Augusta, ME — The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is pleased to announce that the Belfast Co-housing and Ecovillage is this year’s winner of the NRCM People’s Choice Award, for their tireless work to establish a model cohousing community. (Read full citation at end of this page.)
“Belfast Co-housing and EcoVillage members have pursued their vision of an ecologically sustainable community and way of life, one that promotes conservation of Maine’s natural resources,” says NRCM Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann. “Such a community requires diligence and perseverance. Maine citizens recognize and value such a vision by having selected them as this year’s People’s Choice winner. I am pleased, on behalf of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, to recognize their efforts.”
NRCM’s People’s Choice is one of the organization’s Environmental Awards, granted each year to an individual or group whose actions have made a real difference at the local, regional, or state level in the protection of Maine’s environment. The People’s Choice Award provides an opportunity for citizens across the state to nominate someone in their community who has worked selflessly to protect a special place or otherwise has made a difference in the protection of Maine’s land, air, water, and wildlife.
Belfast Co-housing is a diverse group of individuals and families who have been working since 2007 to create a residential community based on neighborhood cooperation, affordability, and ecological sustainability. Clustered housing and shared infrastructure are key to their vision, and the group’s members note that everything about this unique community has been carefully planned.
Located just two miles from the downtown of Belfast, the community is an easy walk or bike trip. Individual units will share as much as possible, from house walls and a barn to lawnmowers, even kayaks and canoes. Heating requirements will be 90 percent less than that of standard new construction, with passive solar design. Homes will have no need for fossil fuelsâno oil burners or propane stoves.
An important element to the group’s plan includes maintaining the fields, forests, and waterways around them in as natural a state as possible. They hope to provide incentives for farmers to settle in the community, with land, processing, storage, and other space designed just for them.
Alarmed by Governor LePage’s Phase I Regulatory Reform proposal, which directly attacked many of Maine’s most important and successful environmental laws, members of Belfast Co-housing spoke out about their experiences with permitting at the committee meeting held in Belfast in January. By doing so, they helped expose and put the brakes on the many half-truths being used by the LePage administration to promote environmental rollbacks.
The award was presented on Friday, September 23, at NRCM’s annual meeting. This year, Senator George Mitchell was keynote speaker, and efforts of Belfast Co-Housing were acknowledged by the Senator, who also congratulated them.
FULL CITATION
Belfast Co-housing and Ecovillage
2011 NRCM People’s Choice Award Winner
for exceptional efforts and tireless work to establish a model environmentally sustainable, affordable, multi-generational cohousing community
The Natural Resources Council of Maine created the People’s Choice Award to give our supporters an opportunity to acknowledge a person or group in their community who is making a difference for Maine’s environment. The winner of the People’s Choice Award is determined by NRCM members and supporters. This year’s winner is Belfast Co-housing and Ecovillage.
Belfast Co-housing is a diverse group of individuals and families working since 2007 to create a residential community based on neighborhood cooperation, affordability, and ecological sustainability with clustered housing and shared infrastructure, located in Belfast.
Everything about this unique community has been carefully planned: it is just two miles from town, an easy walk or bike trip. House walls, a barn, even items like kayaks and lawnmowers will be shared. Home heating requirements will be 90 percent less than that of standard new construction, with passive solar design and no fossil fuel deliveries to the homes, and no oil burners or propane stoves.
Their plan includes maintaining the fields, forests, and waterways around them in as natural a state as possible. They hope to provide incentives for farmers to settle in the community, with land, processing, storage, and other space designed just for them.
Participation by co-housing members at January’s Regulatory Reform Committee meeting in Belfast helped expose and put the brakes on the many half-truths being used by the LePage administration to promote environmental rollbacks.
For these remarkable efforts, it is our honor to present to Belfast Co-Housing & Ecovillage the 2011 NRCM People’s Choice Award.
