Findhorn – What’s it Like?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live a genuinely environmentally friendly lifestyle?
A bit more, in other words, than (for example) just buying organic produce and recycling things (although that’s a great start).
I mean, living in a home that is green, in a green community or eco village, where every aspect of your life is green.
Such communities do exist.
Ideas
What images come to mind when you think of an eco village?
Long-haired hippy types, meditating all day? People dressed in ugly clothes, chopping wood and eating only rabbit food? Tiny, bare houses with no modern conveniences?
About 350 people live in Findhorn Eco Village in Scotland in the UK.
The houses look great, everyone seems to have whatever modern conveniences they want, and no one seems to me to lack anything.
There are modest houses, and there are large houses.
They’re all different – you have to stick to the building codes but it can look however you wish. The codes are nothing radical, just sound green principles:
- Passive design (e.g. siting the house according to local weather)
- Solar panels for water heating
- Highly efficient insulation (made from recycled newspaper)
- Triple-glazed windows
Next: Â Why are Whisky and Findhorn connected? Â Click here
Plus, more photos of Findhorn – and a short video. Page 2
Interesting article on Findhorn and I think we might be surprised to find there are quite a few similar types of development around the world.
I agree, there are some excellent models in almost very country, it’s good to read about them! Glad you found the article interesting – I enjoyed researching it!
Near my home there is an Eco-village … a small one of only about 10 homes. The homes all look comfortable and are built using green design standards. But what I find really fascinating is how the village, itself, is designed. All the homes face into a courtyard … a shared community space where kids can play. Outside of the living area, there are carports rather than each home having a driveway and garage … and the carport area is made using gravel, allowing rain water to soak into the ground instead of running off into storm drains. There is a space for a community vegetable garden. It’s so well thought out. In my opinion it would require a slight change in attitude. Rather than look for property which gives an owner privacy from neighbors (which is seems many people look for), this arrangement encourages more involvement with neighbors. Who knows … perhaps if more of us lived this way, we’d truly be more tolerant of others and live peacefully. It’s a lovely idea!
Thanks for the details on this eco village, that’s really interesting! I think you’ve identified a crucial element regarding privacy. It was my one concern about Findhorn – but I suspect you can get as ‘communal’ or ‘private’ there as you wish. Personally, I wouldn’t be ready for a communal kitchen, so if I were to live in Findhorn I’d want to build my own. But you raise a valid point. I think we’re a lot less community-minded than our ancestors were, and it’s probably not good. I really like the idea of a safe area for all the kids in the community to play (similar to the idea of a Village Green surrounded by all the houses in villages and small towns in England for example), and having that sense of “community” without feeling invaded is, I believe, a worthy goal. It’s human nature to want to “belong” and I think modern society has forced us to find belonging in other areas, probably to our disadvantage.