Comments on: You've Gone Too Far Treehugger! http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/ Green and Natural Parenting Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:28:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Yusuf http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1997 Yusuf Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:18:55 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1997 Have a look at http://www.cohousing.org/ for the ~100 cohousing places around USA. I have been touring ones on the east coast, heading over to look at the west coast ones next week. None of the ones I have seen even come close to "earth children dancing around a fire, holding hands, ..." They have ranged from friendly neighborhoods where people know each other to tight communities that spend a lot of time with each other socially. They were all balanced/realistic in terms of the amount of green features, none of them were more than 10% above market price for the locations they were in. I myself was reluctant to go to an intro meeting, but found that my preconceptions were way off. Happy discoveries. Have a look at http://www.cohousing.org/ for the ~100 cohousing places around USA. I have been touring ones on the east coast, heading over to look at the west coast ones next week. None of the ones I have seen even come close to “earth children dancing around a fire, holding hands, …” They have ranged from friendly neighborhoods where people know each other to tight communities that spend a lot of time with each other socially. They were all balanced/realistic in terms of the amount of green features, none of them were more than 10% above market price for the locations they were in. I myself was reluctant to go to an intro meeting, but found that my preconceptions were way off. Happy discoveries.

]]> By: Cara http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1996 Cara Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:07:18 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1996 I have been in love with the idea of an eco-village for a while myself. and there is one coming up down the road from me (Pringle Park Community) that seemed like a dream. smaller streets to encourage walking, a 'town center' with a community greenhouse, parks, 100% sustainable houses... beautiful *sniff* ... but what has completely turned me off was when i heard each -small- home was almost 400,000 (in Salem an average home is about 200,000 or less). I am disappointed that this can't be a lifestyle that incorporates all income levels. I stay home with the kids- we're a one income home on purpose... This kind of living should be more economical- otherwise we won't even be around much to enjoy any of the 'community' - we'll all be working too hard to just afford it. I have been in love with the idea of an eco-village for a while myself. and there is one coming up down the road from me (Pringle Park Community) that seemed like a dream. smaller streets to encourage walking, a ‘town center’ with a community greenhouse, parks, 100% sustainable houses… beautiful *sniff* … but what has completely turned me off was when i heard each -small- home was almost 400,000 (in Salem an average home is about 200,000 or less). I am disappointed that this can’t be a lifestyle that incorporates all income levels. I stay home with the kids- we’re a one income home on purpose… This kind of living should be more economical- otherwise we won’t even be around much to enjoy any of the ‘community’ – we’ll all be working too hard to just afford it.

]]> By: CindyW http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1995 CindyW Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:46:10 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1995 Very curious about that. My only fear is that I may think that represents the world out there and stop "preaching" and annoying others! Same with Kristen, my husband is much like yours. He jokingly calls me kook and begrudgingly (sometimes willingly) does green things. He is also incredibly anal, so when he gets on a green activity, he goes all out. For instance, he is big on recycling, so he gets on my case if I forget to recycle a grocery store recipe. Yeah, that anal. Very curious about that. My only fear is that I may think that represents the world out there and stop “preaching” and annoying others!

Same with Kristen, my husband is much like yours. He jokingly calls me kook and begrudgingly (sometimes willingly) does green things. He is also incredibly anal, so when he gets on a green activity, he goes all out. For instance, he is big on recycling, so he gets on my case if I forget to recycle a grocery store recipe. Yeah, that anal.

]]> By: lorien http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1994 lorien Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:43:39 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1994 I totally would be into this if it happened in my community, our income is pretty much tied up in being here, but it sounds so wonderful. I totally would be into this if it happened in my community, our income is pretty much tied up in being here, but it sounds so wonderful.

]]> By: Kristen http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1993 Kristen Wed, 10 Oct 2007 18:22:44 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1993 I actually live in a cohousing community in Colorado. Let me tell you that it is AWESOME. I can't go into all the things that make it wonderful in a short comment, but I am planning on blogging more about my community soon. My community is green, but it certainly isn't hardcore. We recycle, compost, keep an organic garden, limit our use of chemicals, etc. Pretty standard stuff. I feel the best environmental impact is our sharing of common space. And you don't have to be hardcore to live here. My husband sounds a lot like your husband. The best part of living in cohousing is the sense of community and the support and connections you feel towards your neighbors. Something I think the world needs more of to become more environmentally aware. Less "me" thinking. I actually live in a cohousing community in Colorado. Let me tell you that it is AWESOME. I can’t go into all the things that make it wonderful in a short comment, but I am planning on blogging more about my community soon. My community is green, but it certainly isn’t hardcore. We recycle, compost, keep an organic garden, limit our use of chemicals, etc. Pretty standard stuff. I feel the best environmental impact is our sharing of common space. And you don’t have to be hardcore to live here. My husband sounds a lot like your husband.

The best part of living in cohousing is the sense of community and the support and connections you feel towards your neighbors. Something I think the world needs more of to become more environmentally aware. Less “me” thinking.

]]> By: RickRussellTX http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1992 RickRussellTX Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:45:19 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1992 I've heard of such communities -- documentaries about modern communes in Scandanavia, for example. There are definitely advantages in terms of economy of scale. You could run hot & cold water off a central plant, and save costs. You could centralize Internet & TV service, run fiber to the homes, etc since there are no utility easement issues to deal with. A central kitchen could offer loads of powerful, efficient appliances, while your own kitchen could be kept small and simple, to free up space for other purposes. And common outdoor spaces could create safe, car-free places for children to play. If someone could answer the question, "how do you pay for all this stuff?", then I think it would work. But I don't know that answer. I’ve heard of such communities — documentaries about modern communes in Scandanavia, for example. There are definitely advantages in terms of economy of scale. You could run hot & cold water off a central plant, and save costs. You could centralize Internet & TV service, run fiber to the homes, etc since there are no utility easement issues to deal with. A central kitchen could offer loads of powerful, efficient appliances, while your own kitchen could be kept small and simple, to free up space for other purposes. And common outdoor spaces could create safe, car-free places for children to play.

If someone could answer the question, “how do you pay for all this stuff?”, then I think it would work. But I don’t know that answer.

]]> By: Ryan http://naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1991 Ryan Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:04:23 +0000 http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/10/youve-gone-too-far-treehugger/#comment-1991 I've been thinking about and interested in the Eco-Village idea myself, but in some ways I'm less interested in 'intentional-communities.' For me the difference lies in the fact that an eco-village (basically the same as an intentional community) is a private community with privately owned land. It's like it's own version of an apartment complex or suburban neighborhood, only 'green.' So I've recently begun doing some research into the idea of 'Eco-Municipalities'. The distinction here is that the community is public and open to new members without a pass. It's basically a town charter that gives weight to environmental and social issues but retains our traditional autonomy within community. This is important for me because it has a more realistic potential for change then splitting the world up into insular groups. Like I said, I'm just starting the research, but you can check out some links here...http://grafter.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/eco-municipalit.html Maybe this is an idea that your husband can get more on board with. I’ve been thinking about and interested in the Eco-Village idea myself, but in some ways I’m less interested in ‘intentional-communities.’ For me the difference lies in the fact that an eco-village (basically the same as an intentional community) is a private community with privately owned land. It’s like it’s own version of an apartment complex or suburban neighborhood, only ‘green.’ So I’ve recently begun doing some research into the idea of ‘Eco-Municipalities’. The distinction here is that the community is public and open to new members without a pass. It’s basically a town charter that gives weight to environmental and social issues but retains our traditional autonomy within community.

This is important for me because it has a more realistic potential for change then splitting the world up into insular groups. Like I said, I’m just starting the research, but you can check out some links here…http://grafter.typepad.com/blog/2007/10/eco-municipalit.html

Maybe this is an idea that your husband can get more on board with.

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