PLANETARY
AWARENESS/ SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability means "a continuing process of economic and social
development… that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs." [Global Tomorrow
Coalition]
Easy things to implement to create a better community from the outset
are guidelines which include:
SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY AND WATER
·
Passive solar design
·
Greenhouses
·
Solar hot-water systems
·
Sky-lights
·
Wall mirrors
·
Fresh air ventilation
·
Low energy-use appliances
·
Low-flush toilets, sinks, and shower heads
·
Grey water use
·
Rain collecting systems
SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURE
·
Community agriculture
·
Minimal road structure
·
Berms and swales to collect and control the flow
of rainwater
·
Edible landscaping over ego landscaping
(landscaping not just because it is pretty)
·
Community Gardens minimize the negative impact on
native vegetation and critters who like to enjoy it, as well as minimizes the
infrastructure required to make the gardens grow.
RECYCLING & RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
·
Household materials
·
Water purification and recirculation
·
Composting
DESIGN
·
Clustered
housing
·
Shared
gardens
·
Multi-use
community spaces
·
Community
Offices and Workshops
· Village
Center / Town Square where outsiders can come visit, trade, learn, etc.
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
The
single most important factor of community building, and the one that most often
gets overlooked, is LOCATION. Many people find land for cheap and they get all
atwitter about buying it and turning it into something. The problem with this
is: reality. Bad land is the LAST place you want to build a community if you
are starting from scratch and want to be able to function off the grid. What
you want to look for are the same things the people that settled the land 10,000
years ago looked for:
·
flowing
water
·
security
·
variety
of vegetation
·
minimal
environmental concerns (floods, massive snow, etc)
·
good
access to sun (never ever build on the north side of a mountain in a place
where it snows)
·
access
to over 50 inches of rainfall (that hits the ground ) annually
·
intersection
of two ecosystems
o
The
VERY best combination:
+
riparian:
(at least one stream and one river)
for water & vegetation for herd animals
+
wooded:
for trees for the buildings, for security, and for hunting and gathering
