Similar sentiments are expressed by Joe Fitzmaurice and Julie Lockett at Riot Rye bakery. ‘We’re going back to the old system of bakeries, where the amount of bread you produced was limited by how far a [delivery] horse could travel,’ says Fitzmaurice. Their wood-fired oven restricts output to 350 loaves a week and they supplement their income by running baking classes.
The eco-village allows people to put ideas of low-impact living into practice and to promote them to the wider world. What’s harder, it becomes clear, is keeping the community itself happy.
‘When I arrived, I thought the work was to bring a lot of approaches – green building, permaculture, renewable energy – together in a community,’ says Philip. ‘Now I see the real work, in every community, is how do we cooperate when we have different values and world views?’
recourse: way to solve a problem or issue
permaculture: agricultural ecosystems designed to be sustainable and self-sufficient
UNDERSTAND
1. What makes Cloughjordan different to other villages in Ireland? 2. What are the sustainable living features of Cloughjordan in terms of: (a) how the village heats homes? (b) how the villagers feed themselves?
3. Why do the villagers use horses for tasks like ploughing and delivering bread? 4. What evidence is there that the plans for the village have not all worked out?
5. Would you like to live in a sustainable eco-village like Cloughjordan as a way to reduce your ecological footprint? Why or why not?
