experiment,” says Kyle. “I don’t know how it will end. But if what we’re after is cultural transformation and a better world, I think we need to try some risks.”
