How the Hippies are finally changing the world through Eco Villages

When you read or hear the term Eco Village, what kind of images spring to mind?

A group of hippies with a bent for mung beans, living together in huts made from cow dung with a penchant for, well, not wearing any clothes?

That’s not the idea Paul Antonelli from Greenedge Projects has.
His company is planning to establish an eco village in Geraldton and he spoke to Glenn Barndon on the Midwest and Wheatbelt Mornings program.

“An Eco Village can be a lot of different things for a lot of different people,” he says. “We define an Eco Village as a place where people can live in a more sustainable way and yet, not have any impact on their quality of life. This refers to the natural environment, but also the social and community context, as well as the economic and enterprise aspect.”

Australia is in fact lagging behind what’s been a very popular way of living for many years.

“There are hundreds of Eco villages overseas and they vary in size from 10 to 15 people up to 1000 and they have been around in the context for 30 to 40 years,” says Paul.

“The first Eco Village we could find here in Australia was a project called Crystal Waters, in Queensland. That project has been on the ground for almost 16 to17 years.”

So how did eco villages first come to life? The answer lies with those long-haired hippies.

Hippie subculture started in the United States in the 1960’s where its mantra of free love and peace was a rebellion against the Vietnam War. Although many people were united in the belief, it was only a select few who took the concept a step further. ‘Intentional Communities’ were formed with a focus on sustainable living. They introduced to the world a brand new concept of communal living with a focus on the environment.

Paul says that the modern day Eco Village is a little more comfortable and ingenious since the earlier models.

“In the last five to six years the Eco Villages have been evolving. A lot of the Eco Villages have come from the community type projects from the 1960’s, but now there is a more contemporary feel about them.”

“We’ve got full solar power, we’re fully water self sufficient, we have an organic farm, 100% composting toilets. We’ve also developed a fully extensive enterprise and economics plan which provides a platform for people to be able to generate an income.”

So what is the great appeal of an Eco Village?

“People want to reconnect, with their lives, their work lives, the recreational aspect of their lives and the space in which they live,” Paul says.

ABC