So, who'd be interested in a 420 themed Sustainable Living and Co-Housing Project? Here's how it works. If you've ever heard of "The Natural Step", you know what a benefit Sustainable Living is. There are entire towns in Sweden that are based on the program, and I'm interested to know how many of you would be willing to participate in it. The basic principals of the program is that it's Socialism on a very small scale, voluntary participation in a completely self-sustaining community, and elimination of federal and state interference in things that go on in our community. You don't have to be a Libertarian to participate in the Natural Step program, but it sure does help, because the whole idea is to keep the government out of our business. The Natural Step Framework's definition of sustainability includes four system conditions (scientific principles) that lead to a sustainable society. These conditions, that must be met in order to have a sustainable society, are as follows: In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing: 1. concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth's crust; 2. concentrations of substances produced by society; 3. degradation by physical means and, in that society, 4. people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs. The community is usually started in a small town with lots of farmland around. A decent chunk of farmland is purchased by the Co-Op, typically around 20-30 acres for a 10-family community. This amount of land provides enough space for the housing complex, closely placed, but not so close that they are uncomfortable, space for green houses, centralized power, heat, wells drilled for each house, a communal septic system that doubles as a compost pit, and a few spots for pens and pastures for animals like cattle, pigs, goats, and llamas, as well as a barn. The housing complex itself would be arranged in such a way to most benefit everyone. The houses placed in a ring, with a park in the middle. There would be a parking lot as you enter the property, and pathways leading from the parking lot to each of the different sections of the complex. Everything is shared amongst the residents. Hopefully, we have people from the trades, and professional sector... A doctor, a handyman, an auto mechanic, a professional gardener , a glass blower j/k, water treatment specialist and a few other necessary professions to make it so we don't have to outsource anything except exotic things that we can't grow around wherever we set up. Each house would have a small footprint, a kitchenette, a full bathroom, 2-3 bedrooms, and a small living/dining area for your own family. Basements are optional, but costly, and as the complex would also be host to a common area, with a full size kitchen, large dining and recreation area, laundry, gym, maybe an Endless Pool... we wouldn't need really need individual basements in the house. Residents would be encouraged to drive diesel vehicles, and there would be a 1 acre greenhouse that would be used for growing algae. Along with algae, the greenhouse would be an Aquaponics Lab, where we would grow Tilapia, fed by commercial pellet food, and the Tilapia would in turn continuously feed the algae. The Tilapia would be yet another sustainable food source. The algae would be processed into biodiesel, and the mash (left over stuff after taking out the oil) would be used as an organic animal feed. Since it takes only 8 hours for algae to duplicate itself, we would have a constant supply of fuel for our high economy work vehicles. The selection of animals would be up to the residents, and personal pets would of course be welcome. Each house would have it's own pet space, and as the entire property would be surrounded by a 6 foot high cattle fence, most larger dogs could run around semi-freely as long as they were supervised by their owners, a la a dog park. I don't care to milk cows, but I love beef, so a couple of Angus steers would definitely be running around. For your information, a single Angus steer can get up to 1600lbs, and a "side" of beef can feed a family of 4 on red meat every day for a year... not that you'd actually WANT to eat red meat every day of the year, but we could... A couple of goats would be around for the obvious goat's milk... but I like Fainting Goats in particular, for their entertainment value. Imagine watching a goat faint when you're high... Being that the goats actually faint, the llama would be specifically, a Guard Llama, a breed that is designed specifically to guard small farm animals from wolves and coyotes. (Keep your dogs away, them fuckers kick hard and they'll spit in your face too.) Pigs for obvious reasons, and hell, while we're at it, we might as well add in a couple of sheep with the goats, for wool. Lastly, on the animal front, there would be chickens, because I can't live without chickens... The remaining area (5-10 acres) would be used for both protected (greenhoused) and unprotected gardens. We would grow everything the area can sustain, and our meals would be comprised of seasonal food as much as possible. The few greenhouses would be heated so they could grow year round, and there would be a greenhouse dedicated to growing herb only. We would alternate use of the gardens to grow Hemp every other year, to be used as hemp should be used, because hemp is a nitrogen fixing plant that would promote better growth the following year for vegetables. Clothing, rope, siding for the houses, biofuel, etc. Anything you want to grow would be acceptable. The best thing about this whole setup, is that everyone contributes to the community and none of our produce leaves the community. All power is provided by internal power, and if we have a surplus, we can always sell it back to the grid and earn some extra cash for maintenance and repairs, etc. Everyone would be required to maintain one regular job per household, and the 10 families would have equal ownership, and equal rights in the community. This doesn't mean that you don't get to keep your own money... whatever you make above and beyond the cost of mortgage, supplies, and maintaining the complex would still be yours. I am not talking about setting up a cult either... People would be free to come and go as they please, and this whole idea is meant for community cooperation without interference from the GOVERNMENT... not the entire outside world. We want people to come and see our farm, and see how we live, and hopefully they will set up their own co-housing setup, maybe joining a Natural Step Co-Op, where we trade goods and services between communities, still not relying on anything unsustainable. By the way, Dawson Creek, BC, Canada is an Eco-Municipality on a large scale. There are 70 Eco-Municipalities (25% of all the towns) in Sweden, and they are growing. Sustainability is the most amazing method of living, and I'm looking forward to living in a community where people actually work and live as a community, instead of just a bunch of houses in one area. So what do you guys think?? A total investment of about $1.5-2 million for the entire complex would be appropriate, $0.5-1 million for the land purchase, and $0.5-1 million for all the buildings, fences, power, animals, greenhouses, etc.... Yes, I realize this is a $150,000-200,000 investment per family, but there are banks that are giving loans specifically for Sustainable Communities, and as much as I want to leave the federal government out of it because it's hypocritical of me otherwise, the government does have grants available for The Natural Step in particular. Who's interested?
Sounds good... what skills are you bringing to the party? By the way, since it's my idea... lol... I'm included by default. I have carpentry, first responder training, epic gardening skills, and I'm a former U.S. Marine Armorer, which means I can fix guns. Oh yeah, and I'm an Expert Rifleman... only thing better than me with a rifle is a Scout Sniper.
skills you say? well i guess i can grow ganja fairly decent, got a few pistolas of my own, ima savage in tha kitchen and im the most bowl scrapinest motherfucker in 7 states marine armorer? like wat kind of epic weapons came ur way in there if i may ask?
Let's see... Beretta M9 9MM Pistol M16A2 Rifle M249 Squad Automatic Weapon M870 12-GA Shotgun M1012 Automatic Shotgun Mossberg 500/590 Shotgun M240G Machine Gun M2 .50BMG Machine Gun M203 40mm Rifle Mounted Grenade Launcher Mk19 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher M224 60mm Mortar M252 81mm Extended Range Mortar M40A1 Sniper Rifle M82A1A Sniper Rifle I also currently own a CZ-52 pistol, (3) Yugo M59/66 SKSs (with Functional Grenade Launchers on 2 of them), (4) Schmidt-Rubin K31s, (2) Mosin Nagant M91/30s, a Mossberg 590 12ga Shotgun, a Double Barrel 20ga Shotgun, a Single Shot 20ga shotgun, and a Savage .17HMR Rifle.
LOL... we're lookin for FAMILIES... But if we need a poontang licker around, we'll be sure to... wait... nevermind...
Of course I'm in! I honestly have a possibility of inheriting 180 acres in Northern WI (Ashland area) of some great farmland. The last few years a company has rented out the land and been planting soybeans & canola on rotation so the soil is extremely fertile. Not that it would be an option any time soon, but in 10 years or so consider yourself formally invited to live out your days in the [eventual] commune. As for something a bit more recent, the skills I would be contribuing would be my quick learning, my ability to dream and plan (as you know), and complete dedication to seeing things through. My tangible skills would include [minor] carpentry, cooking, gardening, and the ability to do laborious tasks. I've also raised chickens & turkeys in the past, so that may be something of interest. If you were interested in a more immediate solution with a much lower budget requirement, why not find a small plot (10 acres or so) on an aquafer. There could be a temporary tent community set up around the well, and we could use solar panels/wind generators to provide all the electricty we would need. We could either harvest our own lumber and build the homes completely from scrath, or buy preprocessed wood. Depending on the area that the community would be located we could even get the amish to help raise a barn At first the community could live inside said barn, with private quarters set up for each family. It would be comfortable for aproximately 4 familys and a few single/couples. Living in one larger building would be much easier to heat (it would be similar to living in an indian longhouse) and ther sense of community would be extremely close. When the funds became available everything could be converted to a much more high tech plan like you described. I've often though about starting up something like this with a few likeminded friends if/when I inherited the land, and because of that I have a lot of ideas. If you'd like to switch our usual discussion over to this a bit more I'd love to do so, it seems a little more....obtatainable of a project for the nearer future. Too bad I'm a young man, with no family. I guess that excludes me. EDIT: I forgot to mention I know how to run a bobcat. I'm sure that would come in handy. My uncle is a certified welder and I could always learn how to do that as well.