Gradually over the years these smaller steps lead to more ambitious practices and their cumulative affect creates a natural Gaian lifestyle that interweaves ecology, health and spirit. The notion of storing heat is universal. The Pearsons took 12 years to convert their old Victorian house in London into a natural, healthy, Gaian environment. They turned a loft into a bedroom with a skylight and built a balcony with a summer herbarium. Sheetrock walls were replaced with natural, untreated timbers, while other walls were replastered and left unpainted.
Deciduous vines grow in the front of the house to soften outside noise and absorb pollution.
They removed plastics from the kitchen and revarnished the furniture with natural resins. While some may find it remarkable that such a house could exist in an urban center such as London, Pearson believes that a city is exactly the place where such renewal must happen. Ecologically, we have all this urban infrastructure already in place. Cities are typically seen as a parasite, an organism that takes in resources and puts out waste. But if we try to understand the 'metabolism' of the city, then we can begin to find ways of turning the waste back into resources.