how a trip to the desert made me go green

The solstice provided Ron and I with the opportunity to visit one of the gems of Arizona.  Arcosanti is the urban experiment conceived by architect and visionary Paolo Soleri.  Situated near the new Agua Fria National Monument, it made for an inspired and inspiring day trip sans child.  The goal, ostensibly, was to purchase one of their metal bells  as a wedding gift for friends, but we planned our trip to enjoy lunch in the cafe and take a tour.

It's a crazy place.  Italian-born founder Soleri was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright for a brief period in the 1960's, but parted ways with his mentor after developing ideas that fundamentally differed from Wright's emphasis on the suburban style of living.  Instead of spreading to single-family homes  and commuting to work, Soleri imagined a way of living where work, play, and living space were combined into compact, efficient communities.  "Arcology," the word used to describe Soleri's thinking, is a combination of architecture and ecology.

Ground broke on this experiment in 1970, and the place is still under development.  Right now, it serves as a home and laboratory to about 70 people, including a handful of children.  Most people come as students for short periods, but there are some folks living there who have been there since it was built.  The long-term goal is to have a community of 5000.

Some pictures from our visit can be viewed by clicking on the photo collage below to jump over to Flickr.  (Permission was asked for, and enthusiastically granted, before I took any photos.)

The timing of this trip came at just the right moment for me.  I've had this growing sense that I needed to do more to live a "greener" lifestyle.  Perfectionism was getting in the way.  I wasn't going to become vegan.  I wasn't ready to give up my black leather boots.  And if I wasn't willing to do that, then why bother doing anything at all?

The visit to Arcosanti changed that for me.  This community has been in development for over 35 years.  While they use solar and wind power, they're still on the grid.  They have greenhouses and gardens, but they don't produce enough food to feed themselves.   They collect rainwater but still have garden hoses.  My initial reaction mirrored my own reluctance -- what kind of stuff were they smoking to think this community was realizing an ideal?

Then I recognized this: they are trying.  And while they may not be a truly sustainable community at this point, but what they are doing is visionary.  Now, I have no intention of moving to Arcosanti (though they do have a wireless network, which might make it livable for me) there are plenty of ways I can change my own life to work toward a home and a community that is cleaner and greener.

My resolution for 2007 is this: to live more simply.  I'm going to try to take small, frequent steps toward a more eco-friendly life.  For some of you, I might go too far.  For others, not far enough.  But this is my family, and this is my laboratory.  Ron is on board (although he did make me promise to keep shaving my legs, a request I am happy to oblige) and Claire is a miniature hippie chic by nature.

I'm hoping that by centering on this idea of simplicity, other results will naturally follow.  More unprocessed food and more walking to weight loss.  Reduce, reuse, recycle toward less clutter in our home (and less crap to move).  Smart purchases to a healthier budget. 

What can I say?  I'm an optimist. 

I'm also a writer, and as such, you'll probably be hearing about my experiments here.  Stay tuned.

Here's to a healthy and happy new year.

Comments

[Elaine]

YAY! And hey, there's a reason my site is called "wannabe hippie" and not just "hippie". But I honestly believe that we can make a difference with everything we do, as long as we do it consciously.

OH, and get this. The day after you and I talked about Arcosanti Mark brought it up (I swear he's a little bit physic). Turns out a former coworker of his used to live there. I KNOW! Love how the world works like that, tying stuff in and together. Freaky.

Can't wait until we can go check it out.

[Irene]

wonderful Nicole!!! and inspiring too!!! can't wait to read more about your experiments here.

[Jamie]

Happy New Year! I've been working on a post about how this time of year makes me want to purge our home of all the STUFF. Good for you for taking the first steps toward a simpler lifestyle.

p.s. Amelia was asleep at 7:45 last night but my energizer bunny kept going until she passed out practically at 9. ;)

[Colleen]

This is great! I've been trying to take tiny steps this year to reduce our impact on the environment. We replaced all of our lightbulbs with those energy efficient twisty lightbulbs. And because we use entirely too many paper towels, we turned out kitchen island around so we're more likely to grab our cloth ones first when drying our hands and handling spills, etc. I know these aren't earth-shattering changes, but we plan to make more in the New Year too. I think if everyone made at least some minor changes to their lifestyle, we'd all be better off.

Looking foward to hearing more of your tips and ideas on this!

[Steph.]

I really look forward to hearing about all the things you try and what works for you. I'm from a pretty non-green family and background, but I'm open to making changes to make our world a better place too. I am going to get that workbook you mentioned on the other site as well! Cheers to you and have a great 2007!

[CPA Mom]

Go Nicole! The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

I've ordered some Method products from drugstore.com. That's how I'll start.