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'Greenship' Will Be A Self-Sustaining Food Source For Northern Alberta

The project aims to be completed by next summer.

A pile of dirt and tires just west of Edmonton is about to be transformed into an impressive monument to green living.

The greenship — similar to an off-grid "earthship" home that generates its own energy — will be an entirely self-sustaining greenhouse.

The Aspen Centre for Integral Living, an environmental non-profit behind the project, says it's as much about educating visitors on green living as it is about providing the northern community with year-round food.

"It will apply thermal solar design for heating and cooling, collect rainwater, connect to solar electricity and take a focus on building with recycled material," reads the project's description on the Aspen Centre's website.

The project aims to be completed by next summer, and will be made entirely of salvaged or donated materials.

“We spent $90 total on stuff to support the process, but no money has actually been spent on the building itself,” said project manager Laryssa Toroshenko to the Edmonton Examiner.

Project organizers say the greenship has been garnering lots of attention.

"Even with what we've been doing over the past seven or eight years, we have hundreds of people out on site a year seeing all these different technologies, different systems, how they can work together to create harmony within how humans live with natural patterns," project president Kurtis Ewanchuk told CBC News.

"It will apply thermal solar design for heating and cooling, collect rainwater, connect to solar electricity and take a focus on building with recycled material."

Alberta is already home to an earthship. The 2,300 sq.-ft. building near Lethbridge uses captured storm water, and uses the sun and the wind to generate its own electricity, HuffPost Alberta reported.

People interested in learning more about the greenship or volunteering to help build it can contact the Aspen Centre.

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