Sustainable Living

To these communitarians, all work was holy—but overwhelmed by “the accumulating weight of such holiness” and other disappointments, they eventually adjust their aspirations.

In a world in which food choices and dietary preferences can become quasi-religions, lactic-acid fermentation wins a new convert.

The editor provides a refresher on our theme and suggests some new Zone Zero guidelines to help keep permaculturalists in the game for the long haul.

While expert at understanding ecological connections, permaculturalists often founder in relating with one another. Applying permaculture principles to group dynamics can help us work together more effectively.

Lost Valley Educational Center avoids collapse and reinvigorates itself by applying a new approach to governance combining the best of diverse models.

Drawing on its long association with permaculture, The Farm in Tennessee institutes on-the-ground projects designed to provide resilience in times of climate change.

Degraded slopes, crumbling logs, plenty of trench-digging, seven blueberry plants, and an unanticipated drought combine to teach some important lessons.

An organic farming volunteer learns surprising new lessons from his Argentinian hosts—such as how to relax, how to enjoy practical labor, and how to contribute more sustainably by putting personal work first.

An innovative approach to collective community gardens nurtures a culture of giving while allowing participants to feed both themselves and those in need.

On Hawaii’s Big Island, La’akea Community explores sustainability through myriad experiments—from keeping wild pet pigs in the garden to eating 100 percent locally to mowing with sheep.

After a painful period stranded in “permaculture heaven,” an Earthaven founder finds her community finally moving back towards balance with its eco-spiritual roots.

Finding meaningful, socially and ecologically responsible work cannot be done in a vacuum. Right livelihood depends on networks of relationship.

By reducing our economic impact, we can shrink our ecological footprint, while freeing up time and energy to contribute to community and a more sustainable world.

To the Compostmeister at a collective house, the cycles of compost embody a new economics that focuses upon human needs and relationships.

After a journey from nuclear family life through student coops, an ecovillager finds rich opportunities for intimacy, in many diverse forms—not just with lovers and family.

Despite widespread desire for community, structural and cultural obstacles to intentional community in the modern world loom large.

Ten European ecovillages show the way to a brighter future.

Howling, shouting, cries of despair, and The Pierced One greet a parent on her first visit to her daughter’s adopted community. Luckily, through lots of talking and listening, things improve.

The founder of Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage describes what it’s like to be criticized, marginalized, stripped of leadership responsibilities, and given the opportunity to explore a new role.

Some saw this radical environmental education program as a “cult,” others as an intensely focused experience of challenge and growth. Had participants lost their individuality, or gained a new sense of self?

The residents of an eco-oriented, education-focused intentional community and demonstration site wear many hats, both public and private.

Strained by difficult economic and ecological conditions, farmers Claudio and Fernando discover new avenues toward prosperity and land restoration through alliances with a peace community dedicated to regional renewal.

After several years teaching about community in the abstract, an anthropologist and environmental studies teacher finds that direct student engagement with intentional communities provides the spark needed for personal inspiration, connection, and the potential for social transformation.

A permaculture teachers hits upon a gold mine of effective methods for enlivening her teaching—by drawing from the principles of permaculture itself.

At a permaculture-based ecovillage in North Carolina, care for the earth, care for people, and care for inner health all benefit from a dynamic culture based on local self-reliance, holism, and community.

Neither the therapist diagnosing Major Depression nor the psychiatrist prescribing an antidepressant asked the fundamental question: Do you like to garden? When the author discovers this doorway into the natural world, he also finds community and inner and outer health.

A simple solution could drastically reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the modern citizen, and it does not require new technology or a drastic reduction in quality of life. We all learned about it in Kindergarten, and statistics from Twin Oaks prove its effectiveness.

The author recounts some of the off-beat marching orders he received from an eco-oriented “different drummer”—and how, instead of becoming a hermit, he became a communitarian.

With a long history of protecting the local watershed, Trillium Farm Community in southern Oregon grows not only organic food, but ecological activists.

Organized around common ecological values and a shared appreciation for the epic of evolution, a group of neighbors reduces its collective energy consumption by 25 percent.

A group of North Americans establishes a community in Costa Rica and learns new lessons about simplicity, wealth, change, growth, balance, and happiness.

While in similar circumstances to his neighbors from Clan Super Size, our author replaces a desperate sense of scarcity and need for low-cost goods with feelings of hope and abundance.

The communities movement and the natural building movement share the goal of forming meaningful relationships--with other people and with one's own home. In fact, natural building practically demands community.

O.U.R. Ecovillage has audaciously invited inspectors, architects, and regulatory officials to participate in their green building programs for the past eight years. In the process, they have fostered cooperative social connections--and received full approval for an eco-housing cluster.

There wasn't much chance that her lifelong dream of owning a bookstore would come true in her rural Missouri community. So Alline Anderson set off down the exciting and terrifying path of launching the Milkweed Mercantile--creating jobs, providing a market for community products, and offering a warm place for visitors to put up their feet.

Ecovillages are increasingly being sought for their expertise--in wastewater treatment, environmental education, renewable energy, organic agriculture, leadership skills, communication training, and more.

Can an ecovillage gal live for a week in a mainstream household--with a microwave oven, processed food on paper plates,five SUVs, and six tiny pedigreed show dogs--and make a difference?

Builder and old-house renovator Alex Daniell fell in love with the charming, old-world village atmosphere of 8-year-old Arcadia Cohousing. He asks Giles Blunden, the group's architect, how he did it.

Red Earth Farms cofounder Alyson Ewald loves it that her rural community wildcrafts, grows, processes, ferments, pickles, and celebrates food.

In the mountains of New Mexico, Lama Foundation is making new food decisions to unhook from the fossil fuel-based agricultural systems.

Natural building teacher Mark Mazziotti looks at how what could have been a stellar intern program went awry.