SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT!!!
Sustainable development (from Wikipedia – I love Wikipedia!) is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future.
I need to talk about Sustainability.
On a Global scale we all have to live using our resources so that everyone has a fair share of the Planet’s resources.
Energy. Are you using more energy at an amount greater than your fair share?
If you are an American, the odds are that you are using a lot more energy than the average human on this Planet. If everyone used energy at the rate of American’s worldwide, I don’t need to go further.
Water. Are you using your water only once? Do you recycle your water?
Transportation. Do you drive an electric vehicle or that 250+ MPG Volkswagon? Do you share your high mileage vehicles? Do you use public transportation that is as energy efficient as the electric vehicle or that 250+ MPG Volkswagon? Or is your public transportation a wasteful, beauracratic scam?
Food. Until we can make beef in factories instead of on the hoof, everyone can’t eat meat at the rate of Americans. That may be coming very quickly but it isn’t here yet. Vegetables are getting more and more expensive, yet growing them has never been more healthy.
The point is that we can’t eat anything we want and drive anything we want and use as much fossil fuel created energy as much as we want.
We can’t do that anymore.
Obviously, everyone deserves a share of our Earth’s bounty. Sustainability.
All over the world, people are working singly and in groups to lower their Environmental Impact.
The Extreme Green Village is a place where people can work in groups to lower, (or eliminate!) their environmental impact.
We will have a car sharing system of high mileage Coop vehicles.
100% water recycling and whole site collection. And later a discounted selling to the surrounding communities!!
Right from the start our heating and cooling costs will be approximately 30% of your current bill. Will we use wind or solar or something that will be invented that doesn’t exist yet?
Food.
See Space for Gardens.
It’s very important for a project like this to, at the very least, to have contracts with local farmers to purchase a portion of their produce in the area of grains and beans. That is the minimum for sustainability.
To be really sustainable The Coop should own additional land either adjacent, which would be ideal, or at a distance but still locally.
Land prices determine these decisions and depending on your area of the country, you may have to have contracts with farmers or shared ownership with other Coops.
Extreme Green Villages linking together, locally!!!
With the Extreme Green Village, the long term goal would be to have multiple Extreme Green Villages linking together to provides needs for each other and selling the excess!
For now I’m estimating that 5 established Extreme Green Villages in the local Austin area will generate enough grain and bean demand to be able to establish an Extreme Green Village out in the country!!
When that happens the Sustainability food loop will be closed!!
While bread is called the staff of life, for Sustainability, not only grains for bread but rice and beans need to be stored at the Town Center.
We’ll start by contracting with farmers and later demand will start a country Extreme Green Village.
How much rice, beans and grains does an Extreme Green Village need to store for one year?
Once dry, grains, rice and beans can be stored for many years. Also the same for oils.
For the purpose of sustainability, I look at 1000 calories a day as the amount a person needs to get from rice, beans and grains.
12 ounces of uncooked brown rice is rounded out to be 1000 calories.
14 ounces of uncooked red beans is rounded out to be 1000 calories.
20 ounces of uncooked whole wheat is rounded out to be 1000 calories.
Multiply these ounces by the number of people and the number of days to get the minimum amount the Extreme Green Village should contract with local farmers per year.
Example.
20 ounces of whole wheat X 1000 people = 20,000 ounces
20,000 ounces X 365 days = 7,300,000 ounces
7,300,000 ounces / 16 ounces to the pound = 456,250 pounds
456,250 pounds / 50 pounds per bushel = 9125 bushels
9125 bushels / 40 bushels per ton = approximately 229 tons!
That’s nine trailer truck loads!
For real long term sustainability, the long term storing of grains and rice are a necessity.
If the Coop decides they need to have 3 years of grains, 3 years of rice and 1 year of beans to get to the Biblical 7 years, imagine how much storage that demands!
And remember, if a bakery on the Town Center sells bread to the public the purchase could be double that!
If a restaurant serves the public on the Town Center, that demand needs to be projected and added too.
You may say, “Wait, I don’t eat that much bread or rice or grains.”
The Extreme Green Village isn’t going to make it illegal to eat meat or whatever you want to eat. Freedom is more important.
The Extreme Green Village is just going to develop the systems to support Sustainability in your choices!
But what about my salads and green veggies?
The 86 acres of intense gardening
The 86 acres of intense gardening have the capability to provide all or most of the fresh and canned vegetables the community needs on a year to year sustainable level. In addition their will be a surplus to sell.
In other places all over the website I’ve listed these and other advantages to living and working on the Extreme Green Village.
Sustainability in the big picture.
The big picture goal is to have a high quality of life and better than you have it now.
But at the same time only achieving that better quality of life by working towards only using your fair share (or less!) of resources and not making others go without so you can have more.
That way, all of us can raise our standard of living worldwide. Not at the expense of others in other countries.
The truth is I can’t personally be as Green as I should be by myself. I created this Extreme Green Village, because I can’t be as Green as I should be without the help of others. And it’s more fun.
I’ve met very few people who are using only their fair share of Fossil Fuels, 100% Water Recycling, 100% Trash Recycling etc.
Most people fall short on one aspect or another when they work alone.
For those who can do it all and do it by themselves, I applaud them. And I would also like to invite them to come to the Extreme Green Village and spread their wisdom.
But this section is about Sustainability.
Again, in the big picture, its that all of us should reduce our footprint in all the Green areas for the fate of the world..
But in the smaller picture of this one Extreme Green Village. The question is how sustainable can the Extreme green Village become?
And how we can grow into sustainability plus adding and contributing to a new form of Community.