Living Ecologically There are many groups pushing for ecological causes but few of them actually live a ecological lifestyle. This is a strange paradox.
There are a few groups which do "walk their talk" and have formed either small communities or networks. Here are a few: Voluntary Simplicity: A large group of people follow this philosophy and many of them have ecological motivations. A few churches support this activity and the ideas tend to attract people with middle class incomes. There is a large Web community, magazines, books, and many organizations. Sustainable Living: Several universities have sites supporting this philosophy. It looks much like Voluntary Simplicity with stronger ties to ecology and a better understanding of todays issues. Homesteading: Homesteaders are difficult to characterize. Many have ecological interests and others just want to get out of the city or go back in time. They share a belief in self-reliance and connections to the land which are also components of most ecological lifestyles. Permaculture: Those interested in Permaculture often migrate towards intentional communities but a few attempt to build community in their present location. The most visible members seem to be activists selling courses. The basic philosophy appeals to all segments of society and has spread into many diverse cultures. Conservationists: This group is very fragmented and often united only at local struggles. There isn't a workable vision of the future just a belief in preserving nature. Most feel that development is the problem but some feel that limiting human growth would be going too far. In other words, they see a problem and attack it directly. A few also try to live ecologically. Some other related philosophies are: Deep Ecology, Bioregionalism, Natural Step, Sustainable Agriculture, Agroforestry, and followers of Schumacher (Small is beautiful). Environmentalists are not included because we are all interested in some aspect of our environment. The word has become a meaningless political "buzz-word". All of these philosophies have roots in industrial society, but the largest group of people living somewhat ecologically are indigenous people world wide. Often native people do not have choices and given the resources would be as destructive as other groups. Where a consistent philosophy does exist we often view it as primitive or uncivilized. A good web site that touches on the native viewpoint is: www.eco-living.net/ jeff
