Using local materials in construction also means to build sustainably. Imagination in how to use them is the limit. It also means reducing the carbon foot print because the transportation is minimal, some require little processing and the costs are in most cases low. One of the beauties of building with local materials is that they seem to fit well with the feeling of the place.I visited several towns while in Central America where access to concrete and re-bar -which is part of their traditional building method- is not easy for most of the population, local materials are very handy. Then while volunteering at an Earthship build in Guatemala we used plenty of discarded materials that otherwise would've ended up not necessarily in the city land-fields, rather in ditches and along river beds. Polluting the water supply that feeds adjacent localities.
In this Earthship built in Guatemala we used discarded materials found around the little town of Comalapa. Not exactly natural materials but they were readily available.
