Janet recently wrote a very nice opinion editorial that was printed in the Avon Grove Sun and The Kennett Paper. Read it at this link, or below:
Who needs an ecovillage? Perhaps many of us
Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010
By Janet H. Pelletier
As a founding member of Three Groves Ecovillage, I am one of many people working to build an Ecovillage in London Grove Township, on seven-and-a-half acres at the intersection of State and Prospect. Our group of future-homeowners has partnered with professionals to build what is not widely available on the market today: truly green residential construction. How green will our Ecovillage be, you ask? We intend to apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the highest measure of green that there is. Our team of professionals is first class. Aye Partners consists of Sandy Wiggins, a leader in the Green Building revolution and expert in LEED, and Jackie O'Neil, a well-known Delaware Valley sustainability advocate. Our architect is Re:Vision Architecture, specializing in green and sustainable design. Our real estate agent is Margot Mohr Teetor of Re/Max Town and Country, a tireless dynamo with an amazing ability to connect land, homes, people and cookies. It is these people and many more who will make this Ecovillage a reality.
Who needs an Ecovillage? I believe we all do. An Ecovillage is a community that is both environmentally and socially sustainable. In many ways, it returns to the value set of an earlier generation when resources were used frugally, and you knew and supported your neighbors. Think of old-fashioned barn raisings and home-grown food. In today's era, we can apply modern technology and knowledge to using our resources wisely. And while we probably don't need to raise a barn in a suburban Ecovillage, we can still help each other in our daily lives. I would like to outline the benefits of an Ecovillage to the homeowner, the larger community, and to the environment.
Personal benefits
I care about the environment and want to "walk the talk" in my daily life, but this is bigger than that. There are real financial benefits and improvement in the quality of life to be had in owning a green home and living in a green community. In industry, where a building is often purpose-built for the future users of it, they have figured out that a small premium during construction returns huge dividends over the life of the building. For example, green buildings typically have better air quality, better use of natural light, and better noise control. In industry, a more comfortable and healthy environment translates to better employee productivity or higher tenant rates. Wouldn't I want my own home to be comfortable and healthy, too? In truth though, it still comes down to the bottom line, and green buildings are seen as being expensive.
While there can be a small premium to green construction, that has been whittled away as green becomes mainstream. With the premium minimized, homeowners should begin to think about the long-term costs of owning a home, just as industry thinks about the long-term costs of operating a facility. Costs for heating fuel, electricity, and water will all rise as the years go by. It simply makes financial sense to live in a well-insulated, efficiently heated and cooled home with water-saving fixtures. In fact, banks are beginning to realize the benefits to green homes, and some are offering "green mortgages" that are based on the idea that the monthly cost of living in a green home is lower than in a conventional home. That means that a homeowner can afford to spend more on a mortgage payment each month because things like power and water bills are lower. Our plan is to be Net Zero Energy. Quite simply, we will use solar panels to generate as much energy as we consume, feeding it the grid during peak cost periods and drawing it out at night during periods of lower cost. We anticipate getting checks back from PECO.
The last main benefit to living in an Ecovillage is more about the people, and is very exciting to me. I imagine a diverse group of people as the future owners of these homes, who are celebrated for their differences in age, income, race, religion, or anything else that makes them unique. The commonality between them all would be the desire to live in a community where people care about each other and the environment.
Think for a moment about curb-side recycling. We all know it is good to recycle-it keeps waste out of limited landfill space. But would you actually recycle if you had go to a recycling center yourself? Be honest. Many of us recycle simply because it has been made very easy for us; we have support to do it. Organizations like Weight Watchers or other support organizations also help their members to achieve a common goal. I look at an Ecovillage as being a support system for people who want to live sustainably, but can't quite figure out how to bring it all together. Would I have thrown those batteries in the trash if my community had a bin for them? Would I be willing to start a compost pile if my neighbor would help me? The possibilities build from there-rather like that old-fashioned barn-raising.
Community benefits
I believe that the community surrounding an Ecovillage can benefit by its presence, too. Besides the direct economic benefit brought by local contractors gaining work, there are indirect benefits, too. An Ecovillage like the one we envision will serve as a replicable model for green residential development. It will show the county and the country a new way of creating homes that are more comfortable, healthier, more cost effective, and beautiful. I see a village tucked into the hillside, surrounded by lush gardens of native plants. It will demonstrate an alternative to urban sprawl through wise use of clustering and open space. I think it also would help reinforce the reputation that London Grove is fostering of an environmentally-aware place to live. Finally, I think that the people who would live in the Ecovillage would also be active in the greater community, especially in support of the environment.
Benefits to the Environment
These are the benefits that have the greatest impact for future generations. An Ecovillage encourages wise use of limited resources such as land, water, and building supplies. It discourages urban sprawl by clustering homes and leaving a portion of the tract as open space. It manages storm water run-off naturally with the use of swales and permeable surfaces, keeping debris and pollutants out of our waterways. It discourages the use of toxic pesticides, cleaners or other substances that can contaminate the air, ground or waterways. The list could go on and on.
Who needs an Ecovillage? We all do.
thank goodness for rule breaking! I love your page.Thank you for another great article.so you are allowed to change them whenever you want.this article was very interesting.great read, its always fun to read about happy events.I found this very interesting.
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