guide to unsustainability

well, i'm in melbourne rather than loch sport right now which is some indication that the plan to wwoof at the "eco-building" place we were so excited about didn't so much work out. we had planned to be at that farm (turned out to not really be much of a farm at all, rather just a building site) for the remainder of our time in australia. we knew fairly soon after we arrived that staying three weeks at that place would drive us as nuts as the guy running the show. maybe that's not completely fair, but he most certainly did have some very, very strange ways of relating to people. we found it very hard to communicate with him or see eye-to-eye on his ideas of sustainability.

there was a main living site that was kind of like a campsite except that we all stayed in either shipping containers or caravans. the shipping container we slept in was not really renovated or converted as we thought it would be. it was simply a shipping container with some furnishings moved in, which meant that there were no windows and hence, no light. we also shared the space with an ATV that presented a very strong "new rubber" smell.

we ate all meals together in a family-sized tent. i guess when i think about working on an organic farm, i would expect that the hosts are growing and eating some of their own produce and would be somewhat conscious of what they're putting into their bodies. this did not seem to be the case. to be fair, we had a couple of really nice meals while we were there, but we also had chili cheese dogs, onion rings, ramen noodles mixed with a jar of processed nacho-like cheese, and bologna for lunch most days. i mean, i'm certainly not above enjoying a good hot dog every once in awhile, but the trend was not looking promising.

but the other thing that made us very uncomfortable about staying there was the construction project on which we were working. i don't know a lot about building or construction methods, but i could spot that there was something strange about the fact that so much styrofoam was being used to build a sustainable house (especially when that particular kind of material is banned from construction useage in several other countries). the host was a first-time builder and didn't seem to have a very well-organized vision or approach. he was kind of the "project manager" if you will and it seems that he has utilized a number of wwoofers or other volunteers to build this house, which may account for some of the inconsistencies in technique, as people have varying skill levels. but there seemed to be a number of structural issues that had been corrected in one way or another as well.

so that's a summary of the scene and some of the reasons why decided to find another farm for the next two weeks. for me, it just didn't seem like a very healthy environment and we both felt that we would get a better educational experience somewhere else. we spent a couple days in melbourne searching for another farm and were able to make arrangements at a vineyard north of the city about 300 km or so...more to come.




a couple pictures of the scene (they're a bit dark, but hopefully you can make it out)




these were taken on a walk down the main road just outside the host's property