Sadhna forest ecovillage

A Self Sustainable Community (Human Settlement) comprising all the activity to a range of Human Scale within the neighborhood interdependent to government or policies.

1. SADHANA FOREST AT AUROVILLE (TAMIL NADU) Sadhana forest is a reforestation project was founded in 2003 by ‘Aviram’ & ‘Yorit’. More than 18,200 indigenous Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest trees have so far been planted on the 70 acres of severely eroded infertile land . This forest type is found only in Southern India and Sri Lanka and provides a rare biological richness due to its very high species abundance. The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest is now close to total extinction; only 0.01% survives . This is a last moment effort to keep this very rich and beautiful Forest on earth. The main action areas are planting the TDEF, water conservation, soil erosion control, and sustainable living education. In the last four years, or so, Sadhana Forest has created a natural living environment with a solar power generation and water pumping unit, composting toilets, plant based gray water treatment system, natural buildings for living quarters for volunteers and residents from all over the world, and community cooking and eating facilities. Living is very simple and is based on a consciousness of the connection between our environment and ourselves, a connection that determine the much of the quality of our lives. INTRODUCTION: sadhana 2004: sadhana Entrance: sadhana 2017: ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL THESIS : 2016-17 SUMAMA B.ARCH 5 th Year ROLL NO. 1267281026 ITMSATP, LKO

2. More than 7 kilometers of trenches have been dug and eight earth dams have been built, altogether storing more than 30,000 cubic meters of rain water. As a result of this work underground water level also know as AQUIFER has risen by 6 meters from an average of 26 feet deep during 2003 (before Sadhana Forest was started) to an average of 6 feet during 2007 after four years of intensive water conservation work. WATER CONSERVATION : Plantation Sadhana children’s land map SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE: Sustainable infrastructure was installed that can host local and international volunteers. All structures are built from local natural materials, like wood, dry coconut leaves canvas, ...etc... A solar system, dry composting toilets, and a grey water system have been installed. Water infrastructure has been built that enables to water trees on 30% of the land. Nursery Panoramic view They planted more than 18,200 Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest plants of 150 different indigenous species, and are constantly mulching and caring for them. Survival rate in average is between 80% - 90%. Survival rate does not fall below 70% even on the most degraded soil. Over 50 kids from the local villages are regularly caring for the trees they planted during holiday camps, or special nature awareness programs on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. REFORESTATION: ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

3. SADHANA MISSIONS: Source: www.globalpovertyproject.com A major aspect of water conservation is trying to achieve zero run off. This is a point where every drop of rain that falls on the ground stays there and does not travel on the land. The reason for this is that when water travels on the ground there is a lot of evaporation, top soil is washed away, and eventually the water reaches canyons and streams but does not recharge local aquifers. Children’s Land is based on the philosophy and values of child-led learning, which believes that with trust and careful observation from adults, children should have the choice of what they would like to learn, without adult imposition or direction. In Children’s Land we provide a natural environment for the children to appreciate nature and discover, on their own, reasons for conservation and sustainability. In this way the children are empowered to think creativity, independently, and collaboratively. ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

4. SADHANA CAMPUS: The Community. Kitchen. Garden. Energy. Transportation. Zero Waste Zone. Compost Zone. Domestic Water Use. Community living in Sadhana Forest India provides many opportunities to develop one’s social and environmental consciousness and creativity. We host more then 1000 volunteers a year from all over the world, making Sadhana Forest India one of the largest residential volunteer projects in the world. Sadhana Forest India is a place where you can be and feel like an integral part of Nature. It is a place of sharing. We eat our three meals a day together, share our living and sleeping areas, and share the essential duties that help the community run smoothly and simply. We live under certain guidelines and schedules that help us function as a community. 1. THE COMMUNITY: WORKSHOPS: We benefit from hosting a wide variety of volunteers from many different backgrounds. Volunteers can offer to share knowledge they have and host workshops. This can be any type of knowledge or skill that someone has and would like to share with the community, it can be anything from signing Mongolian poetry to building solar ovens. If you have knowledge this is the place to share it. OPEN STAGE NIGHT: Every Wednesday we meet after dinner to have Open Stage. We like to call this evening our “non-talent night” as anyone can perform, whether you have a talent or not, you’re welcome to come on stage and share it with everyone. This can be anything from telling a joke, singing a song, playing a game or playing an instrument. GUIDELINES (Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco Free Environment) Sadhana Forest India is a place where we concentrate on raising our consciousness. Using drugs, alcohol, or tobacco does not support this process and therefore, Sadhana Forest India is a drug, alcohol and tobacco free environment. We have also found that these substances can have a negative effect on the community and social life, as well as the obvious effects on health. Sadhana Forest India is also home to quite a few children and young adults and we do not wish to have them exposed to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

5. In Sadhana people are a vegan community. Eating vegan food is a very effective way to protect natural resources. A vegan diet uses five times less land to produce food than an omnivore diet and 2.5 times less land than a vegetarian diet. Seventy percent of all agricultural land is used for feeding farmed animals. On average, a vegan diet indirectly reduces water used for food production by nearly 2271 liters (600 gallons)* per day than an omnivore diet. Exclude all animal-based products from their meals. This includes items such as: meat, fish, dairy products (such as milk, butter, ghee, yogurt or curd), eggs, or honey. They also try to eat food that is minimally processed. This excludes items such as white flour (maida), packaged juice, fried foods, refined sugars, preservatives, etc. We cook with a variety of organic and seasonal fruits, vegetables, legumes (dhal), and grains. For example, instead of using packaged soy milk, we choose to make milk from locally sourced and organic coconuts. We can’t think of almost anything better than herbal chai made with fresh coconut milk. 2. KITCHEN: Cleaning (ash vinegar etc.) Preparing for cook Hand pump Stoves/Oven Bicycle Blender 3. GARDEN: Sadhana Forest India has established a small vegan (stock free) organic Permaculture garden. The soil is very poor and most of the effort goes into soil building. The methods we currently use are raised beds, swales, banana circles, etc. Feeding Soil (Garden Beds) Food Garden ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

6. Sadhana Forest India is not connected to the electrical grid. As a part of our sustainable living, we chose to only use solar and human powered energy. Tamil Nadu, the state where Sadhana Forest India is located, currently has a load balance deficit of 34.1% where people sometimes go up to 9 hours without power each day . This deficit continues to rise every year throughout India. Through mindful energy conservation practices, Sadhana Forest India is able to supply 100% renewable electricity for the needs our community. 4. ENERGY: Solar System: XXX Watt solar (photovoltaic) power system, connected to 10 batteries. To minimize our environmental footprint, we mainly use power during the day; this means energy is coming directly from the solar panels and not from our batteries which are environmentally unfriendly. On sunny days (which is the majority of the year) volunteers have an average of 4 hours of charge time per day and more on the weekends. XXX Watt solar (photovoltaic) power system, connected to 10 batteries. To minimize our environmental footprint, we mainly use power during the day; this means energy is coming directly from the solar panels and not from our batteries which are environmentally unfriendly. On sunny days (which is the majority of the year) volunteers have an average of 4 hours of charge time per day and more on the weekends. Human Powered System: Solar system Human Powered Bicycle Blender 5. TRANSPORTATION: mostly use bicycles and motorbikes. One of our principle aims is for our transport to be as sustainable as possible. Our solar panels are ready to charge electric bicycles and motorcycles for our volunteers. Zero Emission Vehicle ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

7. “Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them.” 6. ZERO WASTE ZONE: Trash, Rubbish, Waste, Garbage : There is no such thing as trash. The items we call trash are simply things people have created and then lost interest in. It could be said that one person’s trash is another person’s problem. Sadhana Forest is committed to conscious consumption and claiming responsibility for the waste that is generated on site. The waste we produce is primarily sorted at our on-site recycling center. Volunteers collect labeled bins from around the community and sort trash into categories of plastic, glass, paper, organic waste, metal, sanitary waste and mixed items. These materials are then separated into smaller subcategories and evaluated to see which materials can be reused and repurposed. 7. COMPOST ZONE (COMPOST TOILETS): “nothing is lost”. What is considered “waste” in most parts of the world is turned into a valuable resource here with our dry composting toilet system. We create fertilizer from our human “waste” that is later used in the forest for planting and fertilizing trees. We create ammonia from our urine which serves as a powerful natural and free cleaning agent for the toilets. Flushing toilets use about 30% of a household domestic water use. Dry composting toilets are non-flushing, therefore use very little water, and significantly reduce domestic water use. This system has very low power consumption. Because they are a self-contained system, no energy is expended for transportation of waste for disposal. 8. DOMESTIC WATER USE: When speaking of water conservation, the average person probably thinks about brushing their teeth and taking showers. HAND WASH STATIONS: Simply take any vessel, put a small hole in the bottom of it, and suspend it at hand washing height. Pour as much water as is needed, usually this is on average 150 mL to 300 mL. They make these out of metal cups, plastic bottles, and coconut shells. It can be done anywhere that hands are washed, including a modern home. HAND PUMP: it teaches all who use it that water is a resource and that it takes effort to attain it. Since our laundry and showers both use ‘bucket’ systems, volunteers must carry their personal water a short distance and herein lies the lesson. Developing nations all over the world still require people, mostly women, to collect water and firewood. Requiring each of us to carry our own water is an important lesson in empathy. Combined the hand pump and hand wash stations conserve thousands and thousands of liters of water each year. Kitchen taps vary tremendously in flow volume, from 2-25 litres per minute. ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL

8. ECO-VILLAGE AT NAUGARH, SIDDHARTHNAGAR THESIS GUIDE - AR. PRASENJIT SANYAL