Twin Oaks Community: An Environmentally Friendly Way of Life

Twin Oaks Community is an ecovillage in the town of Louisa in Central Virginia. It has about 100 members – 85 adults and 15 children. Ecovillages are “urban or rural communities of people who strive to integrate a supportive social environment with a low-impact way of life.” Ecovillages, also referred to as intentional communities, provide a very environmentally friendly and sustainable way of life. Twin Oaks Community was started in 1967 and occupies about 450 acres of land between Charlottesville and Richmond. It embraces values of cooperation, sharing, nonviolence, equality and ecology.

Sustainable Community

Twin Oaks strives to be a sustainable community through economic cooperation, local food production, constructing environmentally sound buildings, energy and water conservation, use of renewable energy, smart land planning & transportation. They admit that they are far from being ecologically perfect, but strive to do their best to ‘live harmoniously with the natural world as well with one another’.

Sources of Food

Instead of buying food from a grocery story that was produced across the state, country, or even world, Twin Oaks chooses to support their own local economy. By growing and producing the majority of their food, they both reduce their environmental impact on the earth as well as stay healthier through these foods that are grown organically – which results in lower amounts of toxic materials released into the environment.

Sources of Income

Production of hammocks and casual furniture produces a large portion of their income. Tofu is produced and marketed to non-community members for purchase. Their tofu is said to be a ‘low environmental impact alternative to meat’ made from organic soybeans grown in the community.

Sources of Energy

Members of Twin Oaks are pursuing the development and use of renewable energy sources. Solar heating / photovoltaic electricity has been implemented in most buildings and is also used to heat water. Scrap wood is also burned to produce heat in buildings. They strive to use as little fossil fuels as possible for both energy and transportation.

Transportation

The members of Twin Oaks Community share a fleet of 18 vehicles , which they can sign out when necessary. However, for the most part they have no need to drive within the boundaries of their community. They walk or bike to their areas of work. Used bikes are purchased from outside sources and are fixed up by members of the community for members’ use. When it is necessary to leave the community, there is a daily bus that goes into Louisa, semi-weekly trips to Charlottesville, and weekly trips to Richmond so that members can take care of errands such as dentist appointments, movie rentals, and purchasing items that cannot be found on the compound. These group trips and the ability to move freely around the compound by means of bike or foot allows them to depend very minimally on fossil fuels.

The concept of ecovillages has grown rapidly and is catching on in all ends of the planet. They exist in Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Europe, and throughout North America. They are great ways to both preserve and conserve the environment on a small scale. In the future, this concept will hopefully continue to grow and make a greater positive impact on the stability of the environment.