“I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your misconceptions down!”

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. These little pigs all set out to build themselves a home. One little pig decided to build with sticks, or dimensional lumber. He mostly just did it this way because it was the normal way to build. It’s just how it’s done. The second little pig thought he wanted something more substantial, so he decided to build a brick house. The third little pig, was something of a rebel. He felt like he wanted to explore some alternative options. He learned that there are many different ways to build that are often overlooked because they are more difficult to manufacture quickly and are not as easily defined into building codes. He learned about adobe, cob (like adobe but built wet into a monolithic structure), rammed earth, rock built, straw bale, and even hempcrete! These were interesting to this little rebel pig. After a lot of research, he decided that he liked straw best. The reason was because he could build a home with more natural materials with fewer harmful chemicals, have massive amounts of insulation, breathable walls, and it looked really fun! Unfortunately, when he told his other pig friends what he was thinking, they were concerned.