Driven by a passion for the environment, and an eye for beauty, campaigner and visionary Daren Howarth is leading the way forward for a generation keenly aware that their lifestyle affects the environment.

After obtaining a degree in Ecology and Environmental Management, Daren formed a company called The Art of Salvage and began designing kitchens made from unusual and beautiful bits of wood salvaged from shipwrecks, French railway sleepers and driftwood. Then a search for a decent living space for himself and his family led him to create an autonomous living pod, called an 'Earth Station.'

'Earth Stations are designed for people like me who don't want their everyday living to be a burden for future generations, and want to live in a low impact dwelling space,' says Daren. 'It started off as a sweat lodge at a festival, then it moved into being a structure for a land occupation in London. Then it occurred to me, why not build something really comfortable, secure and semi-permanent?'

The Earth Station is designed to be independent of all mains services. The power is drawn from south-facing panels covered in close-fitting solar roof tiles and by a wood stove. Water drains from the roof surface to a large storage tank. It is light and large enough to be fitted with a double sleeping platform, and a work station. 'Living in an Earth Station will change your whole philosophy,' says Daren. 'Because it collects it's own water and power, there isn't as much influence from the outside world. As an individual it makes you more autonomous.'

The Earth Station is made from high-grade birch plywood, manufactured from plantations in Finland. 'It is much more expensive than the plywood normally used in the UK - but it doesn't come from rainforests,' says Daren. The dome is assembled from honey-coloured triangular box panels, bolted together, and then waterproofed. Five of these are window panels, one contains an velux window for ventilation and one holds the sleeve for a wood fire. The panels are double skinned with insulation between them. The building sits on its floor which, in turn, sits on a circular wall of used tyres which can be fashioned to sloping terrain and do away with the need for digging foundations.

An important aspect of the Earth Station idea is that it is designed to fit in a planning loophole, so that you can put it in your garden without permission. It can be used as an office, an extra bedroom, a meditation space, a temple, or a studio. 'The beauty of it,' says Daren, 'is they only take a couple of days to put up and, at the cost of a few grand, it's cheaper than a conservatory and a damn sight more interesting.'

Yet the possibility of Britain becoming a land of environmentally-friendly dwellings is still far away. Daren says: 'We are never going to remove the existing stock of buildings as there is so much capital invested in them. But there are 2 1/2 million new homes proposed for the South East. It would be nice if some of them could be completely functional low-impact dwellings.

'The biggest problem stopping low-impact dwellings is inertia in the planning system and outdated planning regulations. There is no differentiation between types of residential land use. There needs to be a category for land use restricted to low impact dwellings, to allow people to be given permission more freely. 'The current planning system was developed in the late '60's, before sustainability was on the agenda. I believe that it needs to be updated to fit in with new needs.'