An introduction to the Crystal Waters Eco-village

For the past week our class spent time at the Crystal Waters permaculture village. The goal of this trip was to experience life with as little impact on the environment as possible. My preconceptions about the village were similar to the movie, The Village. Wood huts, no lights or water, scary creatures outside, etc. The scary creatures part was right; there are 12 types of poisonous snakes that inhabit the area around the village. However, I realized they were as scared of me as I was of them. Living within nature is not something I am used to, but it was a good experience. Creatures crawled or hopped all over the place, including some kangaroos, but after a couple days it didn't bother me anymore. It was great seeing the Roo family everyday, although the last night we stayed we had Roo for dinner and I felt a little guilty (tastes amazing though). Living with little impact on the environment has certain implications, such as conserving water and power, and having an open mind when it comes to the ecology of the area. In order to reduce the impact, the community has to put up with certain annoyances, such as flies. Which, by the way, were incredibly annoying. However, the result is a safe, honest environment for people and animals. I asked the most obvious question; "How many people have been bitten by a snake here?" And the answer, with thirty years of history, was none. I wasn't as shocked as I thought I would be, but I realized that living with nature might not be as bad as it seems.
           The most important thing I took away from our visit was the nature in which these people lived. Our host often mentioned a stereotype that people would place them in; hippies. These people live with adequate light, power, running water, good food, etc. They are far from the "tree hugger" stereotype, but they still live within the constraints that nature has provided for the area. Now, I don't suggest that everyone live exactly as they do, for that would just be an impossible statememnt. I would suggest, that people consider more thoughly the impact their actions have on the earth. If you know me at all, you know I am far from a tree hugger. But, the efficient use of the resources around us has always been a concern of mine, and if more people were aware of their impact, their costs would be lower, and we could reduce our usage of water, power; etc; and still have an extremely comfortable quality of life.