Sustainable Cardboard House

For a school science project, my goal was to build or design a 3D model of a sustainable house, made out of whatever materials we wanted to use. We were assigned specific biomes where our homes would be located. The biome I was assigned to was an ocean biome. I knew I couldn't build my house in the middle of the ocean, so I went with a beach house. Most ocean biomes are located on islands, but I picked a stretch of beach in California that was very close to a forest. Depending on which part of the earth they are in, ocean biomes usually have a warm climate. Sustainable homes in nature are very important because they use renewable energy and don't waste it, which is why my beach house is sustainable.

• Hot glue gun
• Toothpicks
• Construction paper
• Cardboard
• Aluminum foil
• Styrofoam
• Q-Tips
• Sand
• Small plastic plants
• Black beads
• Black twist ties

Biomes are large natural communities of plants and an abundance of wildlife. Biomes like forest and grassland biomes consist of large amounts of vegetation with thousands of species all around. The biome I was assigned to, the ocean biome, is a massive area of water. The ocean biome I chose in California has a temperature that is usually very warm, which is the perfect environment for thousands of species to flourish. The climate and conditions of a biome will influence how people will build their homes, how big their homes will be, and what materials will be used to build them. My home was built out of wood since there is a large amount of trees nearby, and since my house is in a very sunny location, I decided to have solar panels on my house. More homes should be designed to be sustainable because not only does it help nature by reducing the amount of harmful chemicals and gases that are produced by normal homes, but because it helps out the wildlife that lives near the home and the homeowner.

I designed my sustainable house by first drawing just a simple rectangular house and then adding the big features like solar panels, windows, and doors. At first I wanted the house to have a lot of extra details like storage boxes on the outside and a spotlight, but once I started building I realized that those wouldn't fit in.

I began the building process by cutting out cardboard slabs that would become the main structure of my house and my roof. Once I glued together my roof and the main structure of my house, I cut out pieces of construction paper that were the same size as the walls of the house and glued them on for color. Once my roof was glued to the main structure of the house, I added some smaller elements to my house. I started out with a water well that was made out of cardboard, aluminum foil, and some Q-Tips. I also added a garden; I used a black piece of Styrofoam packaging for the walls and glued some brown construction paper to the bottom. While the paper was drying, I found fake plastic plants that I would put in the garden. My next addition was a fire pit. For fire wood I used toothpicks and glued the tops together to form a teepee shape. I glued the toothpicks inside a circle of black beads and added smoke. For the smoke I used black twist ties and glued them to the top of the toothpicks. My final addition to the house was making windows. For the windows I drew two 2 x 3 inch rectangles, colored the inside with a black marker, and cut out thin strips of cardboard to make window frames. I glued the frames to the windows and then wedged two toothpicks inside the windows to make window panes.

A sustainable house must have sustainable aspects to it. Solar panels can be a great feature in a house when it comes to sustainability. The solar panels on my sustainable home are a source of renewable energy. They decrease the amount of electricity that is wasted and help pump water through the house. The well that is next to the garden helps with sustainability because the water from the well is pumped through the house with solar energy from the solar panels. The fire pit that I made isn't only a good source of heat and warmth, but you can also cook food over it instead of burning gas or using electricity to cook. Having a garden is always a good source of vegetables and fruit because you can walk out into your yard to collect them instead of driving to a store and putting out greenhouse gases, which is why I added a garden to my sustainable model. When open, the windows of the house allow large amounts of natural light to come into the house, which can be used to see instead of using electricity to power lamps.

Sustainable homes are a great example of recycling and caring about nature. I made this sustainable home to prove that sustainable homes are what we need to help nature and keep the earth healthy. No matter where you are on earth, there are always living things around you. All of earth's biomes exist because of the amount of life that flourishes within them. Not only do these homes help nature and the biomes they are in, they also make great living spaces for the people who own and rely on them. I found this project very fun and a good way to keep yourself busy during these times of COVID. If I were to improve something on the house, it would be by adding some details to the garden like a compost bin and a hose. If you want to try this project, think about how the house can minimize waste and use renewable energy sources.