think or thwim

General Description

The entire village is completely off the grid. There are no power, water or sewer services from outside. The only connections are phone and six residential sized trash cans that are emptied by the county.

Earthaven is 320 acres in the North Carolina blue ridge mountains about 8 miles off Interstate 40 at the end of a winding paved road. It started in the early 1990s, so it’s not very old, and it’s definitely a work in progress. The land is mostly steeply sloped and heavily forested with mixed hardwoods and a few pines. We were told the forest is only about 70-100 years old because a lot of the land was used to grow corn for alcohol early in the last century. The soil is a well draining sand/clay mixture. The weather is mild with rainfall spread pretty evenly throughout the year. Moss grows on anything that doesn’t move. Rocks are plentiful and flat bottom land is limited. Poison ivy and no-see-ums are also plentiful, but they aren’t a problem.

The road enters the property at the bottom of a valley next to a stream. Twelve neighborhoods have been designated for development within Earthaven. The neighborhoods near the entrance and center will be more densely populated than the neighborhoods at the tops of the ridges. The further you get from the center the less development there is. Buildings are generally built on slopes to save flat land for growing food. All buildings are built with south facing solar access, but sites have to be carefully planned. A ridge on the south side of the property blocks solar access for a fair amount of the land. (Topo Map)

There are a wide variety of building types in various stages of construction. Most are constructed largely of materials from the site. Windows, lights, etc, are bought off site (usually used). One of the largest buildings is made from recycled juice pallets. Earthaven has a sawmill, but they’ve found it more efficient to ship timber to a neighboring saw mill.

Infrastructure

The roads within Earthaven are gravel with bridges suitable for heavy trucks over the streams. There are numerous well used walking paths through the forest between buildings and neighborhoods. Several mountain streams meander through the property. Fourteen natural springs provide drinking water. There are filtered water stations strategically placed around the site. Hot water comes from solar water heaters. Electricity is generated by photovoltaic panels on the roof of each building and one small hydroelectric power plant that provides power to the central neighborhood. Toilets are composting and peeing in the woods is encouraged. There are small propane tanks (like the kind used for BBQ grilles) used for cooking.

Transportation

The major mode of transportation within Earthaven is walking. You don’t see anyone out of shape there. Some people have mountain bikes, and one guy has an e-bike. There are several golf cars charged by solar panels on their roofs. Earthaven charges residents $10 per car per month, and parking spots are fairly rare. However, cars are required for trips into town. The residents tend to drive small fuel efficient cars. There are several biodiesel fueled vehicles, but a lot of them just have gas engines. Almost all cars belonging to residents have bumper stickers on them. I think it may be a requirement.

People

The stereotype that comes to mind is probably hippies smoking pot in the woods, but that’s not true. My summary is: activists with degrees in physics and biology trying to find a combination of technology and simplicity that results in a sensible life that could be followed by generations of people. They are self funded researchers. When I think of hippies, I think of a bunch of people wanting to shirk responsibility and have a good time. This is approximately the opposite of that. The folks at Earthaven work hard, and when they’re not working to build a physical town, they’re attending meetings to build a community. Patricia Allison told us as she was running between meetings “before I came here I was a carefree hippie woman. Now I have a planner… and it’s full.”

The standard of cleanliness is lower than average in America, but it makes sense. At Earthaven you wear the same clothes several days in a row, shower when you start to offend people, and don’t worry about shaving. Personally, I’m much more comfortable there. There are currently a little over 40 adult residents plus 9 kids. Some of the kids are part timers because only one parent lives there.

Economy

Earthaven is 8 miles from the nearest tiny town, and 30 miles from Asheville, NC, the nearest city. Most of the residents live simply and don’t require nearly as much income as the average American. They work within Earthaven as much as possible, but that is tough to do. A business that relies solely on Earthaven members has a very limited market. Some people have jobs outside out of necessity. They emphasize trading with each other because they need to keep money within the community and avoid a trade deficit.

There is no income sharing. Earthaven is a town just like any other in that regard. Each resident essentially owns their home site (99 year lease for $20,000 per 1/4 acre lot), and the one time $4000 per adult membership cost buys part ownership in the entire 320 acres. In addition to dollars, they use an internal currency called Leaps. The community collects taxes by requiring four hours of labor per week from it’s members.

There are a number of gardens and one small farm, but so far, nearly all the food is bought outside the community. Buying new is avoided as much as possible. They also buy locally when possible, and they seem to have very good relations with their neighbors. More self sufficiency is one of the goals, but that’s only necessary because the surrounding society is so unsustainable. Ideally, they would be interdependent with the surrounding communities. Brian Love and Chris Farmer are starting a new farm right at the entrance called the Gateway Project. It’s an interesting experiment in sustainability. Read more about it here.

Governance

Decisions are made by consensus. All organizations go through ups and downs, and Earthaven is a trough right now. Their membership is down from it’s peak and the morale of some of the leaders seems low. The reasons are certainly more complex than I know, but I do know some of the practical challenges:

• They recently paid off their land, and they are running a surplus. There is disagreement about what to do with the money.
• The folks that are passionate enough to leave mainstream society for an ecovillage are extremely educated about living sustainably, but there are still huge differences of opinion. Are high tech solutions like solar power appropriate or is returning to more simple living the right thing to do?
• The people there grew up in mainstream society, and have friends and family outside the community. They bring that baggage with them.
• Even though there is a set of common goals and a lot of similar thinking, the normal egos, relationship issues, and all the other shortcomings of being people still apply.

Even though some have left, there’s a steady stream of new people in the process of joining, and an increasing amount of interest.

Spirituality

This is the thing I have the weakest grasp of. Like any secular group in America, I suspect there is a large range of religious beliefs, but I only talked to one person about it. An ecovillage obviously attracts people who value their ties to the land. Religions that embrace mother earth rather than transcendence of our earthly origins seem to be dominant as you would expect.

Conclusion

“It shouldn’t be called Earthaven. It should be called People Haven.” -Chuck Marsh

I couldn’t agree more. For me, being there, surrounded by like-minded people living their ideals is like a refreshing rain after a long drought. All the grime of consumerist culture is washed off when I drive past the Earthaven sign. Driving back out past the McDonalds at the Interstate disturbs me. When we were talking about some of the controversies there, one of my favorite people at Earthaven said “sometimes I just want to say screw this, get an apartment in town, and live the way I think is right. But every time I leave here it reminds me of why I came. If I weren’t here I’d have to self-medicate like other people do. Even with it’s flaws this place is my medication for a sick society.”

The world needs more people havens.

Earthaven.org

architecture, earthaven, ecovillages, sustainability