Crystal Waters is the name given to the world's first permaculture village, located on 259 hectares adjacent to the Conondale Range National Park in Australia. This place is famous for its clean water, mild climate, amazing nature.
The village was officially founded in 1985, when a community of like-minded people approached permacultural designers Max Lindegger and Robert Tapu to help create a truly clean settlement. People here live differently than most of us. How? You will find out now.
Ecology in action
The word "permaculture" (from English permaculture - permanent agriculture - "permanent agriculture") was coined by Australian designer, ecologist and zoologist Bill Mollison to refer to a system of life that works in harmony with nature. Working without harm to the environment is the main goal of the movement, Mollison began to develop his ideas back in the 1970s, his programmatic work "Permaculture" caused a revolution in the minds.
The Australian gained hundreds of thousands of fans, he lectured in more than 80 countries, teaching students to look at nature in a new way and their role in it. Mollison's supporters were different people, but especially many designers and philosophers, which is explained quite simply: namely these two professions (or rather, two ways of thinking) are necessary to create an ideal world; philosophers and designers - theorists and practitioners of the new way of life.
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The main goal of permaculture enthusiasts is to create a community in which a person, like a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago, would grow all consumed products with his own hands. And I would use only natural sources of energy, that is, I would start living again in harmony with nature.
The settlement "Crystal waters" was the first experience. He was able to accept for permanent residence only a few hundred people. No political or religious restrictions, one thing is important: these people should love a quiet life on earth, which implies not only agricultural work, but also cultural leisure, and environmental literacy.
Who are these people?
Why do people come to Crystal Waters? For common ideals, as usual, everyone has their own thoughts and interests. But the inhabitants of "Crystal Waters" single out one value as the most important - tolerance. “Live and let others live” - this imperative is recognized by Buddhists, Baha'is and Christians of all confessions who live here in harmony and harmony.
Someone is looking for peace from the frantic rhythm of large cities with their off scale levels of violence and crime. Others are preoccupied with a healthy lifestyle, that is, they are looking for an ecological paradise, while others want silence: let the sound background be created by the singing of birds and the murmur of a stream.
And there are those who consider the cult of the elders to be the most important value of the Crystal Waters. Here it is true that they are emphatically respectful of the elderly. “Old people are the source of wisdom” - this principle is inviolable and holy. They are protected, they help those who are in hard times, they try to free them from all worries. If there is a paradise on the planet for the old and the weak, it is here.
And one more - perhaps the most attractive rule of the community: there can be no enemies in Crystal Waters. Anyone who has failed to fit into the team must leave. So, not everyone is taken to this earthly paradise.
Not all two-legged, shall we say. But for plants and animals - expanse. There is just a cult of flora and fauna.
Two tree nurseries have been set up (one of them specializes in bamboo); the gardens and orchards are lush and fragrant, and the residents of the community supply vitamins not only to themselves, but also to the city markets. All animals, including wild kangaroos and wallabies, are welcome guests on any site. Well, except maybe the "Zone of Silence".
Residents use these sacred territories as sites for meditation and religious rituals. There are no temples in the village; all rituals are performed in the open air.
Dirty money
Here there is something like its own government - the Corporation Committee, which regulates public life, passing laws and regulations. It is he who decides the fate of new members of the community, appoints open discussions where people resolve disputes, elect a "council of elders", discuss economic issues. Yes, yes, where can we go without these questions ?! You need to carefully plan the consumption of energy, water, adopt programs for waste disposal and protection from natural disasters - the same floods, for example. Electricity is obtained from solar panels and is divided equally.
Architectural projects are also accepted collectively, and the main principle here is not to disturb the natural landscape. Of course, only natural building materials are used: wood, adobe, earth and stone.
In Crystal Waters there is also a "business council" that runs the community market, invests the money earned in new forms of business as the village grows. What are these forms of business? Consulting, first of all: people come here to study permaculture. There were printed organs, a training center, a food delivery service, furniture making workshops, herbalists, and a construction company. Problems with unemployment? They do not exist yet, but the community recognizes that there is a bias towards male employment - that is, women are "in a somewhat inferior position."
However, the pluses still atone for some of the imperfections of the local world order. Everyone finds a use for himself if he wants it. Only a very lazy and passive person can sit around here. However, he will not stay long: he will be expelled as a poor student from school. Because people who do not want to be useful are not liked in Crystal Waters.
And there are enough forms of useful activity. Don't like working in the field? Go prepare the program for the Sunday morning collective tea parties. Do you want to go to the aikido section or to the meditation group. Not warm? Go brew beer in a small family brewery. Or teach children if you have pedagogical ability.
The main motive for leaving the community voluntarily is money. The residents of Crystal Waters cannot have money. And modern man - alas - can hardly refuse them even when entering paradise. And paradise, naturally, puts protection from the "yellow devil": they say, those who serve him, we ask you not to worry. A pass to the clean world cannot be bought with dirty money.
Igor Istomin
