Sustainable Living (a meaningful life away from mad rush)

Thanks Aspire went thro Rakindo developers project.Its more llike commercial projects I was looking for something different.

 

Even I have a place in native surrounded by my relatives but since being brought up in city the kind of life that I have lead till now is no unnecessary indulgence in others matter take people as they are without being judgemental about them.But in native things are very different and I know I will be a misfit there.

My idea is to be a part of a community may be 30 families not too much away from the city all coming together with a common motive of leading a simple eco life where the resources needed to sustain life is self generated not too much dependent on the government source.The core values of this group would be vaguely on following terms.

• Growing food as much as possible within the community bio-region
• supporting organic food production there
• Creating homes out of locally adapted materials
• Using village-based integrated renewable energy systems
• Protecting biodiversity
• Fostering ecological business principles
• Assessing the life cycle of all products used in the ecovillage from a social and spiritual as well as an ecological point of view
• Preserving clean soil, water and air through proper energy and waste management
• Protecting nature and safeguarding the basic essence of the village

It is something that can be achieved only with strong sense of community and love towards the kind of life that you desire and great passion for such a life would be pivotal.It would take almost 3-4 years of input and planning from the community before one actually starts living a full fledge life in such a village.At this stage I am not sure if there are people around with similar kind of desire but it is something that is very close to my heart.

 

The natural way
It’s back to the basics in more ways than one for these residential communities who have chosen to live together in pursuit of a common ideal of sustainability
Archana Rai


<!--ArticleTools --><!-- topmenu(module1) endss --><!-- article module starts --><!--Article bodyContent--> Good Earth Orchard, Bangalore: This enclave of 29 homes, built according to the principles of low-cost architecture made popular by British-born Indian architect Laurie Baker, has at least 250 species of medicinal and flowering plants. The development features an anaerobic sewage treatment facility to manage all refuse generated by the community, producing biogas to power various amenities.

Vinay Nair has been living at T-Zed, an apartment enclave in the Whitefield suburb of Bangalore, for at least two years. He chose it for its ecology-conscious model. “As a community, there is a warmth that exists here. You can feel it as you walk around,” says Nair, who says the design and materials used have helped draw more birds and animals than one finds in a typical large commercial housing project.
T.S. Ananthu is the founder of Navadarshanam, a small community 50km south of Bangalore along the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border. One of seven families living here, he came 18 years ago and particularly enjoys the sharing of resources such as energy and water. As a group, Navadarshanam residents focus on “ecological and spiritual regeneration”, says Ananthu.
Also Read Back to the basics
T-Zed, Bangalore: This 100-apartment development draws no water from the state water board, treats all sewage within the campus and uses a network of 44 open wells to generate drinking water for the 68 families that now live in the enclave. A common restaurant, with a kitchen garden on its roof, evolved a trend for on-campus urban gardening that has given many residents their own private kitchen gardens.

The families live together. “We share a way of life, a common outlook on life,” he says, “For instance, there are no TVs here, no fans, no air conditioners.” The families also eat together. “We share a common kitchen, taking turns to prepare our food. In our kitchen you will find unpolished rice, ragi, sprouted cereals and food cooked with less oil. We enjoy what we eat, even though fried items, fast foods, noodles, etc. are hardly ever made.”
They even work together. “We generate our power using wind, solar and biodiesel sources. Water is drawn from an open well and a bore well. In the kitchen, we use gobar gas (biogas),” he says.
Trans Indus, a 10-year-old development near Tataguni village, approximately 20km from the city, comprises 42 acres of farmland where 18 families now live permanently (a total of 55 families own plots here). Farmhands from neighbouring villages are employed as gardeners, creating a pool of trained staff who also double up as domestic help. S. Nanda Kumar, president, Trans Indus Residents Association, says, “We encourage all residents to pick their domestic help from this pool. The locals feel connected to our enclave and this can minimize the aloofness of a gated community.”
In south Bangalore, Good Earth Orchard, an enclave built using principles of low-cost architecture, will be ready for occupation later this year.
Sensitive lifestyle
<JUMP />It could be concern over dwindling water, a warming planet or just a yearning for companionship, but a growing band of city dwellers are choosing homes that highlight greener community living.
Real estate costs can be attractively low if the project is well outside the city limits; suburban property prices seem commensurate with the norm for the locality (see KNOW below). Facilities may include zero-sewage outflows, use of greywater for gardening, replenishing of groundwater, flowering trees and medicinal herbs, and most of all, the advantage of living close to people with a similar world view.
“I am not particularly concerned about the carbon credits that the project might draw: That can work in the background. What I am looking for is a model that demonstrates a different way of living,” says Nair, who says T-Zed is a good halfway home as he sets out to fashion an ecologically sensitive lifestyle for his future. Navadarshanam, Tamil Nadu: This 115-acre site, once a barren wasteland, now has around 30,000 sandalwood trees and plants that have come up on their own. The development features buildings constructed from sun-baked mud blocks, a solar-powered flour mill, a biogas plant, solar panels, wind turbines, fruit and flowering trees and a common kitchen. There are no TVs, air conditioners or fans; there are, however , wireless phones and Internet access.


Green agendas
Most such community living is based around a green agenda, which can range from decorative landscaping to serious afforestation exercises, providing information and contacts to help residents move towards a more natural, chemical-free lifestyle.
Since 1994, Biodiversity Conservation India Ltd (BCIL) has been working towards such communities. “We began with Greenfield projects, such as Trans Indus and TownsEnd in Bangalore, Wildgrass in Mysore, where we worked on the outskirts of a city to create green homes,” says Chandrashekhar Hariharan, CEO, BCIL. But 10 years down the line, the BCIL team realized that to truly propagate eco-friendly living, they needed to convert the brown areas within cities into green residential ones, not convert farmland into plots for homes. Out of that philosophy was born T-Zed. “This is the first residential campus in India which is acquiring certification for carbon credits for not only the campus but also for its residents. Every resident stands to gain about Rs12,000 on an annual basis, thanks to carbon credit savings in T-Zed,” says Hariharan.
The residents’ association at Trans Indus planted about 120 trees, all species native to the area, over the past year. “All vegetable waste in individual houses is composted and all plastic refuse is pooled and disposed of collectively by the association,” says Nanda Kumar.
<JUMP />At Orchard, developers Good Earth will manage the property for the first three years, setting up an anaerobic sewage treatment facility. “To ensure that this plant works efficiently, we will educate residents to minimize use of chemical cleaning agents that kill bacteria,” says Jeeth Iype, founder, Good Earth. The developers will also source enzyme-based cleaning liquids and non-phosphate-based detergents for all residents. “The biogas generated by the integrated waste disposal facility will be used to power street lights, club house(s) and perhaps additional amenities, such as a heated swimming pool,” says Stanley George, co-founder, Good Earth, who will live here himself.
Getting the neighbourhood involved in its own sustenance is a conscious aim at some of these gated communities, as is the case with Trans Indus’ domestic help pool and Good Earth Orchard’s intention of engaging local farmers in reviving the highly polluted river Vrishabhavathi that flows close to the property.<BOX id=orange> True community living must include spaces for the young and very old, and not be based on exclusivity, seeking only like-minded neighbours.
<BYLINE>Chitra Vishwanath</BYLINE><DESCRIPTION>Architect</DESCRIPTION></BOX>
Shared resources
It’s not just residents who look to change the community. It is hoped that the community will also educate the residents and help integrate them into a larger community ecosystem. Inviting experts to share know-how on sustainable lifestyles will be a major feature at Good Earth Orchard, for instance.
“We will have biodiversity consultants who can show residents how to grow and use medicinal plants and use eco-friendly materials in everyday living,” says George. It also intends to host “open days”, exhibiting these aspects of eco-friendly community living for guests.
Sharing community resources began early at T-Zed: Even as the buildings were being constructed, BCIL’s landscape consultant Shobha Devi was working to create a model for urban agriculture. On the rooftop of the common restaurant, the team packed mulch and soil in used cement bags, planting gourds, lentils and seasonal vegetables in them. This produce was used in the common kitchen which fed nearly 200 people a day during the construction period.
“That tradition has now been taken forward to create private kitchen gardens for most residents,” says Devi, who uses a 2-acre plot at Trans Indus as a pooled multi-community resource: a plant nursery. “We have saplings for trees, vegetable plants and organic seeds that we grow here and then offer to all residents on BCIL campuses,” she says. Tips on reusing greywater from kitchens and washing machines and on improving soil quality are also part of the consultancy offered by the developers for residents keen to green their terraces and balconies.
CONNECT
KNOW
The cost of living in an eco-friendly residential community:
Trans Indus, Karnataka
• Cost: Rs150 per sq. ft 10 years ago; now Rs750 per sq. ft
• Maintenance fees: Rs25,000 annually and Rs5,000 a month on average (depending on the size of plots, which range from 5,000-10,000 sq. ft)
T-Zed, Bangalore
• Cost:Rs2,800 per sq. ft approximately at present
• Maintenance fees:Rs1.8-2.0 per sq. ft annually
Good Earth Orchard, Bangalore
• Cost: Rs70 lakh to Rs1 crore (for 2,000-3,000sq. ft homes on 2,500-4,000 sq. ft plots)
• Maintenance fees: Rs25,000 for the first three years (during which developers undertake maintenance).
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
Photographs for Good Earth Orchard and T-Zed courtesy the architects; for Navadarshanam, courtesy Better Interiors magazine

The above is from an article in a biz mag