Eugene Ecovillages

cological living in Eugene is only a bike ride away! This morning, as the fog provided a welcome break from the rain, Jan Spencer of the Eugene Permaculture Guild delivered his Eugene Eco-Village Bike Tour to a dozen burgeoning bioneers.

We met at the UofO campus with CASL, the Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Living hosting the tour. The organization will soon transform a suburban house near campus into a model ecological house and educational project center to demonstrate appropriate urban living.

The pedestrian path paces the Willamette River and curves just west of Skinner Butte Park to reach Skinner City Farm. The garden plot was nurtured into a productive agricultural existence by the friendly neighbors at Cheshire Ave. and Lawrence St.


Why simply operate an ecologically-oriented house when you can bring together the whole block? The East Blair Housing Co-op offers gardens, a tree house for kids, community space, and room for about twenty residents. They are designing a solar water heater in conjunction with Solar Assist and EWEB that will pay for itself in energy savings over five years.

East Blair Housing Co-op, 940 W. 4th Ave., Eugene, OR www.geocities.com/eastblair/

Clearly a leader in the field of earthen and resource-conserving construction, Rob Bolman, founder of Maitreya Ecovillage, gave us a tour of their home site. At the strawbale meeting room, cob walls offset re-used paving stones outside. While inside, we ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the most fashionable linseed/clay/sand/straw floor in Eugene. The residents here have quite a selection of tender winter salad greens to choose from right outside their doorstep. And when guests come knocking, the cob guest house is the perfect hand-sculpted bedroom to show off some ecological hospitality.

Maitreya Ecovillage, 878 Almaden St., Eugene, OR, 541-344-7196 www.maitreyaecovillage.org

Jude, Toby, and everyone at the Dharmalaya Center have not only built a highly insulated meeting space to teach permaculture, energy use, and resource cycling, but have done it with professional style and earthy, exquisite beauty. The Cascadia Permaculture Institude and Cascadia Landscape Design offer their experience in ecological artisanship to course participants. From the curving path of the greywater system to the fine cob finish of their strawbale classroom, visiting Dharmalaya is an inspirational activity.

Dharmalaya Center, 356 Horn Lane, Eugene, OR, 541-514-4979 www.dharmalaya.org

So, now you have no excuse to delay in visiting these centers for ecological living. Use the contact information to check for upcoming events. See you there!

Brian Basor
pinyon [at] riseup.net