A Cluster Of Eco-villages
Stories from sustainable community projects around the world
There are so many eco-village projects under development, and they are springing up so quickly, that we were hearing about new ones right up to the day we closed this issue. Not all eco-villages are fabulous successes, of course - many projects never leave the drawing board or the meeting room. But the eco-village movement, like science, thrives on experimentation: we can learn as much from what doesn't work as from what does. Here we present a representative sample of eco-village and community projects, some established, some just getting started.
HAB - Happiness, Architecture, Beauty - England
HAB is lead by Kevin McCloud, the well known face of Grand Designs. Working with the local community their mission is to create “communities which are a pleasure to live in, sustainable in the broadest sense”. HAB wanted to expand on the eco element that has been a success with so many individual housing projects to change the mindset of large developers, creating whole eco villages to improve the quality of life of individuals living within them.
Kevin says the housing has to be contextual, sustainable, contemporary, enjoyable, sociable and of course profitable. HAB are working with Swindon Borough Council on two eco developments in Swindon - developments of 150 - 200 homes. The sites are green spaces -a redundant allotment with scrubland and a piece of greenfield agricultural land. HAB are planning other eco developments, focusing on places where current housing is poor. They want there to be a spread effect on the surrounding areas with social and environmental improvements for the wider community as well as the eco villages themselves. Check out the HAB website for more details: www.haboakus.co.uk
Richie Sowa’s Spiral Island
If you can’t afford to buy your own tropical island paradise, why not build your own? That is exactly what Richie Sowa did back in 1998, from over a quarter-million plastic bottles. His Spiral Island, destroyed years later by a hurricane, sported a two-story house, solar oven, self-composting toilet and multiple beaches. Better yet, he has started building another one! His ultimate goal? To build the island bigger and bigger and finally float out to sea, traveling the world from the comfort of his own private paradise.
The original Spiral Island was (as its successor will be) built upon a floating collection used plastic bottles, all netted together to support a bamboo and plywood structure above. Located in Mexico, the original was 66 by 54 feet and was able to support full-sized mangroves to provide shade and privacy, yet also able to be moved from place to place by its creator as need with a simple motorized system.
An environmentalist to the core, Sowa is also an artist and a musician. More than just the universal dream of an island retreat, Spiral Island is also his vision for low-impact sustainable living. The next version of the island will be built to withstand more treacherous weather than the first and will also be located in a more sheltered part of Mexico’s waters.
The Ripley’s Believe-it-or-Not video is a great introduction to the island, which conjures images of Gilligan-done-right. Spiral island is able to exist and move about in Mexico in part because it is classified as a ship, not an island, like an atoll out of WaterWorld (only much much cooler). On September 7, 2007 the new Spiral Islander social network utility was opened to the public to allow visitors, Spiral Islanders and friends of Richie Sowa to connect and communicate about the history of Spiral Island and to learn more about discuss Richie Sowa’s new Spiral Island. www.spiralislanders.com
Findhorn Eco Village - Scotland
Findhorn is another example of an eco village based on sustainability. It focuses on human, social and environmental needs to enhance quality of life and looks at how we turn villages, towns and cities into sustainable communities within the natural environment.
A recent study by GEN-Europe & SDRC has brought great news for Findhorn Foundation community in Moray, Scotland. It has recorded “the lowest-ever ecological footprint for any community in the industrialised world” - quite an achievement! This means that in terms of resource consumption and creation of waste, Findhorn have triumphed - a great result for combating climate change. Focus for Findhorn has been on ecological building - renewable energy systems, biological waste, water treatment, organic food production, sustainable economics, a complementary currency & lets scheme and inclusive decision-making processes.
