wisewords Loving a Sustainable Life
Heartfelt Perspective from Actress and Activist Daryl Hannah by S. Alison Chabonais
B
est known for her roles in such popular films as Splash, Blade Runner and Kill Bill, actress Daryl Hannah is now busy shedding light on environmental issues and working hard to help improve the way people treat our planet. “It’s just common sense to care about the en- vironment,” she says.
“I’ve always understood and valued the interdependence of all life, the idea that whatever we do to the web of life, we do to ourselves.”
Dwelling in a small community in the Rocky Mountains, Daryl attends to her ethical-lifestyle website and serves as a positive role model for living a simple, natural and healthy life.
How did you go about designing and building an ecologically sustainable home?
My home is a small, recycled barn that was about to be torn down to build a new post office. I salvaged the old barn and carefully had it relocated and bermed into the side of a hill, which faces southwest for optimal passive so- lar exposure. The sun passes high in the summer for shade and low across the sky in winter to warm the house. The south wall of the house is like a greenhouse, where spring water flows through and provides humidity in the dry, high-altitude air. We used stones gathered from the site for the fireplaces, bathroom and stairs. I’ve also used
30 Collier/Lee Counties
swfl.naturalawakeningsmag.com
a number of moss- covered stones in a “living” couch. I grow food in a garden that is wildly productive when cared for.
“Off the grid” is a new term for some people. How do you define it? Off the grid liter- ally means that an individual creates their
own power and has access to rain, well, spring or ground water. I believe in be- ing as self-sufficient as possible. Both passive and active solar energy provides my power and I’m very lucky to have a productive spring for water.
What have been the most rewarding, as well as the most challenging, aspects of achieving your current Earth-friendly lifestyle? More and more these days, I admire and crave simplification. While film- ing the video blog for my website,
dhLoveLife.com, I have found it incred- ibly interesting to learn how many gifts traditional knowledge holds and to discover amazing new innovations. The more I learn, the more I try to adapt to and adopt a simpler lifestyle.
Why do you choose to drive a biodiesel car?
I like opting out of the petroleum econ- omy as much as possible, and I love that I can drive on non-toxic waste.
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