Eric Darby is a “deeply blue-collar” builder, off-grid tinkerer, helicopter pilot, and grandfather who has spent most of his life avoiding normal jobs.

Eric never made much money—his lifetime average income is about $7,500 per year—but he still managed to buy 16 acres in western Colorado and fill it with Earthships, tiny houses, workshops, kinetic sculptures, and other hand-built structures. He describes his pride in being able to weld, wire, plumb, and frame his own buildings, and why waking up with a construction problem to solve feels more meaningful than any paycheck ever could.

Although Eric lives an extraordinarily sustainable life—collecting rainwater, generating his own solar power, charging his electric car at home, and building with salvaged materials—he arrived there through thrift and curiosity, not environmental ideology. ...