You are looking at pictures of our family home in Wales . It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends . 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy . I estimate 1000 - 1500 man hours and £ 3000 put in to this point . Not really so much in house buying terms ( roughly £ 60 / sq m excluding labour ) . The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature . Being your own ( have a go ) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than , at worst , a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry . Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings . Some key points of the design and construction : Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls , foundations etc . Frame of oak thinnings ( spare wood ) from surrounding woodland Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do Straw bales in floor , walls and roof for super - insulation and easy building Plastic sheet and mud / turf roof for low impact and ease Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture ( compared to cement ) Reclaimed ( scrap ) wood for floors and fittings Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere ( windows , burner , plumbing , wiring . ..) Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful Flue goes through big stone / plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light Solar panels for lighting , music and computing Water by gravity from nearby spring Compost toilet Roof water collects in pond for garden etc . Main tools used : chainsaw , hammer and 1 inch chisel , little else really . Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter , my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2 yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween . This kind of building is accessible to anyone . My main relevant skills were being able bodied , having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again . The site before starting Hole dug and level , post positions marked out , dry stone foundation walls down , first retaining wall built against front bank . 30 or so small trees and a bit of chainsawing later . Lift logs , prop up , nail together and continue until no longer wobbly . Split logs over the top and palettes on the floor . Tree in to prop up sleeping platform . Palettes on the floor to take insulating bales . Straw delivery . Cotton sheets then straw bales on the roof and cover it up with plastic , other bales inside , quick before it rains . Build straw bale wall inside , a fun and quick job . The bales are stacked on rough dry stone wall and staked together with hazel sticks . Inside bales go on pallette floor ready for floorboards on top . Pop windows in the holes , stuff straw into any gaps then chainsaw trim the bales smooth with cute roundy corners . Father - in - law and tool bench , 4 . 30 am . All tools lost , snowing outside , no doors , plastering underway . Spring , mud on the roof , plastering and whitewashing done , landscaping nearly finished , beer brewing , bread in the oven . At Home in the Forest by Jasmine Savillean article for Green Parent magazine Take one baby , a toddler and a building site . Mix well with a generous helping of mud , combine with 6 weeks of solid welsh rain whilst living under canvas . Do this in candle light without a bathroom or electricity for three months . Chuck in living with your father for good measure . Top with an assortment of large slugs . The result a hand crafted home of beauty , warmth and health for about £ 3 , 000 . Having children is a major motivation for buying a house . Combine the rigours of looking after young children and meeting demanding mortgage payments in today ’ s climate and you have a recipe for stress . Then add to this concern about toxic materials that are inherent in most buildings , and exposing your precious babies to them is a cocktail of dismay . This would sum up the options before our family before we decided to take the plunge and go off the beaten track . Some past experience , lots of reading and self - belief gave us the courage of our conviction that we wanted to build our own home in natural surroundings . With this is mind my husband and I decided to build ourselves what you might call an eco - home wherever we could get the opportunity . For us one choice led to another and each time we took the plunge events conspired to assist us in our mission . Looking back there were times of stress and exhaustion , but definitely no regrets and plenty of satisfaction . Initially we had no capital and we had decided resolutely to be full time parents whilst our children were young . As you ’ ll appreciate to be a full time mum and part time dad our income is low , about £ 5 , 000 p . a , so a mortgage was not an option and the prospects for renting seemed grim . Providence came our way and a landowner offered us the chance to move to his woodland in west Wales to build an eco - house . There would be no formal security or long term ownership , but £ 2000 was available for materials , so we jumped at the idea without a backward glance . So here we are today . You can see from the photos our home is unusual but the aesthetic appeals to lots of people and perhaps touches something innate in us that evolved in forests . We hope this article will provide confidence and information for anyone inspired to undertake a similar project or even just to illustrate that where there ’ s a will there ’ s a way even if such a building does not tantalise your taste buds . Many people ask how we managed to build a house whilst camping without mainstream facilities and as the mum rather than the full time building blokes ( my husband and father ) I can assure you of a few things . Children like mud , diggers , tools , wood and candlelit extended camping . Mums fret about washing . Dads build all day long and then look after mum . Children are entertained by the outdoors ad infinitum even when it rains . Mums hanker after cosy cafes and make frequent excursions to venues with warm , clean toilets . Children find sticks , look under stones for insects , collect acorns , simulate diggers and do a lot of puddle splashing . Dads carry on building and look after family in the evenings when they are not completely exhausted . Children see materials taking form , observe the construction process and make a lot of connections ; they see their parents being effective . Mums wash up whilst yearning for tiled utility rooms , learn to ignore the mud and fend off slugs . Dads build , console mum , read children bedtime stories and make muddy imprints on the sheets . Everyone wonders at the nature of slug slime . Then one day you get a house . If that hasn ’ t put you off more serious issues do provide an impetus to eco - building . Modern construction materials , mainly cement and insulation , contribute significantly to carbon emissions and pollution of water , soil and air albeit often in other countries . More alarmingly home furnishings and interior finishes account for the primary pollutants we are exposed to , much more so than from traffic fumes or factories . Fluoro - carbon compounds in fire retardants permeate nearly everything we live amongst ; toxic chemicals such as bisphenol - A are rife in paints and varnishes ; PVC windows , doors , kitchens and so on contaminate our air and devastate the environments they are produced in . All these substances are well documented as harmful to human and plant life , and cancer forming agents . Some are belatedly being phased out but what about their saturation of our world already ? I have no answer to this except to choose natural materials when I can and am confident that cost does not have to be the prohibiting factor . So what did the house that rose from mud , slugs , physical effort , three months and a few grand entail ? A hole was dug into a bank with a knackered old digger ( not my father , a machine the landowner already had on site ) to the required depth for us to have a mezzanine floor . This took a few weeks interrupted by me constantly dragging men to the glorious West Wales beaches as it was mid August after all . A rough stone wall was built around the perimeter for the wall foundation . The stone was sourced from the hole and free . The structure was oak posts used in the round , i . e . not sawn into planks and hence very strong . In our case thin , spindly oak posts were all around us in the woods and not conventionally useful for any purpose except shamefully firewood , fencing or wood - chip . This required a chainsaw , men , lots of heavy lifting , a few days and no money . To construct the frame some advice and calculation was necessary but this information is readily available from other people who have built ‘ roundhouses ’, please see links below . DPC plastic was laid in the hole and salvaged hardwood crates laid on top to provide a breathing space for straw bale insulation . Eight tons of straw bales arrived on a huge lorry , costing £ 650 , which were stacked in glorious sunshine and secured from the deluge of rain that began the next day and lasted for weeks . Very quickly the bales were assembled as walls , secured with hazel rods , leaving appropriate gaps for windows . Straw bale construction is extremely quick , easy , fun and hence rewarding . As our house is oval the bales require jumping on to achieve a curve . The roof is a series of layers to achieve insulation , waterproofing and low visual impact with little cash . Cotton dust sheets were laid on to the rafters , followed by whole straw bales , sealed with three layers of silage plastic and topped with earth from the original digging . A space was left in the centre for a skylight . Serendipity called again to provide the floor and windows . Large pine palettes from a nearby works due to be burnt were laid on the straw , sanded and polished up with a non - toxic oil and wax that we have found to be durable and great to work with . When you are oiling boards in the same room as your kids at 4 am you are glad it s only citrus turpenes your hair and clothes are covered with rather than petrochemicals . Due to a north facing aspect we have no windows in the front of the house but designed the length of the rear wall to have windows . A nearby double glazing supplier gladly furnished us for free with misfit units due to be landfilled that miraculously fitted with an inch to spare and came framed with fittings . By this time we were exhausted , I had evacuated the children to a luxury holiday cottage for a fortnight to escape the mud and now snow . The Dads were working round the clock to make the house habitable only stopping to eat sardines . They occasionally slept but generally carried on building the mezzanine , fitting back doors , digging grey water pits and plastering with semi frozen lime and fingers . All the tools were buried in straw . Dads were in danger of being mistaken as yetis . So in December 2005 , sixteen weeks on , we moved in without doors but with a huge sense of satisfaction . The time is now to make changes in our lifestyles and consumption . There are a number of projects making this a reality in Britain and Ireland and plenty of resources to support green building ideas , links to these can be found on our website , www . simondale . net / house . If this has inspired you to get covered in straw and lime , come and help us build another grander home next year ! Feeling impotent in the face of environmental and social problems is overcome more easily than we imagine by forming clear intentions of our ideals . Realising them is not always simple , but in our experience more fulfilling than business as usual . For peace of mind and the future we bequeath to our children let ’ s do the job as best we can . Interview : Organic Architecture and its influence on Human BeingA Portrait of a Natural Way of LivingHello , My name is Moabi and I ’ m a Portuguese student of photography in an art academy in Belgium Lands . My final work is about my relation both with city and nature , my own experience with natural and artificial spaces . Year by year I come to realize that in nature I have a much more profound connection with myself . By wondering witch effects would have an organic environment even in the city I decided to make my thesis about the influence of organic spaces in people . In this sense I want to make interviews to people who live in an organic house to understand better the influences of the space in them . You would help me a lot by answering my interview ( feel free just to answer what you want and feel comfortable ) : : Since when do you live in an organic house ? 3 1 / 2 years agoWas it a conscientious decision to move to an organic house , which were your influences in the first place ? Yes , but to be natural ( nontoxic / low energy / eco ) , close to nature and self built were our first priorities . Being built mostly from imagination , optimism and rubbish , the process is naturally organic . Being organic in terms of forms seems to come naturally given the above . Also my aesthetic is generally soft and curved , coming mostly from the natural world . Between making my first and second houses I read Christopher Day who talks about the benefits of organic forms in architecture for our minds and soul . This seemed to vindicate my instincts . What are , for you , the big differences between living in an traditional straight lines house , or living in an organic one ? Suits my aesthetic . Feels gentle . Feels to me more like being part of the ( natural ) world , less like a commodity in a box . Rectangular rooms do feel box - like and slightly claustrophobic in comparison . Do you think that living in an organic house affected your way of being , your personality , and if so , in which way ? I think we overuse the cause and effect model . More usually it is two ( or an infinite number actually ) things co - evolving or mutually related . This is certainly true here , there is a change , but lifestyle , values , and material situation change together rather than one leading another . In my case at least this is true . If you moved a random person ( from a town flat say ) to an organic natural house in the middle of nature it would affect them . They would probably fight it or love it . How do people react to the fact that you live in an organic house ? Nearly everyone is interested . In the whole lifestyle mostly although the house does seem to have some kind of innate appeal . I think it touches something common , a romantic idea of some fantasy past / alternative . Everyone says it is a hobbit house , they all love the lord of the rings at the moment . I think Tolkien draws the hobbits as the naïve or innocent representation of humans in a wholesome natural state . People instictively relate to this , especially in the context of modernity . Is it a subject that raises discussion ? … living in an organic house ? It ' s handy for a bit of suprising small talk , although explaining our lives can be difficult . Suggesting positive alternatives to the standard route often raising some uncomfortable feelings . Mostly these feelings are of an implied criticism of the way others lead their lives , in terms of ecological responsibility and the following of ones own dreams . These are both hard things to approach for all of us with lots of barriers from our societal conditioning and our own accumulated pains . I find Joanna Macy is very good at showing us ways to take our frustration at these barriers and turn it into positive action for ourselves and the world . I would make no claim that what we are doing is any better than anything else . I ' d only say that this is where we are currently up to and this is what is working for us . If any of it can provide an inspiration for others to follow the path of what feels right for them then hooray ! Do you have many friends living or wanting to live in an organic house ? Everyone wants to take personal control of their own lives . To live in an environment that is close to nature and kind on the soul is a common aspiration . Also self building is a real current trend , in Britain at least . Inevitably , most of the promotion and help in doing it comes from those with commercial stakes in the industry and promotes self building in ways which are convenient and profitable for them . This means that people are introduced to a set of options that are actually quite limited in terms of the ways to create a home , particularly in terms of high costs , formulaic construction and mass produced modular components . Hence the dominance of linear forms . Actually comfortable and natural homes can be created in ways that are simple , cheap and allow massive scope for creativity and building quite literally outside the box ! There are increasing numbers of people making their own homes similar to ours . They are making some beautiful , accessable and highly functional houses . The more people who do , the more inspiration and support there will be for the next ones , as we owe ours to those who came before us . would it be realistic to think that one day the majority of people will live or want to live in an organic house ? What do you believe would be the consequences ? It is right and natural that different people have different aesthetics and I ' m sure there will always be those who prefer straight lines to organic curves . However the dominance of linear forms comes largely from the aesthetic of the modernist movement and the world of mass production . I think we are moving beyond this now , both in our philosophy and the practicalities of our world . The age of cheap energy may well becoming to an end , as we respond to both environmental imperatives and dwindling supplies of oil . I think and hope that this will lead to more small scale , low energy solutions to meeting our real needs . This should mean an increase in individually produced homes of natural and local materials . This in turn means more opportunities for creative , non - linear and organic designs . Does living in an organic house have any inconvenient ? It does make it tricky to integrate cast off furniture . We don ' t have any flat walls and not much level floor ! Luckily we ' re not that much into IKEA stuff anyway . By the way , Hundertwasser was keen to avoid flat floors because he thought it was unnatural for us . I was pleased to follow his recommendations and simultaneously avoid the trouble of leveling the floor . Do your furniture and objects enter in the organic design ? Ideally , in terms of aesthetics , they would all be integrated , from the surrounding environment , through the shell of the building and on to the furniture , fittings , objects and people that inhabit the space . Also I would love to know the hands that made every object in my life . why do you think that there are two separate movements going on : the eco / biological architecture and the organic architecture ? Maybe it is again about the industry . I am glad that we are seeing a increase in ecological constuction even in mainstream building . Still though I see this as being very much tied up with the convenience of mass production and hence linear forms . As for organic architecture , we don ' t see much of it around and I think that most people just think that Gaudi has a trademark on anything with a curve . It ' s probably just not cost - effective on the scale of industrialised construction unless there is lots of cash and passion involved which is a rare mix . wouldn ’ t it make sense to integrate them ? When building is done in the way that I am talking about , what I ' d call low - impact building , it ' s done on the ground by the person whose building it is , who is the architect and builder , who is working with respect for nature around and inside themselves . Then I think the process and result will be organic in every way and ecological . There would be no separation . What is your relation with nature ? We are all a part of nature unquestionably , we are animals of the earth . What remains is how see ourselves in relation to the rest of that living system . We can honour and celebrate it for its own innate value . Alternatively we can value it as a resource for our use . This is the distinction Arne Naess and others make by talking about deep as opposed to shallow ecology . When we adopt a deep ecological or ecocentric view of the world , it then makes sense to live in away which is as close as possible to a true synergy with nature . how do you explain the relation between organic architecture and a more natural way of living ? The attempt to find a synergy with nature is then the approach that we are using to design systems for living . These systems include buildings , food production , waste and water systems and much more . When we are working with rather than against nature , the rest of nature works with us and things become easy . This is Permaculture . Do you have any advice for people who would like to go and live in an organic house ? Having your own home which is a part of you can be simple . Start from " what do I need ? " and " what do I have ? " not " what can I buy ? " or " what do other people do ? ". Do a permaculture course or read a book . Be inventive , try things out , do things the easy way . Look in skips . BE BOLD . The ContextI should really be dealing with the slightly sticky area of planning permission and the place of this kind of low impact living project in relation to our contemporary society . To save myself many hours of brain and finger ache I ' d like to offer you this fine article by our friend and inspiration Tony Wrench . He and his lady Jane live in this beautiful roundhouse which has been the subject of a planning debate which after seven years is still on going . Permaculture Land It is my contention here that we could make some small adjustments to planning law which would have beneficial consequences in several problem areas , and would enable significant progress towards a sustainable society . I am deeply concerned about the way our society is relating to the earth , and am continually baffled by the obstacles that prevent me simply doing what my grandfather did - build a wooden house in the countryside . Planning has achieved some successes , particularly in the field of controlling the worst visual excesses of a growth - geared free market , but it is fighting a losing battle . For many reasons - historical , political , economicand ecological - it just isn ' t working , because the UK government has not yet realised that its policies are incompatible with the needs of the environment . We are breaking the oldest rule in the book - our way of life is not sustainable . Some of the symptoms are : Unsustainable agriculture We have a trade deficit on food with the rest of the world of £ 5 billion per year , and rising ; this is in a country that prides itself on its agricultural productivity and practices . Our ancestors ate what they grew or what they could find and catch in nature around them . No longer . We now depend on other countries to grow much of our food for us . In a world where so many are starving this is a risky , not to say selfish , business . With the authorities asking them to be guardians of the countryside but stacking the advantages in favour of agri - business , small farmers are in a difficult position and are the most suicide - prone of all occupations . Meanwhile , pesticide residues mount in the soil and nitrates permeate our drinking water . The demand in organics cannot be met by our own system . Overemphasis on ' jobs ' The economy is still geared to fear of unemployment . The holistic alternatives to a job - based economy have yet to be even countenanced by the establishment . ( This myopia is not limited to Britain , of course . At present the main priority of planning in all the major economic powers in the world is to find solutions to unemployment . ) Planners pretend that in twenty years ' time our society will still be in the same state as their elders insisted it was when they took their diplomas . They should be looking forward to a society in which people are engaged in real work of their own choice , and this only happens when people have access to land , if they need it . The threat to our whole way of life posed by dramatic climate changes and sea level rise has so far been totally ignored by planners . Countryside myopia Our notion of the countryside is largely an illusion . Monoculture and techno - fixes are still turning what was once mainly forest into desert . Before the Industrial Revolution , and when the national population was much lower than it is now , this was a slow but steady degradation , but it was at least organic , and reversible . Now it is a breakneck slide of soil loss , erosion , drought and sinking water tables exacerbated by the onset of global warming . Clever as we are , we are still going down the deforested road of all the previous failed civilisations on this planet . Areas of natural beauty , wetlands , peat bogs and hedgerows are still being lost . Habitats are threatened every day by agri - business , roads , supermarkets and housing developments . Wildlife is being beaten back by economic double - speak . Road plans still threaten SSSI ' s , ancient monuments and countless beauty spots . The main reason these areas are chosen for this desecration is because it looks cheaper in a paper cost - benefit analysis to drive a road through an area of outstanding natural value and beauty than anywhere else - they have not been given a financial value that equals their environmental value . What is ' countryside ' anyway ? Many of our assumptions about what countryside should look like come from the tastes of our ancestral nobility for pretty parkland where they could hunt . Many large country estates owned by Dukes , Earls , Lords and other descendants of the great Norman land carve - up still look like this . Where land is not controlled by a toff in a country house , the traditional countryside look can be maintained by careful fencing and livestock control , or by ploughing regularly with unsustainable energy inputs . However , it is instructive to imagine your familiar rural landscape from the point of view of what Nature would tend to do to it after a couple of hundred years , say , of neglect by the agricultural machine . In most cases in Britain it would return to deciduous forest . What we have now , then , is Earth with the mange . A few trees clinging on in rows where the humans have decided on some whim to leave them there . Great bald patches covering the land as far as the eye can see , producing mountains of food that often needs to be subsidised to be sold . Over every hill , more baldness , more mange , more topsoil being lost each year . We are not allowed to live in this diseased waste for fear of ' spoiling the countryside '! Homelessness and social deprivation 100 , 000 thousand families are homeless or in ' temporary accommodation '. This is twice the number of twelve years ago , despite all the economic progress governments claim to have made . Millions are living out a half - life in decaying inner cities , and millions more are trapped in estates on the edges of the towns and cities of Britain , many without hope of anything worthwhile to do ; without land on which to grow food ; without space for their families to grow up nearby ; and without contact with nature or their natural heritage . They live in rectangular boxes designed by another class for another generation , planned by public officials they have never met . The TV programmes that are watched for 5 hours a day on average ( what else is there to do ? ) , videos and films , all offer largely some form of escapism . This ' underclass ' is so numerous that controlling it is now the government ' s greatest worry . Thousands are criminalised and packed into our antiquated prisons . Only Turkey , of the European states , exceeds Britain ' s rates of prison population , which has risen from 40 , 000 to over 74 , 000 in the last twelve years . Most of the ' underclass ', however , stay where they are , needing more and more billions of DSS and ' Law ' n ' Order ' budgets to be spent containing them in the deteriorating homes they already have . Why the big fuss about asylum seekers ? Because the way of life of the poorest 20 % of the population already here is so lousy that there is simply no more space within the system to allow more poor people in . Experts in crisis In our reductionist society , where every expert has their own specialised letters after their name , it is easy for us to use words to make all the above problems look separate , containable and handleable . Even within one organisation it is possible to palm off a problem on another department . " No mate this is the Housing Department . You want the Sustainable Development unit on the fourth floor ". The continuation of such avoidance will , however , lead to crisis and the collapse of our society - for the syndrome we face is uncontainable and unsustainable , economically , socially and environmentally . Somehow we have given away our power to a system that rewards the right hand at the expense of the left . Our decision - makers are clever but not wise . The spiritual essence of what it is to be human , as one species among many on this earth , has been forgotten by our leaders . This is a terrible realisation to come to - it means that the deal whereby they pretend to ' deliver ' appropriate things for us is a fallacy - it never worked . It ' s up to us , you and me , to get us out of this mess . We must take this as an opportunity for empowerment , as we are urged to by Agenda 21 . The way forward Somehow , as dozens of green writers have already pointed out , we need new policies that conserve nature while encouraging people to choose and build their own homes . We need to reverse the flow of people from the land to the cities , and to give people something worthwhile to do . We must grow more of our own food , organically , and reduce dependence on fossil fuels and techno - fixes . Will there be humans living here in a thousand years ? Birds , trees , hedgehogs , apples too ? If so , we have to move fast now . Why the relatively young discipline of permaculture offers so much hope in this context is because it integrates care of the earth with care of people and an awareness of natural limits . It takes account of the effect of a settlement on the community around it , and of the needs of wildlife at all times and levels . If , therefore , people can be educated in the principles of permaculture design before they develop a site , and if it is a requirement that certain agreements be kept during its development , we would be certain to see biodiversity increase along with human settlement - the opposite trend to normal housing development . We could also expect to see no net increase in demand on the common utilities . It is perfectly possible to build new eco - homes nowadays that require no mains electricity - especially if these homes are in clusters that can take advantage of joint biomass composting or community heat and power schemes , and are well located for wind , water or solar power . We could even plan for a net exporting of electricity from renewable sources , thereby generating a profit . Composting of human waste would be the norm , as would systems for irrigating gardens with grey water , so no sewage connections would be required . Permaculture is very strong on rainwater harvesting and the efficient use of water . If a settlement was sited near a spring , river or stream , or was in an area of generous rainfall such as here in West Wales , no extra demands would need to be made on the water mains . Local , second - hand and recycled materials can be used in building . Eco - villages The knowledge now exists for new settlements to be designed along permaculture lines in which people would feel fulfilled ; find a new sense of purpose ; develop new skills ; design and build energy efficient natural homes ; and grow and eat good organic food . They would be working and living as equals within walking distance of dozens of others of like mind , in a safe and healthy child - friendly environment that they themselves help to form . These settlements would also provide habitats for a greater variety of plants and animals than was there before - both wild and domesticated - whether the site was a quarry , an airstrip , a piece of city waste land or a farm . Eco - villages are much more self - sufficient than ordinary towns and villages - they are therefore much more likely to offer their residents survival and continued good quality of life in the case of total breakdown in society . How likely is this doom scenario ? At the Exeter conference called by the UK government to discuss the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC in March , 2005 , there was the most pessimistic assessment yet of global warming causing collapse of the Gulf Stream which perversely would bring a new ice age to Europe . A group of American scientists calculated that in the absence of major action to control emissions , the chance of this happening was now greater than 50 per cent . There was also an assessment that the ice - sheet covering Greenland may start to melt - which would cause global sea levels to rise by 20 feet - with a temperature rise of only 1 . 5 degrees C . above pre - industrial levels . We are already 0 . 7 above pre - industrial levels ; we are well on the way . So will we succeed in making the 60 - 70 % cuts in CO 2 emissions required to avoid catastrophe ? The conference chairman , Dennis Tirpak , head of the climate change programme of the OECD , reminded delegates that the 2004 World Energy Outlook of the International Energy Agency calculates that in the next 25 years global emissions of CO 2 are likely to increase by 62 per cent , mainly from the developing world , as the Chinese and the Indians rush to build coal - fired power stations to service their exploding economies . The necessary cuts are a fantasy . ( Source : Michael McCarthy , environment editor of the Independent , in an article in the Tablet ) . Are we going to sit back and watch these scenarios unfold while we complain about our elected representatives not ' delivering sustainability '? Or are we going to build something positive to rise to the challenge ? Some people question whether there is a demand for ecovillages based on permaculture - whether there any people who would actually leave the safety of their present life , however dire it is , for the challenge of a simpler way but in harmony with the earth . I assure you , there are hundreds , maybe thousands , who would start tomorrow . There are now plenty of gaps in the Planning regulations that have been bulldozed by supermarkets and various Ministries . What we need are some gaps for ordinary , creative , positive people to come through as well , doing some healing to our ailing countryside as they do so . My proposal here to you is that we could make a small change in Planning law that could set in motion a great tide of change for the better . Permaculture LandImagine a new category of land use - Permaculture Land ( Pc Land ) . This is land used for permaculture - sustainable self - reliant agriculture and horticulture in which work , house building , leisure , growing food , rearing animals , education , renewable energy , recycling and nature conservation are integrated in an infinite number of ways . The essence of Pc Land would be that there is a contractual relationship between the owner and the local / national authorities . This states , basically : ' I will buy and live on just this piece of land . I will not buy several plots and speculate . I will not let it out . I will conserve energy and nature in line with a permaculture design . I will plant over 20 trees per acre . I will co - operate with my neighbours over transport , infrastructure , power generation , waste disposal , water harvesting and supply , and common land . In return for the freedom to build my own house in the style I choose I will do without additional connections to mains water , electricity , sewerage or road systems . ' Planning authorities would be given the power to designate any area Pc Land , whether it was previously industrial , agricultural , military or even residential land . Conditions would be put on the number of dwellings per acre ( maybe a maximum of two ) , roads and vehicles , and a height limit of structures appropriate to the site - say 10 metres . Authorities would be encouraged to designate areas of several square miles , or large zones of Pc Land . These could be areas currently suffering the effects of monoculture , depopulation , inadequate housing or chronic unemployment . Disused military bases could be designated Pc Land . Any farmer or landholder could apply to change from agricultural land to Pc Land , and there would be a presumption in favour of acceptance . The consequences of this small change to planning law would of course be enormous , and I invite you to use your imagination with me . We might envision this scenario [ and please bear in mind the global warming scenarios that will be unfolding in parallel ] : Year 1 Government , in conjunction with the Town and Country Planning Institute , designates the first 20 trial areas . Farmers elsewhere apply in their hundreds for designation , and succeed . Their land sells at £ 10 , 000 per acre , as against about £ 2 , 000 now . Pioneer communities set up throughout Britain . Stroud sprouts Sustainable Villages . There is an explosion of building work in rural areas , and thus a marked expansion in allied industries . [ Peak Oil is acknowledged - crude oil hits $ 60 a barrel ] Year 5 Pc Land prices stabilise at £ 5 , 000 per acre . First legal trial cases against land speculation and breach of Pc Land contracts are decided in the local authorities ' favour . A surge in Land Trusts emerges . These trusts hold the common land and freehold of ecovillage sites . A massive re - afforestation programme is happening , as Pc landholders take advantage of already existing woodland planting and hedgerow creation grants . There is a boom in renewable energy , alternative technology , landscaping and permaculture design . Photovoltaic prices drop markedly . Homeless figures drop , as do housing waiting lists . The first self - build community schools are established . [ Gulf Stream slowing - official ] Year 10 House prices in suburbia fall . Inner cities become significantly greener as authorities increasingly designate inner city zones of Pc Land . The Government offers a Basic Income of £ 40 per week to all Pc Land dwellers , with a consequent fall in jobless totals and DSS budget . Fruit imports drop for the first time ever . Local markets and LETS systems blossom . Wales becomes a net exporter of electricity , from renewable sources . [ Greenland Ice Sheet melting fast - Holland draws up emergency evacuation plans - oil hits $ 100 a barrel - western economies in crisis ] Year 20 National demand for electricity stabilises . All nuclear power stations are closed , starting with those at pre - 2000 sea level . A new tourist industry in Pc areas develops . Pc Land principle adopted in all EU countries . A crash programme of demolishing old unsustainable housing and rebuilding as ecovillages is started . [ Western Ice Sheet of Antartica starts to move - Holland , Bangladesh , London , Cardiff , all oil terminals in the world , etc flooded . Gulf Stream stops , the penny drops ] . The consequences of a Pc Land reform would , you can see , be revolutionary . [ Make up your own scenarios - these are simply a few events that I think look likely from here ] . Enthusiastic implementation would result in a burgeoning of creative talent as millions of people had access to land , with a great mushrooming of diversity of habitats both for wildlife and for humans . In some respects we can see that it would be but a logical extension of present government policies towards more land ownership , individual responsibility and deregulation in many areas of life . It would certainly have a short term effect of creating some windfall riches for present land - owners - maybe a windfall tax would be in order , thereby creating a win - win situation for people and the government . In other respects this proposal can be seen as subversive , as being a step towards the restoration of a yeomanry of free landowning citizens , organising themselves as they will , consuming less of the products of big business , and being less dependent on the state for livelihood , work , food or entertainment . People with a vested interest in the paternalistic power structure will find it very hard to let go of the reins over even a small proportion of the land . They would probably oppose the visible eroding of the bottom rungs of the ' housing ladder ' - this is , I suspect , one reason for the almost irrational urge by a small handful of bureaucrats to have our Roundhouse wiped off the map . We only need remind ourselves of the surge in global warming , and the fact that the British eco - footprint is over three times the size of Britain ( ! ) , however , to realise that totally new and radical changes are necessary for our civilisation merely to survive . So I urge you to take this proposal as far as you can . Tony Wrench . 1992 . Modified April 2005 . 출처 : http : / / www . simondale . net / house / involve . htm