Maya Creek Ecovillage

The Plan

The intention of our ecovillage is to forge an environmentally sustainable community that not only aims to be mostly self-sufficient but also performs outreach to the mainstream consumer "throw away" culture that pervades our world today.

We are not cutting ourselves off from the rest of society, nor are we regressing to a difficult primitive lifestyle. Outreach to the local community and broader society at large is a core goal of Maya Creek which we accomplish by holding workshops, giving tours, as well as working in the local community to foster better relationships with our neighbors. We aim to have a standard of living that is comfortable, healthy, and constantly improving with a reasonable amount of hard work and well thought out planning.

There are various phases and aspects to the plan and these are constantly in flux as we incorporate new members, ideas, and discuss and research the various options. Nothing here is set in stone, it is simply the way we have invisioned it working from research and visiting other ecovillages as well as our own personal preferences and ideas. We welcome new input and ideas.

View the new Top Down Tour!

Phase I: Establish Foothold on Property

Apart from finding new members we are working on a straw bale building that will eventually become a visitors' lodge, an area for camping visitors that will include several composting toilets, solar hot water showers, a kitchen, hangout room, a small solar power station, and a screened-in porch. Here are the basic construction plans for the Visitors' Lodge here. There will also be a garden/orchard that we will be working on as well.

This building will act as a base of operations for construction at the actual ecovillage site which currently has limited access for vehicles, and will also allow for a constant presence on the land itself.

During the construction of the this area we hope to have potential members, friends, and other interested people out to participate in some of our projects. Visitors will be welcome to camp and use the very simple facilities that we will have available such as a composting toilet and solar shower. Everything else will need to be provided by the visitor. Please contact us before coming and make arrangements.

Phase II: Ecovillage Site Access

After establishing our foothold with the visitor's area the next phase will involve improving access to the main ecovillage site. Upon accessing two possible road options we have settled upon a road that will pass along Maya Creek itself. The road will involve fixing several areas of severe erosion as well as several small bridge crossing. We anticipate that this will take the better part of a construction season and will likely not be done until the latter part of 2011.

Phase III: Ecovillage Site Preparation and Habitation

Once good access to the site is established we will begin removing some of the cedar trees from the old 12 acre field that will house the ecovillage. The lumber will be used in constructing small single room buildings which will act as temporary housing for the pioneering ecovillagers. We will also begin constructing the first phases of a community center which will contain shared bathrooms/showers, kitchen, and laundry facility. It will certainly not be completed during this phase but will be expanded to full size later on.

The hope is that the single room buildings will use a variety of natural building styles as a demonstration and hands-on skill building practice, but also to test which styles will work best for our climate and available resources.

Phase IV: Community/Learning Center Construction

Once a foothold in the actual ecovillage site has been established and the basic needs are being met we will complete the large community center which will also serve as the future home for education classes and workshops. The Learning Center will serve as both a way to perform outreach and spread environmentally sustainable techniques as well as to raise funds for communal projects. The center will hold workshops and classes on a variety of homesteading and self-sufficiency skills, whatever we feel capable of teaching to others.

Phase V: Member Homesteads

At this point we will be ready for members to begin building larger houses around the ecovillage site.

This section will grow as we approach this phase.

Chronological Plan Details

• Fall 2008: Site exploration and analysis

• Winter 2008: Fundraising, research, and visitor center planning

• Spring 2009: Visitor lodge foundation, road grading, and garden planting

• Summer 2009: Visitor lodge walls and roof, garden maintenance