Driven by a vision of living more lightly on the Earth, Kees and Helen Kolff met casually with a few friends over Christmas dinner at RoseWind cohousing in 2003 when the idea of an ecovillage emerged. They already owned the 7 acres that is now the Port Townsend EcoVillage (PTEV) and had some experience as members of RoseWind. They had no idea of what it would take, however, to build from scratch an intentional community that tried to minimize its ecological footprint, provide for economic diversity, adhere to compassionate communication, stick with consensus, use permaculture principles, and grow much of its own food.
The first PTEV Advisory Group was formed in February of 2004 with over a dozen members, and a Vision Statement was created that has served us well ever since.
From the Vision we developed a Mandala, which is a model of clarifying how our core values guide our principles and attitudes, from which flow our actions and structures on the land. This method has kept us on track as we explore options for realizing our vision. Realizing that Utopia really means “no place”, we continue to struggle between what is ideal and what is practical as we evolve to become more sustainable.
Our thinking about legal structures has evolved from a Homeowners’ Association, to a Cooperative, and finally to a Limited Liability Company (LLC). Our primary reasons are to have greater flexibility, cost savings, more common ownership and less attachment to legal titles and leases. Our decision was featured in the fall 2006 issue of Communities Magazine. LLC membership sales will likely start by the end of 2007, after we have finalized our Operating Agreements. Now in 2010, primarily for financial reasons, we have gone back to the homeowner model and are selling lots to make mortgages and other financial benefits available to our members.
Our commitment to the 3 main Permaculture principles of caring for the earth, caring for each other, and sharing the surplus was launched by our first 10-day Permaculture certification course with Doug Bullock and Toby Hemenway in 2004. A natural building workshop in 2005 and another Permaculture course in 2006 resulted in several useful and creative structures: a cob bench and oven, a light straw wall play structure for kids, a pump house with natural foundation and living roof, water catchment systems on the shop, and a passive solar food dryer from a roadside refrigerator. Our first annual family camp occurred in the summer of 2006, with over 100 people participating in activities like extracting honey, face painting, pony rides, music, talent shows and campfires.
By the end of 2006 we had 8 adults, 2 children, 2 rabbits, 9 hens-a-laying, and perhaps 150,000 honeybees living on the land, and a growing group of supporting members. A lucky harvest produced almost 200 pounds of honey from our first EcoVillage business. That year we also had our first Community Supported Agriculture program with about 20 participants planting, weeding and eating from the garden. The experience is being repeated in 2007 as we expand our agricultural beds towards our goal of 3 acres.
The year 2007 has seen great progress at the PTEV. Surveys, traffic studies, engineering reviews and a site plan will all be part of a Planned Unit Development application submitted to the city. At the same time we will begin building our first model small ecological home and move more people on the land. We purchased the roof beams for our new Common House and quickly settled on a 12-sided dodecahedron for the overall design, with plans to begin construction in 2008. We bought a ZAP (Zero Air Pollution), our first shared electric car that produces 10% of the greenhouse gases per mile compared to our gas cars.
We continue to strengthen our ability to use consensus and Non-Violent Communication through ongoing training of our core members. We continue to build our commitment to diversity through specific actions to reduce barriers. Next year we plan to open an Economic Access Fund to provide loans for those with limited financial resources. Membership in the Advisory Group is open now for those who are interested in applying.
The worsening global climate crisis makes more urgent than ever the need for people to live together more peacefully, justly and gently on the Earth. That is the vision we wish to realize for ourselves and for future generations.
