t 416 E. Scott St., past a few compost buckets on the front lawn and behind windows insulated with sheets of plastic, a series of Truman State students have been using this home to express their environmental convictions for the past two-and-a-half years.
From composting food waste to storing home-brewed beer in reused glass bottles, residents of this house, nicknamed Soybomb, attempt to carry out their daily lives in an environmentally respectful way and sets an eco-friendly example for others in the Kirksville community.
The two-story, four-bedroom house was built in 1898 and wasn't insulated according to today's standards, said current resident senior Emily Love, who lives there with three other Truman students: seniors Dylan Salata and Kaylin Boeckman and sophomore Stephen Reed. Because of this, keeping warm at Soybomb often can be a challenge during the winter. To cut back on using the home's central heating, Love and her housemates rely on the home's plastic window coverings to trap warmth and use space heaters to keep toasty.
Love said Soybomb residents try to conserve other resources like electricity and water. When it comes to flushing toilets, for example, she said she and her housemates often operate by the "if it's yellow, keep it mellow" principle, leaving toilet bowl water undisturbed after more than one use.
Love said practices like these, which might seem uncomfortable to some, weren't difficult for her to adjust to when she moved into Soybomb during Summer 2010 because they fell in line with her personal principles about making light carbon footprints.
"I actually really loved it," she said. "It's easy to adapt when you're in a house full of supportive people, and their ways of living — not flushing the toilet all the time and keeping the heat pretty low to save money and gas — those are things that are really valuable to me."
Living sustainably is a constant learning process, Love said. She said she and her housemates always are finding new ways to keep Soybomb's environmental impact low. For instance, following the advice of a few friends, Love's cleaning methods around the house recently have taken a turn toward eco-friendliness.
"I've made an effort recently to use only homemade cleaning products," Love said. "For example, vinegar works great for cleaning windows and cleaning up tables, and there's not a lot of chemicals in it."
Alumna Kelly Hall said the idea for Soybomb began during October 2008 when she learned that a group of six Truman students living in a similar eco-friendly Kirksville household would be going their separate ways the following school year. Because of her passion for environmental living, Hall said she and her three roommates decided to revive the tradition by founding their own environmentally friendly house during Fall 2009.
Hall based the house's name on a 1998 Bob Dylan Grammy performance, in which backup dancer Michael Portnoy ripped off his shirt to reveal the words "Soy Bomb" written across his chest. Because of soy's dense nutritional value and a bomb's explosive connotation, Portnoy said the phrase was meant to advocate living a "dense, transformational, explosive life," according to a 1998 Entertainment Weekly interview. Reading this, Hall said she and her housemates thought Soybomb adequately represented their outlook about environmental advocacy, so they adopted it.
When Hall lived in Soybomb, she said the only items left plugged in at all times in the house were the refrigerator, a microwave and a plug-in alarm clock. In addition to unplugging items not actively in use, Hall said all Kirksville residents living in similarly old houses are capable of taking the energy-saving measures used at Soybomb.
"Weatherization is definitely something everyone can handle … and I think you've got to be a little outside your comfort realm, and put on a few extra layers of clothing [indoors] during the winter," Hall said.
For current Soybomb residents, eating also plays a large role in remaining environmentally conscious, Love said. Soybomb's housemates share many of their food essentials and cook together to keep food costs and stove use to a minimum.
Soybomb also hosts a vegetarian potluck dinner every Friday evening. Aside from being an opportunity to be creative with vegetarian food options, Love said Soybomb's veggie potlucks are a way for Truman students and community members to see the practices of a green home.
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