I first heard of Lasqueti Island years ago when an old friend of mine raved about how she wanted to move here after hearing stories that the whole island was off-the-grid. I later heard that many people on the island are artists, artisans and organic farmers who trade and barder with other Lasquetian’s when buying and selling. So when looking for permaculture and natural building communities on the BC Coast, I looked up Lasqueti. This is what I’ve found.
Yes, it is true that Lasqueti Island is entirely off-the-grid. Also true that the building codes are not enforced. Also true that most homes run off of solar or micro hydroelectic power, and that there is no car-carrying ferry that goes to the island. When BC Hydro tried to erect hydro poles to distribute electricity to the island the Islanders cut them down. When the province tried to build a Police Station on the island it soon thereafter burned to the ground. A beautiful, beautiful place.
But anyways, I came here to learn about permaculture and natural building. I arrived a few weeks ago and will be here until the end of March. Lasqueti has one of the most temperate climates in Canada. The first day I arrived on Lasqueti it was sunny and 12 degrees Celsius. Homes built out of natural materials (cob, straw bale) don’t require as much insulation in temperate climates which is another reason why there are so many beautiful structures built out of these materials on Lasqueti. Shanti ended up coming out to the island and we ended up doing some cob work on Dave’s house he has been building. Dave is building a home out of cob.
Never heard of cob? It’s a natural building material made up of clay, straw and water. Mix them together and you will have a strong compound to build walls out of. It will breathe when it needs to and insulate when it needs to. This is what the building process looked like up at Dave’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBWpRxzOc50&app=desktop
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