Getting started question for Zac

Hi PE,

You'd have to ask Michael Reynolds on that one! ;-) He is the inventor of earthships and the developer of this subdivision.

But I think I've learned enough over time to say this much:

Create a very clear and concise vision statement of your ideal life in your ideal community. Get it out of your head and into the world. Write it down. Create a display with images, designs, the vision statement, other text, Put it in a place that will be visible to you and others on a daily basis.

Find venues where there is likely to be other people that would be interested in this and SHARE your vision. Are they moved, touched and inspired when you share your vision? If not, what is missing?

For example, I created a human powered gardening and landscaping business back in Palo Alto, California (think lots of rich people who are too busy to mow the lawn and like the quiet). I went to Common Ground garden center, where they have weekend classes on gardening, composting, tree pruning, etc. I got training in my profession AND I got customers!!

I also went to the Foundation for Global Community (no longer exists) where there were a lot of people interested in seasonal, organic and local food (SOL Food) and had a Friday night potluck with SOL food. I shared with them about my business and got more customers. I was profitable in about two months flat!

Creating a sustainable community can be like that. But you need to start small and be very clear about what you want to create. It's like getting married:

Do you want kids? Both need to be clear about this.
Do you want to keep finances completely separate from each other?
Or do you want to each have your own account and a joint account for all the "cost of living" expenses?
Or do you want to pool all of your money together and function as a unit?
Do you want to be monogamous?
Do you want to be polyamorous?
What are the ground rules for polyamory?
Do you have one car or two?
Is minimizing expenses a core value?
Is minimizing energy and resource consumption a core value?
Is spiritual enlightnenment a core value?
What other core values do you bring to the marriage? Can the other person align with them?
Is smoking allowed?
... ad almost infinatum

When you create a list of Requirements (non-negotiables), Needs (negotiables), and Wants (icing on the cake) AND a powerful, detailed vision statement of you ideal life in your ideal community 20 years in the future, you are well on your way to manifesting your dream and the dream of the initial members of the community.

Make it a daily practice to visualize the vision statement. What does it look like? What is the first thing you hear when you wake up? What do you smell? What are you doing with other people? What are you doing for a living? How is the community laid out? Where is the community? How much rain will it get? Is there a shallow or deep water tabel? What do you see when you look out the window? What do you see when you look out the window at night?....

Maybe you can make a display and tape it to the ceiling so when you wake up, it is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see when you go to bed.

Through your sharing, find a small core group of people who are serious about creating the community and have access to skills and resources to make it a reality.

But be forewarned, anything that gets glossed over in the beginning such as an overlooked core value, financial practices, social practices, you name it, it will blow up in your face when you least expect it. Make sure you have covered all the bases, decision making structures (ad hoc? consensus? democratic? Are you going to use Robert's Rules of Order for the meetings?...), physical structures, food production processes (if any), shared sewage treatment or individual sewage treatement, construction practices, preferred construction materials (even the choice of building materials has core values associated with them), etc. Tires packed with dirt by a sledge hammer may seem a bit odd at first, but if you look at it a little deeper, there is a core value ('make use of refuse' or 'start being a part of the solution' or 'minimize energy and resource consumption' or 'use local materials' or ??).

Note: There are things that you know that you know (like I know how to ride a bicycle). There are things that you know that you don't know (Like I know that I don't know how to treat an ischemic stroke in a patient). And then there things that you don't know that you don't know (such as..uh... well... hmmm...). This is your blind spot. This is what blows up in your face when you least expect it. I can't think of a better place to shine a very bright light on your blind spots than the Landmark Forum by Landmark Education. The work that my wife and I completed at Landmark Education clearly accelerated the fulfillment of our vision to live in a community that is committed to living lightly on this planet. It clearly made a huge difference in the quality of our marriage and our relationships with others. Put yourselves in the Landmark Forum with the vision of your sustainable community at stake and see what happens. It will blow your mind!

If it doesn't elucidate core values, issues, that could potentially blow up in your face, it will certainly give you the ability to distinguish what exactly is going on and effectively deal with the issue in such a way that everyone involved is inspired by the outcome. Joy is present instead of, "Well.. it was the best we could do. I guess we should just live with it...."

Once you have a core team and have purchased land, build something! Even if it is only a storage shed, build something. Like the display taped on the ceiling above the bed, this is another structure for managing the existence of a new possibility. Show it to people! Invite them to check it out and see if it calls to them too. I'd bet you a dollar that's how Michael Reynolds did it.

Zachrey Helmberger
Subsistence farmer in training
Greater World Earthship Subdivision

Zachrey,

That is some fabulous advice, and a philosophy to live by for anyone looking to start any kind of green venture. I'm definitely a fan of thinking things through in their entirety before taking too many steps forward (if you hadn't guessed by now ;)

You clearly have a great deal of experience in this area! I hope you don't mind having me pick your brain for more info like this....

Hi PE,

Thank you for your enthusiasm and interest! Thank you for your love and caring for this beautiful planet we live on.

Zachrey Helmberger
Subsistence farmer in training
Greater World Earthship Subdivision