Eco-villages Prove to Be Sustainable
By Peta Evans
Epoch Times Australia staff Feb 12, 2008
Australians produce over 560 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually—that is equivalent to putting 127 million cars on the road.
In an eco-village, however, life is all about ecological balance and sustainability.
"The whole community is solar powered, there's no one connected to the grid, so there's no one using fossil fuels for their energy consumption," said Chelsea McNab, a community resident from the Moora Moora Co-operative Community, located just 90 minutes from Melbourne.
Although many may not be quite ready for mud-brick houses or compost toilets, Moora Moora shows just how environmental sustainability can be done.
Established in 1974, the Moora Moora village is situated on Mount Toolebewong, Victoria. Comprising six eco-village clusters and a community centre, the 600-acre property is shared by around 50 adults and 15 children.
Living at Moora Moora is devoid of technological advances. Houses are made out of straw-bale, mud-brick and poured earth, there are compost toilets, wind and solar power, a private spring and an organic veggie garden that feeds the whole community. To save energy, most homes incorporated thermal mass in their design.
"Thermal mass stores heat and slowly releases it," said Ms McNab, "and that's what mud-bricks and poured earth do as well. So that way you use less fuel to heat your house and so most of the houses are designed with efficiency in mind like that."
Ms McNab, 31, is a relatively newer member of the community. She and her partner joined in late 2003. Their two children aged 4 and 18 months were born on the mountain, which they had previously visited many times.
Others like Peter Cock, 62, are veterans. Mr Cock was one of the co-founders of the community and has been living at Moora Moora for over 33 years. He has seen many members come and go, but says the spirit of communual living continues to grow.
Free-ranging chickens help keep down the weeds. (Looking Glass/Flickr.com)"The key thing is in the last seven or eight years we brought in another generation, so we achieved inter-generational change," said Mr Cock, who retired last year from teaching Environmental Studies and Sociology at Monash University.
Recently, the attention of the community has turned to developing a more efficient water supply. The community have their own water spring, with hydraulic pumps and rams pressurising and ramming the water up to a header-tank from which the houses in each cluster feed.
They also have their own rainwater tanks and many newer residents have built compost toilets, both of which tackle the issue of water wastage and shortage.
"We're also working on a micro-hydro project at the moment," said Ms McNab.
Another initiative the community has only recently introduced is a Community Supported Agriculture Project (CSA).
"People up here grow our veggies and we pick them up once a week," said Ms McNab.
"So our veggies are coming from home and we can walk to get them—there's no fossil fuels, and they're organic, and it's also supporting two people in their employment on the mountain," she said.
Raising kids in a self-sustained environment, away from the city dwelling, also has its advantages, say the residents.
"Kids raised at Moora Moora are creative, self-reliant, independent, resourceful, able to deal assertively with all ages," says Dr Bob Rich, a psychologist and mudsmith (a person who crafts useful objects from earth). He and his wife moved into the community in 1979 and raised their children on the mountain.
Though communal living is not always rosy, Ms McNab also sees the value in what it teaches.
"I've learned a lot about idealism and about acceptance and tolerance of other people's values," said Ms McNab.
Mr Cock has also been witness to the great effect community life has had on the children and adults alike over the decades, but admits sharing a property with 60 or so others has its difficulties.
"I think living in a community is challenging and inevitably stimulates you to have a look at your own person and your own strengths and weaknesses," said Mr Cock.
"Living in a community is a great teacher."
Moora Moora run open days for visitors and welcome volunteers to help out on the work days, who in return receive a free lunch and a tour of the community.
But the event that attracts most visitors to the mountain at any one time is the bi-annual Moora Moora Sustainable Living Festival, coming up on Saturday March 1 this year.
Festival activities this year include eco-village tours, earth-building workshops, organic gardening, a look into alternative energy, music and stage performances, market and food stalls, the community art gallery, and educational children's activities.
en.epochtimes.com |
