A sustainable lifestyle is possible at the German ecovillage Sieben Linden
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself living in an ecological house surrounded by nature in the middle of the countryside. Imagine a life based on a healthy atmosphere and sustainable activities. This place exists in Saxony-Anhalt, in Germany, and its name is Sieben Linden Ecovillage.
With the idea of self-sufficient and self-governed ecovillage, Sieben Linden was created in 1997. So far it has 140 inhabitants (100 adults and 40 children) that support a sustainable lifestyle, but it aspires to reach 300.
I had the chance to be there one day in which one of the community members explained perfectly how it works. If you care about social and ecological matters, this is a place for you.
To live in harmony with the Earth, the community tries to reduce its ecological footprint in all aspects of life. So far, they have cut it down to 2,500 kg CO2-equivalents per person, which translates into one third of the average ecological footprint in Germany. In order to support renewable energy, the village uses solar energy and hot water supply. Approximately 65% of the yearly required electric power is generated by photovoltaic systems.
Land and infrastructure belong to the inhabitants and right now they have 81.5 ha of land with 9 multi-family and low-energy houses on it. The houses are built using ecological materials, mainly straw bales, which come from local organic farmers, adobe and wood. Actually, the village is the one with the highest density of straw-bale-buildings in Europe. They avoid to use non ecological materials like aluminium or plastic and they try to reuse stuff from other constructions.
Sporty habits and self-sufficiency are another bases of their way of life. They have a farm to grow organic vegetables, fruit and herbs. The rest of the food comes from local organic farms and an organic wholesaler. Even though most of the inhabitants are vegetarians or vegans, it
is not mandatory, but you cannot cook meat in the communal kitchen.
Another goal of Sieben Linden is social and ecological awareness. That´s why they organise workshops to share how they live and specific seminars to teach practical skills for sustainable lifestyles.
After a trial period, each resident that joins the community has to help finance the entire area and infrastructure with a (refundable) share of almost 13.000 Euros and there is a monthly rate of 100 Euros for communal expenses like firewood, electricity or administration. Two thirds of Sieben Lindens inhabitants must agree to the admision of new members. In this sense, the transparency is very important, as well as knowing and supporting each other. They have a collective decisions process which consists of five elected councils and many working groups that decide about issues like building, social affairs, finances, administration, education or food.
Have a look at these pictures which come from Sieben Linden´s website (http://www.siebenlinden.de/) and, if you want to know the village better, have a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ4LJWFWea4
Isabel Barragán
