[PDF]EcoVillage at Ithaca-Pioneering a Sustainable Culture

ECCVVILLAGE




Advance Praise for EcoVillage at Ithaca



The folks at EcoVillage have learned more than a little about
creating an Earth-friendly community. Today, an ever-growing
number of people are coming to the conclusion that our
society is on a collision course with madness; they long for a
way of life less alienating and more natural than the prevailing
direction of our culture, but do not know where to turn.
In EcoVillage at Ithaca, Liz Walker speaks of the struggles
as well as the joys of building such a community. I finished this book
with a greatly renewed sense of hope and trust in humanity's ability
to live with one another and the Earth.

— John Robbins, author of Diet For A New America

and The Food Revolution

Liz Walker's EcoVillage at Ithaca is an achingly beautiful
and finely told account of a group of people — part of a larger
movement — living as modern pioneers of a sustainable future.
Walker and her dozens of companions are ordinary people called to
an extraordinary adventure in our hyper-individualistic consumer
culture — to trust one another, to cooperate, to work together,

to make a "career" of living itself. I hope this book inspires
you to be more neighborly at very least and perhaps to join the
growing network of people living lightly and intentionally
so that there might be many tomorrows.

— Vicki Robin, coauthor of Tour Money or Tour Life,

and cofounder of "Conversation Cafes"

Liz Walker's EcoVillage at Ithaca is a great contribution to the
sustainability movement. Her personal, engaging account is an
invaluable documenting of the process of creating one of the most
successful alternative communities: EcoVillage at Ithaca. Liz Walker
is honest about the frustrations and conflicts as well as about the
joys of this social experiment. The lessons she has learned, and the
example of sustainable, supportive living, are vital for anyone
contemplating undertaking such a project. Thank you, Liz!

— Starhawk, author of The Spiral Dance, The Fifth Sacred Thing,
Webs of Power, and The Earth Path



I had the good luck to stay at EcoVillage at Ithaca in its
early days, and can still remember the heady sense of optimism,
community, and verve. This fine book captures all that, and will
serve as an invaluable tool for anyone with such subversive
thoughts in the back of their own mind.

— Bill McKibben, author of Wandering Home: A Long Walk
Across America's Most Hopeful Region, Vermont's Champlain Valley

and New York's Adirondacks

Liz Walker's fascinating and touching story of the Ecovillage
at Ithaca shows how two single mothers without financial means
initiated and led the building of a model for a sustainable society.

In the process, they not only reduced their ecological footprint
by 40 percent , but also created community, trust and love among
the participants. All future ecovillage projects will stand on the
shoulders of their experiences. This is a place into which I
would like to reincarnate as a child in a future lifetime.
Ecovillagers are the true freedom fighters of our generation.

— Hildur Jackson, ecovillage designer, cofounder of Gaia Trust
and the Global ecovillage Network, and author of
Ecovillage Living: Restoring the Earth and her People

This thoughtful, candid look at a successful ecovillage by one
of its cofounders is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in
starting his or her own ecovillage or intentional community.

— Diana Leafe Christian, author of Creating a Life Together:
Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities



ECQ^ILLAGE
ITHACA



ECQ^ILLAGE



ITHACA



LIZ WALKER




New Society Publishers



Cataloging in Publication Data:

A catalog record for this publication is available from
the National Library of Canada.

Copyright © 2005 by Liz Walker.
All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane Mcintosh. Cover images: Top photograph copyright
Laura Beck; bottom photograph copyright Laura Miller (www.lauramiller.net).
Back cover photo: Laura Beck

Printed in Canada.

First printing April 2005.

Paperback ISBN: 0-86571-524-6

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of EcoVillage at Ithaca should
be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America)
1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
1-800-567-6772

New Society Publishers' mission is to publish books that contribute in funda-
mental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do
so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models
this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but
through action. We are acting on our commitment to the world's remaining
ancient forests by phasing out our paper supply from ancient forests worldwide.
This book is one step toward ending global deforestation and climate change.
It is printed on acid-free paper that is 100% old growth forest-free (100% post-
consumer recycled), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based,
low-VOC inks. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and
purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com



New Society Publishers



www.newsociety.com



To my parents Alan and Margery Walker, for their
love and stellar example of lives lived with integrity;

to my partner Jared Jones, for taking a leap of faith
to join me in this fascinating journey,
and for offering me deep love and support;

and for my sons Jason and Daniel Katz,
who inspire me to work for a better world.



Contents



Acknowledgments xi

Foreword by Duane Elgin xiii

Introduction 1

Chapter One: How It All Started 7

The Global Walk 7

The Envisioning Retreat 12

Buying the Land 15

Chapter Two: People and the Land 21

Ithaca 21

The Land Use Planning Process 23

Paying Off the Land 29

Chapter Three: West Haven Farm 39

Jen and John 41

Farming and Finances 42

Working on the Farm 45

CSA Pickup 46

Chapter Four: Living in Community 53

The Coho using Model 55

Growing Pains 56

Famous Fried Tofu 61

... and the Beach Party 65

Invented Celebrations 66

Chapter Five: It's Not Utopia: Conflict and Communication ...77

Communication 77

Conflict 83

Chapter Six: The Cycle of Life 103

Birth and Death at EcoVillage 103



Life Passages 112

Personal Transformations 118

"Deepening Relationships" Groups 121

Chapter Seven: The "Eco" in EcoVillage 125

The Big Picture 125

Green Building 134

FROG and SONG: Choices and Consequences 138

Recycling 141

Influencing Friends and Neighbors 143

Chapter Eight: Creating the "Village" in EcoVillage 147

Getting Us Together 149

The "Crux of the Matter" Party 150

Sharing the Load, Sharing the Glory: 152

The Benefits of Shared Leadership
Revisiting the Vision 159

Chapter Nine: Learning and Teaching 161

Community Education: Learning from the Inside Out 162

Sharing Our Learning 167

Partnership Education: Creating the 179

Basis for Institutional Change
International Ecovillage Education 185

Chapter Ten: Spreading the Word 189

The People Connection 190

Sister Village 192

The Allure of Village Life 200

Working with the Media 202

Chapter Eleven: Assessing the Present, Planning the Future ...207

How Are We Doing? 209

Dream Projects 215

Ecovillages and the World: What We Have to Offer 220

Glossary of Acronyms 221

EcoVillage at Ithaca Timeline 225

Index 231

About the Author 237



Acknowledgments



Although I write about the history of EVI from my own experi-
ence, clearly this entire project would not have happened without
the creative and dedicated work of many dozens of people. I want to
thank Joan Bokaer for so clearly articulating the original vision. My
friends and colleagues on the Global Walk proved that you can reach
a vision, one step at a time. The people who loaned money to purchase
the EVI land took a big risk, and I thank them for their courage and,
in some cases, for their extraordinary generosity in forgiving their
loans. The dozens of people who served on the EVI Board over the
years and helped to shape the nonprofit deserve a hearty round of
applause. But most of all I want to thank the 160 people with whom
I share this wonderful community.

I also want to thank my friends and family, who early on read drafts
of the manuscript and offered words of encouragement: Irene Zahava
(who helped me believe in my writing), Krishna Ramanujan (who
offered excellent editing suggestions), and Elan and Rachael Shapiro
(for supporting me throughout the process). Additional thanks go to
Talaja Bonheim, Tina Nilsen-Hodges, Margery and Alan Walker, Lars
Walker, Rachel Cogbill, and Daniel Katz. Thanks to Phebe Gustafson
for fact-checking, to Betsy Crane for emotional support, and to my
women's group for their hugs. Thanks to Jim Bosjolie, Laura Beck,
and Laura Miller for capturing the essence of this ecovillage in photos.
Many thanks to New Society Publishers for accepting my unsolicited
manuscript and working with me to create a book. Last, but far from
least, Jared Jones has offered me steady love and encouragement to
carry out my dreams.



xi



Foreword



eco villages:
Seeds of Sustainable Societies

by Duane Elgin

The human family has entered a pivotal time in history when we
are challenged to make not superficial changes, but a deep trans-
formation in our manner of everyday living. The great wisdom of
developing more sustainable patterns and ways of living was power-
fully declared in 1992 when over 1,600 of the world's senior
scientists, including a majority of the living Nobel laureates in the
sciences, signed an unprecedented "Warning to Humanity." In this
historic statement, they declared that "human beings and the natural
world are on a collision course . . . that may so alter the living world
that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know."
They concluded that "A great change in our stewardship of the earth
and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided
and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably muti-
lated." Roughly a decade later came a related warning from 100
Nobel Prize winners who said that "the most profound danger to
world peace in the coming years will stem not from the irrational acts
of states or individuals but from the legitimate demands of the
world's dispossessed."

As these two warnings by the world's senior scientists indicate,
powerful trends are now converging into a whole-systems crisis, creating



xiii



xiv ECOVILLAGE AT ITHACA



the likelihood of a planetary-scale evolutionary crash within this
generation. These "adversity trends" include growing disruption of
the global climate, an enormous increase in human populations living
in gigantic cities without access to sufficient land and water needed to
grow their own food, the depletion of vital resources such as fresh
water and cheap oil, the massive and rapid extinction of animal and
plant species around the world, growing disparities between the rich
and the poor, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The
potential for "vast human misery" and conflict seems very great.

Another path is possible. Rather than pull apart in destructive conflict,
the human community could choose to pull together in cooperation
and work collaboratively to create a sustainable future. I am heartened
by research that indicates public attitudes and behaviors seem to be
shifting in favor of more sustainable ways of living.

A "World Values Survey" was conducted at the turn of the 21 st
century, which represented a majority of the world's population and
covered the full range of economic and political variation. Strikingly,
this survey revealed that, over the several decades prior to the turn of
the century, a major shift in values has been occurring in a cluster of a
dozen or so nations, including the United States, Canada, Northern
Europe, Japan, and Australia. In these societies, the emphasis is shift-
ing from economic achievement to post-materialist values that
emphasize self-expression, subjective well-being, and quality of life.
These emerging values are important in supporting a shift beyond a
narrowly focused materialism to a broadly oriented concern for more
sustainable and satisfying ways of living.

A similar shift in values can be seen in other surveys focused on the
United States. They show that several generations have tasted the
fruits of an affluent society and have discovered that, for many, money
does not buy happiness; instead, it is producing a society of emptiness
and alienation. Not surprisingly, millions of people are trusting their
experience, pulling back from the rat race of consumer society, and
moving toward a way of life that is richer with family, community,
creative work in the world, and a soulful connection with all of life.

Overall, in the United States and a dozen or so other "post-modern"
nations, a trend toward simpler, more sustainable ways of living has
evolved from a fringe movement in the 1960s to a respected part of
mainstream cultures in the early 2000s. These surveys show there



Foreword xv



exists a distinct subpopulation — that I would conservatively estimate
at 10 percent of the US adult population, or 20 million people — that
is pioneering a way of life that is outwardly more sustainable and
inwardly more soulful and satisfying.

Although millions of people are seeking to move toward new ways
of living, they face an enormous challenge — our current patterns and
scales of living do not suit their emerging needs. The scale of the
household is often too small and that of the city too large to realize
many of the opportunities for sustainable living. However, at the scale
of an ecovillage, the strength of one person or family meets the
strength of others and, working together, can create something that
was not possible before. To illustrate from my own life, for a year now,
my partner Coleen and I have lived in a cohousing community (often
viewed as a stepping stone to an ecovillage) of roughly 70 people, and
we have seen how easily and quickly activities can be organized. From
organizing fundraisers (such as a brunch for tsunami disaster relief), to
arranging classes (such as yoga and Cajun dancing), planting the
community landscape and garden, and creating community celebrations
and events, we have participated in several dozen gatherings that have
emerged with ease from the combined strengths and diverse talents of
the community.

A new architecture of life is needed: one that integrates the physi-
cal as well as the social and cultural/spiritual dimensions of our lives.
Taldng a lesson from humanity's past, it is important to look at the in-
between scale of living — that of a small village of a few hundred
people. Great opportunity exists for organizing into clusters of small
ecovillages that are nested within a larger urban area.

Looking more broadly at this inspiring vision of a sustainable
future, I can imagine that a family will live in an "eco-home" that is
nested within an "eco- village," that, in turn, is nested within an "eco-
city," and so on up the scale to the bioregion, nation, and world. Each
ecovillage of several hundred persons would have a distinct character,
architecture, and local economy. Most would likely contain a childcare
facility and play area; a common house for meetings, celebrations and
regular meals together; an organic community garden; a recycling and
composting area; some revered open space; and a crafts and shop area.
As well, each could offer a variety of types of work to the local economy
— such as the arts, health care, child care, a non-profit learning center
>>>