As many classmates have noted, the establishment of the Sustainability House this semester marks an important turning point for green culture at Oxy. My hope is, however, that in months (and years) to come the house can become a student-lead hub for not only for sustainable practices, but for the progressive culture of Occidental College as a whole. Taking cues from places like the LA Eco Village and Wanna Start a Commune, the Sustainability House could become a hub for a variety of progressive topics pertaining to Occidental and Los Angeles.
While living on campus at Oxy has a very insular feel, the members of the Sustainability House have been thrust (albeit only a block or two) into the neighborhood and are therefore in a unique position to act as liaisons between the progressive community of Los Angeles and Occidental. Much like the LA Eco Village, the Sustainability House is already working to serve as a model for green living to the Oxy community, but it could also serve as the headquarters or at least the meeting place for other activities -- promoting awareness about local politics, demonstrating/touring the green aspects of the house to the Occidental community, training new student leaders, hosting arts and other cultural events and overall becoming an epicenter of student driven activism for the neighborhood rather than just the campus.
One way in which this process can start would be for the progress made/activities held at the Sustainability House to be documented and kept in a blog. This way, community members and students could track the various initiatives undertaken at the house and learn with the house members as they transform their residence into a space which fosters community and responsible environmental practices.
For further reference or ideas on how some of these ideas might be executed, please check out:
LA Eco Village Blog
Wanna Start a Commune - (their website is currently down, but will connect you to their facebook, which is a great resource/community of great ideas!)
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one of the students at student life's presentation of the different themed living options asked if the sustainability house would have an 'intentional housing'/ community feel. I guess it will evolve depending on which students are living there. Good to be thinking along these lines.
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