Ecological Responsibility

As a community we are responding to the environmental challenges of our time.
We choose to be responsible towards the land we have the privilege of living on and stewarding.
We build our shelters, harvest our water, meet our energy needs, grow our food and use our waste in an environmentally sensitive way.

Land-use

We have developed a Land-Use Plan based on Permaculture Design Principles. This means we identified our specific land-use needs at Khula Dhamma. They are: residential, recreational, agricultural, woodlots, forestry, dams, roads and wilderness. We are meeting these needs in a holistic and low-impact way that is ecologically sound and aesthetically pleasing. We have taken into account natural energy flows and eco-system processes to create this harmonious whole.

Food production

We use methods of food production that are cooperative with nature. We might put names like Permaculture, Co-creative science, Biodynamic or Natural farming to these methods, although what we seek to do transcends these names.
Our aim is to be as self sufficient as possible. We believe that this will ensure our health, and the health of the planet.
We are committed to conscious consumption by favouring and supporting local, organic agriculture for the food we cannot produce here. We are also committed to supporting local, small, ethical and fair trade businesses for our material needs.
We research, and inform ourselves about how our food and product choices impact people and the Earth.

Buildings

We aspire to ensure that the materials we use for our dwellings and communal living purposes, are sourced directly from the farm, or from local, small, ethical and fair trade businesses.

Energy

We harvest wind and solar energy for domestic, farming and cottage industry usage.
We have a biogas digester supplying the Learning Centre with natural gas.

Waste

It is our aim to reach a state of zero-waste. Presently our organic waste (vegetable and human) is used in our worm farms and compost. Our non-organic waste is sorted and what cannot be recycled is taken to the waste disposal depot in East London.

Wilderness area

It is our aim to restore the identified wilderness areas on our land-use plan back, as far as possible, to their pristine state. This means removal of some plants/trees and replanting with indigenous species. We are creating marked walking paths for the pleasure of walking in undisturbed areas.

Our ecological ethos is based on an appreciation for the wonder and the sheer mystery of all of Nature.
We acknowledge the interconnectedness of all life and seek to ensure that our actions nurture all elements of the web of life.