…to the virtual home of the Lynedoch Eco Village. We are a small community about 12km outside Stellenbosch, the 2nd oldest town in South Africa, and 10km outside Khayelitsha, the fastest growing suburb in the country. Midway between two of the most different environments imaginable, navigating a progressive approach to socially, racially and economically integrated, inclusive community living.
We are a learning community: the village is home to the Sustainability Institute, Spark Lynedoch primary school, a Montessori pre-school, and the Lynedoch Community School. The village is also a site of scientific and cultural interest, for the research generated by our environmental interventions, and our daily practice as a village of residents and neighbours finding ways to live together across a range of real and imagined differences.
Why Eco Village? All the homes in the village are built from alternative materials, including adobe brick, 2nd hand brick, hay bales, and sandbags. We have our own waste management systems, with a sewerage system and a water treatment system that sees 100% of grey water returned for village use. We have a recycling depot. All homes have solar water geysers, and some have photovoltaic solar and biodigesters.
The sustainability approach of the village is born out of an understanding that sustainable living is only fully possible when social justice issues are adequately addressed. In other words, there is no sustainable living, no matter how good your energy usage and waste management systems, if society remains unequal and unjust. To this end, the village attempts to grapple with social justice and inclusivity at every level, while implementing feasible ecological interventions, often small scale. We are not a case study for photovoltaic success, rather we are a case study for an approach to sustainability that begins with people.
We are slowly building the website, please be patient. It won’t be too long before this is a comprehensive space. In the meantime, feel free to drop us a mail, or communicate with us via our Twitter and Facebook accounts.
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The Lynedoch Eco Village 