A green community

The land we live on and have built on over a period of 25 years was known as the Homestead Division of Santa Fe County. It lies southwest from the small town of Madrid which was once a thriving coal town, then a ghost town grew into a hippie haven and finally a still slightly quirky, artsy town. In 1978, the land was rezoned with a 40 acre minimum to protect water rights. It is completely raw land-no power lines, water lines, telephone lines, no county road maintenance.

What were we thinking? Well, I suppose we are a wide variety of people. Some have small trailers. Others have built beautiful homes, mortgage-based. But many of us who came in the '70s and '80s have built "as they go," no mortgage, hands-on. Our common denominator seems to be love of the land and a home outside the boundary of "normal," living "off the land" as much as possible. As a matter of fact, commonly we are referred to as living "on the land."

Our water choice is haul it, catch it, dig a well or a combination. We have a well and catchment system. We dug down 220' and cased at 240'. All of our gutters, or canalles as you call them in the southwest, connect underground and feed to a large tank downhill. From there we can pump it back to the small gardens. We also have a choice of entering our grey water into the catchment. The only water from the house that goes into our septic is from the toilet and from the kitchen sink (in case any carnivores visit).

Our electrical choice is photovoltaic or wind. There are a lot of newer wind choices out there, but we choose the sun and a photovoltaic system to provide our electricity. Neither of us likes heights and smaller windmills were not an option when we designed our electric system. We designed a system which was common at the time, to use DC for all our lighting and AC for everything else. That way our inverter (which coverts DC to AC) was not needed when we used only lighting, thus saving the additional electricity needed to run the inverter. We probably would incorporate only AC today. Our Maytag washing machine, our Sunfrost refrigerator, our stereo system (including TV, VCR), our toaster and even our bread maker run off our electrical system. Yipee!!

Our heat comes from passive (see whole explanation below) and a wood burning stove, a fireplace (southwestern style) and, in the winter, we use this incredibly old wood burning cook stove when we bake.

The community pitches together to fix our long stretch of mud road when it becomes ugly-rutted. As a community, we pitched in to buy an old, really old, grader which must be hauled behind a huge truck. One member of the community is our expert and we are always indebted to his services. The rest of us donate money and help physically when we can.

It isn't as if we are always on the same page on all topics. Absolutely not! And this is often reflected on the common sign board which allows for venting and opinions of all kinds. But, in times where there is a common need-like this winter when we all got snowed in and no help was on the way for days-we care for each other as best we can. Now there is even a co-operative server which helps us communicate with approximately 100 neighbors via e-mail when the need arises. Others use satellite dishes for computers and even to get that favorite HBO station.

This might all seem quite overwhelming. Remember it is a path like any other. You make a decision to go green, as green as you can, and you walk in that direction. You have a goal and each decision you make in life will become easier because you orient the decision towards a larger goal. You don't have to do all the things we have done. Pick one or two. Walk towards a new future for yourself and the generations who want to follow. Good luck!