September 29, 2005

By Lauren Heaton

Organizers at Community Solution, which organized last weekend's peak oil conference, are following their own advice by trying to grow a sustainable, energy-efficient community in Yellow Springs. The organization's proposed community, Agraria, was the subject of a presentation given by Megan Quinn at the second U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solution, which took place at Antioch College's Kelly Hall from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25.

Though the concept of Agraria has not changed much since it was first introduced at the beginning of this year, Quinn, who is the project manager for Agraria and also Community Solution's outreach coordinator, said that Yellow Springs is an ideal place to generate a model community to use in educating others about the importance of a low-impact, energy-efficient lifestyle.

"We talk about the community as the solution to peak oil, and we empowered a lot of people over the weekend to get active locally," Quinn said after the conference. "Agraria is a challenge to ourselves to get moving locally we well."

Quinn also said that forming an energy-conscious community is a way of responding to the peak oil problem with positive solutions. "Some people have a gloomy perspective on peak oil, but we see our vision for Agraria as giving hope. The model could be an inspiration to the rest of the country," she said.

Those at Community Solution, including its executive director Pat Murphy, say that small communities are the answer to surviving in a post-peak oil world, according to the Web site of Community Solution, which is a program of Community Service, Inc. Some peak oil experts believe that oil production will peak in the next five to 10 years, after which the price of fuel will prohibit the manufacturing and transporting of goods, forcing communities to rely on local resources for everything from food sources to everyday products, the Web site states.

Chief among the needs for building Agraria is approximately 10 to 20 acres in or at the edge of Yellow Springs, where an agriculture-based intentional community could take root, Quinn said. Quinn and a group of interested people are considering three properties she described as "serious candidates." She would not further discuss on the properties' locations, but proximity to Yellow Springs is important because organizers hope to develop Agraria under the Village's Planned Unit Development process, which would accommodate the community's s unique zoning specifications, Quinn said.

Community Solution plans to use 75 percent of the land to grow food and 25 percent for 20 to 50 1,000-square foot homes, she said. As a community, Agraria aims to utilize one-fifth of the current per capita energy usage in the U.S., according to Community Solution's plans.Though small, agrarian communities may seem like reverting to outdated traditions, Quinn stressed during her presentation that Agraria will rely on up-to-date technologies to engineer solutions for low-energy consumption lifestyles.

The model includes wind and solar energy production, ecological waste systems such as composting toilets and grey-water systems, shared means of transportation and promoting a saving rather than a throwaway culture, she said.

Several dozen people from Yellow Springs and the surrounding area and as far away as Seattle and California have shown interest in the Agraria project since the idea became public last year, Quinn said. The group will need to start forming committees based on participants' interest and expertise to plan a food production program, small and energy-efficient housing and a sustainable drainage and sewage system for the community, according to Quinn.

A finance committee will also be needed to find grants and investors for the project, and eventually the project will require a financial commitment from the residents, she said. Local resident Andrew Maneiri, who is involved with the planning for Agraria, said he wants to use his training in sustainable agriculture to design a community-supported agriculture system for the community. He is helping with the effort to locate property for the project and thinks that the Yellow Springs area has potential to become a model for sustainable living.

Yellow Springers resident Dione Greenberg said she has been inspired by the plans for Agraria, which, she said, have affected her dramatically. She and her husband, Saul Greenberg, who is president of the Community Solution board of trustees, are trying to change the way their lifestyle by living in a smaller house, eating locally produced foods and becoming more connected to the land, she said.

Greenberg said the Yellow Springs community would benefit from supporting various Agraria communities around town because the organic farms coupled with the small housing will create a means for chemical-free agriculture and the green space many residents want. The Agraria model could inform the concept of smart growth in the village, Greenberg said. Quinn said she hopes the conference generated similar enthusiasm from others who will work to make progress on Agraria by the end of the year.

Though Community Solution will also focus on educating leaders in sustainable living and finishing a film about Cuba's urban agriculture and renewable energy solutions, Agraria will also be a top priority for the organization this fall. Quinn has high hopes for Yellow Springs. She views it as an ideal community for Agraria partly because of the local expertise organizers could draw on to help design energy-efficient systems. But the village also has the social values and progressive thinking that are ideal for an experimental community, she said.

"Yellow Springs is the essence of community where people care about each other and about the community," she said. "Yellow Springs also has a history of being a leader in this country and attracting people who want to make the world a better place for future generations. This model would show that."

To find out more about Agraria visit www.communitysolution.org/agraria or contact Quinn at 767-2161.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com