Customer Reviews

Ecovillages: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There's long been a movement towards living in community with others as an alternative to the nuclear family model, but in modern times 'ecovillages' have emerged around the world, adding attention to sustainability and social interactions to the model. Ecovillages explores these developments, opening with a history of the movement and progressing to include a practical manual for planning and maintaining a sustainable community using permaculture as a foundation. From house design and building options to farming and handling sewage and energy sources, Ecovillages is packed with practical applications; not just theory.

Although this is a very interesting book that cointains info that may be very valuable for some people, it is not what it promises to be. It says "A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities", but, as the author explains in the foreword, the initial idea for the book changed on the way while he was writing it.

If you are somebody who whats to build an Ecovillage, who wants practical advice about others experience, get Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities instead.

If you just want a nice magazine-style book for a tour visiting many of the more succesfull ecovillage experiences in the world, this is a great book.

I just give 2 stars because the subtitle "practical guide" is misleading. If it not were for it, I would give it 3 and a half.

This book offered nothing new or enlightening about sustainable living. However, if you are looking for a book on hippie communes (i.e. communal living), than this is the book for you. That about covers it.