Community Buzz » Uncategorized http://communitybuzz.ic.org News and updates about Ecovillages, Cohousing, Communes, Co-ops and other Intentional Communities. Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:49:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Article in the Guardian describes community “renaissance” in the UK http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2009/10/30/article-in-the-guardian-describes-current-renaissance-in-communal-living-in-the-uk/ http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2009/10/30/article-in-the-guardian-describes-current-renaissance-in-communal-living-in-the-uk/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:13:49 +0000 molly http://communitybuzz.ic.org/?p=144 Communal Living: Love thy Neighborhood, an article in the Guardian this week, describes the many advantages of co-housing/communal living and shares resources with individuals seeking community in the UK. Reporter Miles Brignall profiles the recently formed Lancaster Co-housing project.

Share your car, share childcare costs, share energy bills, but still enjoy the privacy of your own home. Welcome to the new age of communal living.

Read the full article here.

]]> http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2009/10/30/article-in-the-guardian-describes-current-renaissance-in-communal-living-in-the-uk/feed/ 0 Raid on Texas Fundamentalist Mormon Community http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2008/04/26/raid-on-texas-fundamentalist-mormon-community/ http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2008/04/26/raid-on-texas-fundamentalist-mormon-community/#comments Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:00:28 +0000 Tony Sirna http://communitybuzz.ic.org/?p=91 By now, most have heard about the raid by Texas Rangers on the Fundamentalist Mormon community in west Texas. During the raid, 437 children were removed from the community compound based on concerns of child abuse and neglect, primarily based on the concern that underage girls were being forced to marry older men against their will.

We couldn't possibly keep up on all the coverage of the story here but it seemed incongruous to never mention this major media event in this blog about communities in the news.

Below is a small sampling of news and blog coverage on the story. We invite comments if people are interested in sharing.

New York Times Coverage of the story

NPR Coverage

CNN story on how the call precipitating the raid was a hoax

Civil Rights questions raised and ACLU questions threat to constitutional rights

An interesting Blog post comparing the historic Oneida Community to the current events

Blog post from Laird Schaub on the Texas Raid

]]> http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2008/04/26/raid-on-texas-fundamentalist-mormon-community/feed/ 1 Climate Change Solutions: Investing in Green Building and Ecovillages http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2008/04/22/climate-change-solutions-investing-in-green-building-and-ecovillages/ http://communitybuzz.ic.org/2008/04/22/climate-change-solutions-investing-in-green-building-and-ecovillages/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:00:13 +0000 Tony Sirna http://communitybuzz.ic.org/?p=90 A recent article in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix highlights a study claiming the best climate change solution is to invest in green building. The article sites the Rivergreen Ecovillage in Saskatoon as an example of such green building design put into practice.

The most cost-effective climate change solution

The article sites a study by Architecture2030 that focuses on how green building can both reduce carbon emissions, create more jobs, and save consumers money. The study says:

Investment in building energy efficiency is surprisingly effective. A single investment of $21.6 billion would replace 22.3 conventional 500 MW coal-fired power plants, reduce annual CO2 emissions by 86.7 million metric tons, save 204 billion cu. ft. of natural gas and 10.7 million barrels of oil each year8, save consumers $8.46 billion in energy bills annually9 (less than a 3-year simple payback) and create 216,000 permanent new jobs.

The article notes:

Improving the energy performance of existing and new buildings can begin to reduce emissions almost immediately. The required technologies are already available off the shelf. In contrast, clean coal is still experimental. Even its proponents don't know how well it will work or what the final costs will be. In any case, actual reductions of GHGs from investing in clean coal or nuclear power will not commence for 10 years or so, as the technology is developed and the plants can be built.

Ecovilages are pioneers in green building

Rivergreen Ecovillage is just one example of ecovillages pioneering green building. The Communities Directory lists hundreds of ecovillages worldwide, almost all of which incorporate some forms of green building and focus on solutions to climate change.

Sources

Star Phoenix story on Green Building as a solution for global climate change

Study from Arhcitecture2030 on comparing climate change solutions

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