Ahimsa EcovillageA low-cost, low-impact, vegan ecovillage forming in Ithaca, New YorkThe current plan is to collectively buy a farm or other property with a large house that would serve as temporary group housing and shared studio / office space. In addition to working to bring in personal income, many of us would team up a few hours a day to help build houses for each person / couple / family group, one or two at a time until everyone has a cozy earth-friendly residence of their own design. The original house would then serve as a shared community space and guest housing for visiting family and friends. We're also picturing a treehouse and hammock, a solar-heated hot tub, picnics and bonfire jam sessions, creative collaboration and cross-pollination in art and work, group unschooling for kids, and frequent communal meals and celebrations. Maybe we could have room available for visiting artists or activists to stay with us for free. Maybe we could figure out how to power our computers by trampoline. You never know. An accessible communityContributions are not all economic: knowledge and experience, building and agriculture skills, labor and time, the social work of caring for and sharing with friends and family, are all every bit as essential to a sustainable community as is money. If you really want to help make this idea happen, don't let a lack of money be a deterrent - get in touch with us. HousingThe houses we're envisioning building are small, efficient and low-impact, probably built from cob and/or strawbale combined with timberframing. To keep costs down and impact low, we would want to use salvaged and local materials as much as possible. Here are some links for more information on the kind of building we're talking about:
Ethical livingWe'd like this life to have as little negative impact and as much positive impact on the natural environment as we can. In keeping with the ecovillage ideal, we'd want to keep most of the land as an undeveloped, natural habitat for the animals who already live there. Ideas include reduced consumption and careful use of resources, growing and preserving a lot of our own organic food (permaculture-style), and hopefully being close enough to Ithaca center to get around by bike, or via public transportation. Ideally, we'd eventually like to be off the grid, generating our own power and recycling / reusing / processing the community's waste. Ahimsa (our working title for this community) means non-violence; this community will endeavor to be as non-oppressive as possible. We'll be vegan (no animal breeding, beekeeping, horseriding, animal labor, etc.). Any animal housemates would be given maximum freedom and equal consideration. We would also avoid supporting sweatshop labor and other human exploitation. Non-vegans are welcome, though - if you're willing to live in a vegan ecovillage, that is. As long as you're down with no public funds or space going toward animal exploitation, please do get in touch. We're extremely open-minded (and you must be too, if you're interested in this community). LocationWe'd like to be as car-free as possible, so we're looking at land / properties at a bikeable distance to things we'd like to be near in Ithaca (Greenstar Coop, various unschooler resources and places where events and meetings are held, etc.). Here's our always-evolving "Progressive Ithaca" Google Map - if you join us we'd love to get your essential locations on here too, so we can further pinpoint where we should settle. Who we areOur names are Shira Golding and Ari Moore. We're a queer vegan activist / artist couple with three adopted vegan cat friends. You can find out more about us and our work at our website, shirari.com. We fell in love with Ithaca when we went to school there, but have been living in NYC since we graduated in 2002. In looking for a place to settle down and start a family, we realized Ithaca fit the bill perfectly: it's beautiful and much more affordable than NYC, and jam-packed with other progressive folks working to make the world a better place. We know that ecovillage living is a great way to share resources, build community, raise children, and have a lower impact on the earth, and when we didn't find a low-cost, vegan community to suit us, this idea began to take shape. We're continuing our reading and other research, and are moving back to Ithaca in August 2008. So far, nine other people are in touch with us about the project. Get involvedIf this sounds appealing to you, email us at info@shirari.com. Tell us about yourself, why you're into this, and what you could bring to the table. If you have points of disagreement or questions for us, fire away. We're looking forward to talking with you! For updates and to get involved in the project, please join our low-traffic discussion list: https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/ahimsa-ecovillage (list will not be sold or shared). |
TimelineMarch 1, 2008: Listing first posted in the Intentional Communities Directory April 10, 2008: The project is mentioned in Forbes magazine, of all places May 31, 2008: Shira and Ari will attend a cohousing workshop at Ecovillage at Ithaca. It's not too late to register if you want to join us! June 18-22, 2008: Outreach at Vegetarian Summerfest, Johnstown, Pennsylvania August 2008: Shira and Ari move to Ithaca (we're going to start out renting) Fall 2008: Meetups and property search in Ithaca begins |