Grass-roots Sustainability Initiatives

The basic foundation of sustainability is the ability to survive in the long term. The key question to me is 'for how long', and my favourite idealistic answer is 'indefinitely'. I am, however, interested in the point where idealism meets reality. How practical are these ideas? Show me sustainability in practice. I have specifically become interested in grass-roots initiatives which consider an alternative way of living. If the proverbial s%$!T really hit the fan - what would the response look like? So I have started looking at people who are trying to live in this way. Let's take the first step in this new direction and have a look at a humble, and yet ambitious project in London called "Kew Eco Village"

Kew Bridge Eco Village is a grass-roots sustainability initiative in London. They have been on site for six months and have made some stunning progress. The facilities are functional and offer an alternative way of living.

The basic philosophy is an attempt to get away from any form of financial support, so everything is either donated, or reclaimed and reused from waste streams. The site is run with an open door policy, which is admirable and probably comes with it's own inevitable difficulties of trying to make space for many different social, political and religious ideologies.

Personally I am interested in the functioning systems: clean water, hygienic waste disposal and or treatment, heating, cooking, hot water, power generation and food production. I want to take my engineering knowledge and apply it in this new type of setting. Doing this without cash is going to be a challenge. It offers an opportunity to learn about what works and what doesn't.

I see these types of initiatives as an insurance policy that everyone could be helping to fund. What happens if the unthinkable happens? What happens if service delivery stops and the super-market supply chains break down? How does a city, or pockets within a city actually survive? Is it possible? Can it be done? These types of pilot projects can be invaluable in providing answers. If the unthinkable happens it will be much easier to turn to these projects and say 'teach us', 'help us' - you guys have the practical hands-on experience that we desperately need. Without this the cost of errors, mistakes and adapting may be higher than what we would like.