Uncle Mud (aka Chris McClellan) raises free-range, organic children in suburban Ohio. He uses natural building as his soapbox to preach self-reliance and community empowerment. He can be found anywhere there is mud to play in.
Uncle will be speaking at the Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Kansas FairsWorkshops
Check It Out!
Too Small to Fail: Strategies for low-cost housing
Uncle Mud leads a conversation about DIY alternatives to high rents and suburban mortgages, including Dumpster diving, natural building, cohousing, and multigenerational living.
Green Building Nature and Community
Available In:
Oregon, Saturday 5:00-6:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
The $25 Humanure Composting Toilet System
Almost half the water you use in your house gets flushed down the toilet, wasting water, energy, and valuable nutrients that could be going back into your garden. Uncle Mud shows how to build the safe, low-cost, and effective composting system laid out in Joe Jenkins' best-seller The Humanure Handbook. The same system has served Uncle Mud's household of seven for more than seven years. It's a good full-time solution, works great for cabins and camping, or can just be used in cases of emergency.
Green Building
Available In:
Oregon, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Making Cob How to build with mud
Learn how the dirt under your backyard can be turned into beautiful buildings, benches, pizza ovens, and much more ... the possibilities are limited only by one's imagination! Be prepared to get muddy.
Green Building
Available In:
Texas, Saturday 10:00-11:00 a.m., Building and Energy Stage
North Carolina, Saturday 10:00-11:00 a.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Oregon, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Friday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kansas, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kids Can Build with Sticks and Mud
Play in the mud with Uncle Mud and friends. Use clay, straw, and sticks to build little houses and sculpt beautiful objects from your wild imagination. This is a "hands-in" workshop: hands and feet squishing and mixing and making a big mess. Talk about how we can use these same materials to build benches, ovens, and even houses. You can use the water at this workshop to wash off with, but be prepared to get dirty and have fun.
Kids Programming
Available In:
Texas, Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Oregon, Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Kids Treehouse Stage
Pennsylvania, Sunday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Kids Treehouse Stage
Kansas, Saturday 5:00-6:00 p.m., Kids Treehouse Stage
Kids Can Build with Sticks and Mud
Play in the mud with Uncle Mud and friends. Use clay, straw, and sticks to build little houses and sculpt beautiful objects from your wild imagination. This is a "hands-in" workshop: hands and feet squishing and mixing and making a big mess. Talk about how we can use these same materials to build benches, ovens, and even houses. You can use the water at this workshop to wash off with, but be prepared to get dirty and have fun.
Kids Programming
Available In:
Texas, Saturday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
North Carolina, Saturday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Saturday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Oregon, Saturday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Saturday 1:00-1:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
DIY Composting Toilet and Bin
Almost half the water you use in your house gets flushed down the toilet, wasting water, energy, and valuable nutrients that could be going back into your garden. To be truly sustainable, we need to recycle everything. We also need to compost all organic materials, such as food scraps and yard waste, returning the nutrients to the Earth. That includes humanure, the nutrient-rich excretions human societies produce in massive quantities each and every day. Dan Chiras and Chris "Uncle Mud" McClellan show how to build a safe, low-cost, odor-free, and highly effective humanure composting system, consisting of a sawdust toilet and compost bin. This system works well in homes, cabins, cottages, and even camping spots. It can also be used in emergencies.
Modern Homesteading Green Building
Available In:
Texas, Sunday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
North Carolina, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Saturday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kansas, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Cheap, Sturdy Buildings from Straw, Clay, and Pallets
See how straw, an agricultural waste product, and wood pallets can be turned into a low-cost, beautiful, eco-friendly, highly insulated wall that keeps your house comfy winter and summer.
Green Building
Available In:
Maryland, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kansas, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Cheap, Sturdy Buildings from Straw and Clay
Building with Straw Bales
Build Your Own Wood Fired Pizza Oven from Dirt
Help turn a pile of mud into a wood-fired pizza oven! See how easy it is to do this in your own backyard. Be prepared to get muddy.
Real Foods Green Building
Available In:
Texas, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Saturday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Oregon, Saturday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Saturday 10:00-11:00 a.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kansas, Saturday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Build the House You Want (Mostly) When Everyone Seems to Be Against You
If it seems like the building codes, the inspector, the neighbors, and your sweetie are all conspiring to keep you from building the Ultimate Off-grid Eco-regenerative Superhouse (or even just a weekend cabin) from things you found in the Dumpster, hear Uncle Mud and Earthship-builder and community organizer Ted Brinegar of Foxhole Homes discuss innovative, low-cost housing for the DIY crowd. Learn how to get to yes! Give them what they want without giving up your dream.
Green Building Nature and Community
Available In:
Texas, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Build a Rocket Mass Heater
See how you can turn a pile of old bricks and mud into a super-efficient woodburning heater for your house or cabin.
Green Building Renewable Energy
Available In:
Texas, Saturday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
North Carolina, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Maryland, Sunday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Oregon, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Pennsylvania, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Building and Energy Stage
Kansas, Sunday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Building and Energy Stage