Doors open at 10:30 am for coffee and conversation.
Sunday Gathering begins at 11 a.m.
Child care is provided. Everyone is welcome!
Program ends at 12:30 p.m.

Featured Speaker: Keith Fouts, “Building an Energy-Efficient Earthbag Home in Eastern Kansas”
Community Moment: Chuck Brown
Musical Guest: TBA
Kids: Making personal flags
Teens: “We the people” activity

Over time, Keith developed a passion for taking care of the environment as he learned about our influence on the climate. One item on his bucket list included building a sustainable home; however, his passion for travel has been at odds with building a home anchored in one location. A few years ago Keith’s parents began transitioning toward retirement and no longer needed the five-bedroom home in Ottawa that Keith grew up in. This is where the sustainable earthbag home (4,000 bags filled with 100 lbs. of earth) came into play.

During today’s talk Keith will explain why he has decided to build this type of home and how to go about building with earthbags. He will include information about other sustainable features he has added into the home (passive solar design, rainwater cistern, radiant in-floor heating, etc.).

About the speaker: Keith grew up in Ottawa, Kansas. After earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science from the Florida Institute of Technology, he moved to Virginia to begin a career as a flight instructor. Unfortunately, his first day on the job was September 11, 2001. Religious extremists changed his career path that day.

He flight-instructed for the next 18 months, but saw that aviation was not going anywhere with all the changes since 9/11. Having worked as an electrical apprentice to pay for college, he quickly earned his journeyman, then master electrician licenses. Then he learned about contracting opportunities for licensed electricians willing to travel. This included working five contracts at the South Pole where he eventually founded the South Pole Freethinkers. He spoke at Oasis about this topic last year (podcast episode #40).

Today, Keith works six to eight months a year and travels between contracts.

*By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Oasis Code of Conduct (https://www.kcoasis.org/about-oasis/code-of-conduct/).