|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
|
| |
About the time I reached 50, I asked myself that old question:"When you get to the end of your life, will you have wished you hadspent more time on the job?" Because the answer was no, I decided achange was necessary. While continuing to build houses, I beganstudying a design methodology that uses natural laws in the design ofhuman settlements. Basic principles from this field calledpermaculture are "care of the earth and care of the people." Simple,wonderful.
I began building a strawbale home on a permaculture homestead nearFairfield for my friends Lonnie Gamble and Valerie Berger. Thelunches we enjoyed during construction were prepared largely withvegetables from their garden and greenhouse. Over lunch webrainstormed on creating a village based on principles ofsustainability. It would stand in contrast to the consumer-cultureprinciples that 1) nature and people are expendable, 2) value is bestmeasured financially, 3) power and systems are centralized, 4) peopleare powerless to change any of this.
These principles have spawned foods which aren't nourishing, amedical system which promotes absence of symptoms over health, warsfought to perpetuate access to oil and other natural resources, andan endless list of life-damaging effects.
I think that in their hearts, people subscribe to a moresustainable, humane way of being in the world. But where does one gobeyond recycling and buying the right light bulbs? We chose to createa community that would make it easy for members to live respectfullyof others and the earth. We called it Abundance EcoVillage in honorof nature's abundance.
Elements incorporated in the design of the village includeelectricity from renewable sources, heating and cooling of homes bytubes buried in the earth, water heated by sun, water harvested anddistributed within the village (one acre of land in Iowa receivesnearly a million gallons of rainfall annually), gardens andgreenhouses for village food production, purposefullandscaping&emdash;food forests (trees that provide food, shade, windbreak, habitat, firewood, etc.), a community building, businesses,fiber optic cable, and Maharishi Sthapatya Ved sacred architecturaldesign.
Let's explore more fully the issue of food production. Iowa is theepicenter of agricultural commodity production for theworld&emdash;nearly all of which is corn and soybeans. Yet Iowa hasthe soil and climactic conditions to grow food crops of an amazingvariety&emdash;fruits, nuts, herbs and vegetables. Until 1940, Iowawas the sixth largest grape producing state. The state used to bedotted with apple orchards. Ironically, more than 90 percent of thefood Iowans eat is imported from elsewhere.
At Abundance Ecovillage, we will be encouraging local foodproduction in numerous ways. Nearly all homes will have an attachedgreenhouse. This will provide a source of heat in winter as well as aplace to grow herbs and vegetables. Kitchen gardens right outside thedoor will be encouraged. Community gardens will be established downthe lane. Land and a greenhouse have been provided to a marketgardener who will grow food for sale to village residents as well asfor sale to area consumers. A permaculture nursery business willprovide food-producing trees and shrubs for landscaping both in theecovillage and for area customers.
Believing that the healthiest societies in the world eat foodgrown in the back garden or on the edge of town, we have integratedfood production into both the landscape and the economy of AbundanceEcovillage.
As of April 2002, the first home at Abundance EcoVillage isnearing completion and construction has begun on a second. Threeadditional families have placed deposits for lots in the village. Thesustainable vision of AEV has struck a chord with many people hereand around the world. People regularly tell us that "they have alwayswanted to live like this."
The funny thing is that we are doing nothing new. The photovoltaiceffect was discovered in the 18th century. Wind generators providedthe electricity for our great-grandparent's farms and ranches. Solarpanels provided hot water for most Florida homes 60 years ago.Methane digesters have been a common way of dealing with animal wastefor decades. These off-the-shelf technologies use nature's laws tocreate convenience without fouling the air, water, or soil. They arecertainly worthy of being implemented in all new homes anddevelopments.
We can't wait for policy makers and educators and corporateleaders to make our world sustainable. In the words of JuliaButterfly Hill, "Do something." Do what you know to be right, whetherit's big or small. For me, it was developing an ecovillage. For somepeople, it will be talking to their legislator, or planting a fruittree.
Native Americans evaluated their decisions by considering theirimpact on the next seven generations. The developers and villagers ofAbundance EcoVillage are attempting to humbly, joyfully walk thatsame path.
For more information, visit www.abundance-ecovillage.comor call John Freeberg at 641 472-2301.
