Eco-grooviness and community...
Just spent the weekend at Yarrow Ecovillage learning from Chuck Durrett and Katie McCamant how to be the eco-grooviest and how to create the best community in your neighbourhood, and how to afford both. A pretty good deal, I must say. The folks at Yarrow Ecovillage are committed to community, to living lightly on the land and to creating a viable 20-minute lifestyle -- i.e., everything they need can be reached in a twenty minute walk... Or at least will be reachable in 20 minutes by the time they get everything built out. It was fun to be part of the Getting it Built workshop -- seeing people as they're deciding that they want to be part of cohousing and why, and then how to make their dreams into reality. The twenty-plus years of experience that Chuck and Katie bring to the table is so apparent in their materials, their ease with the questions and their commitment to the lifestyle. I have to say it's more convincing to hear the hard economic truths from the mouths of people who are living the product than it is from people who are "building it for you, but wouldn't live in it themselves." Oops, sorry -- I probably should say that given my current vocation. Erg.
But actually, that brings up an interesting personal point for me. Since my last post, I've become a free-lancer, which is not something I ever anticipated being. Frankly so far it feels a lot like doing a PhD, only I'm better paid. Meetings, research, writing, database creation, data analysis... here I come. Arguably better suited to this than filling in freaking timesheets and trying to make corporate sense of something that is a profoundly personal decision -- i.e., the choice to live in community. Some days at my supposedly-still-real day job I feel like a snake oil salesman. What is that adage -- the salesman's job is to sell the sizzle, not the steak? Egad. I'd rather look myself in the mirror in the morning and know that I respect the person standing there, thanks, even if that means my lifetime earning potential diminishes as a result. Who needs that much money anyway? Voluntary simplicity is at the core of eco-groovy, by the way. Less stuff, better quality, fewer replacements and better longevity. Eco-groovy technology is great, but without the demand side management, we're just not going to get where we need to get in terms of GHG reduction in the next twenty years (which *has* to happen here in the (over)developed North before it becomes even remotely ethical to demand it of developing economies, in my humble opinion). But that is where community is so critical. With a strong exciting fulfilling community, the need for consumer garbage is cut down drastically. Time is filled with meaningful interaction with people you care about instead of buying another "poorly manufactured, incompetently designed, consumer thing" (I'm afraid I can't remember who wrote that off the top of my head).
In any case, I'm hugely grateful to the fine people of Yarrow Ecovillage for the opportunity to look through a window into their experiment for sustainable living and to Chuck and Katie for sharing their extensive experience with the group and with me. Makes me realise yet again why it is that I want and need to change my own personal context and further, what my concerns are re the day job's approach to the problem.
Solutions, feel free to fall from heaven, por favor??
But actually, that brings up an interesting personal point for me. Since my last post, I've become a free-lancer, which is not something I ever anticipated being. Frankly so far it feels a lot like doing a PhD, only I'm better paid. Meetings, research, writing, database creation, data analysis... here I come. Arguably better suited to this than filling in freaking timesheets and trying to make corporate sense of something that is a profoundly personal decision -- i.e., the choice to live in community. Some days at my supposedly-still-real day job I feel like a snake oil salesman. What is that adage -- the salesman's job is to sell the sizzle, not the steak? Egad. I'd rather look myself in the mirror in the morning and know that I respect the person standing there, thanks, even if that means my lifetime earning potential diminishes as a result. Who needs that much money anyway? Voluntary simplicity is at the core of eco-groovy, by the way. Less stuff, better quality, fewer replacements and better longevity. Eco-groovy technology is great, but without the demand side management, we're just not going to get where we need to get in terms of GHG reduction in the next twenty years (which *has* to happen here in the (over)developed North before it becomes even remotely ethical to demand it of developing economies, in my humble opinion). But that is where community is so critical. With a strong exciting fulfilling community, the need for consumer garbage is cut down drastically. Time is filled with meaningful interaction with people you care about instead of buying another "poorly manufactured, incompetently designed, consumer thing" (I'm afraid I can't remember who wrote that off the top of my head).
In any case, I'm hugely grateful to the fine people of Yarrow Ecovillage for the opportunity to look through a window into their experiment for sustainable living and to Chuck and Katie for sharing their extensive experience with the group and with me. Makes me realise yet again why it is that I want and need to change my own personal context and further, what my concerns are re the day job's approach to the problem.
Solutions, feel free to fall from heaven, por favor??
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