Why an Eco Village?


Imagine a world where the community has a daily connection with nature. Imagine a community that governs itself, where all voices are heard. Imagine a community  that is willing to Shepard the land. Imagine integrated natural light, outdoor air,  and personal space which is not defined by concrete walls but is actually designed with an invitation to think. Imagine a water system which uses rainwater for showers. Imagine grounds which house constructed wetlands, flower gardens and food-crops instead of sidewalks and flat lawns which need to be mowed, fertilized with organophosphatess and  maintained. Imagine a community that is a village.

Imagine village life where people do favors for each other because the world works better that way. Imagine a village where the February sun streams in through your southern exposed window and your desk is bathed in light, except in summer, when the grape vines shade your terrace. Imagine committing yourself for four years to a village where you actually know everyone’s name. Imagine, investing in where you live. Rather than living in a bunker with a suspended acoustic ceiling, in a suite in which you have to wash your cold prepared meal dishes in a bathroom sink ,(as the University of Vermont students presently are forced to do when they choose to avoid the food plan,) living in an eco village where your mind and spirit were embraced as you study the nuances of ecological mysteries in a wrap around garden. Imagine yourself in an ecovillage that produces more energy that it consumes. Imagine all of that and have found yourself at our eco village at the University of Vermont.  The question is not Why an Eco Village?, but rather: Why is it that we have settled for  housing and living models which are designed to compress, oppress, and deaden life force?  It’s time we figuratively and literally stepped outside the box in regard to housing and living models, and dared to treat our minds and souls  with respect; it is time that we dared to live in concert with nature, and integrated ecological systems into our daily lives. Finally, it  is long overdue that we twined an eco village model with the academy and set forth a model for inspired learning, which can only arise from inspired living.