Rating: 
Summary: Gaviotas - Read this Book!
Review: This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read! I would definitely place it in my top 5 books of all time and probably in my top 2 especially, with regard to the effect the book had on my life. Whether you're interested in sustainable living, the design of communities, or innovative technological approaches (most of which are low technology) or just looking for a wonderful read, this is the book to read. My only negative comment about the book was that more pictures would have been nice. Whether you buy it here or borrow it from a friend or a library, READ this Book!
Rating:
Summary: Gaviotas - Read this Book!
Review: This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read! I would definitely place it in my top 5 books of all time and probably in my top 2 especially, with regard to the effect the book had on my life. Whether you're interested in sustainable living, the design of communities, or innovative technological approaches (most of which are low technology) or just looking for a wonderful read, this is the book to read. My only negative comment about the book was that more pictures would have been nice. Whether you buy it here or borrow it from a friend or a library, READ this Book!
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: This is truly one of the most inspirational books I have ever read, for a couple of reasons. For the most part, utopian ideals such as this are very hard to envision as a real solution, because they tend to be made up of people who for whatever reasons are willing to give up the creature comforts and bring their standard of living down a few notches. Whether or not their new style of living is actually better, and more enriching is not the issue in my mind, what is the issue is that the vast majority of those in the first world would under no circumstances give up those luxuries. But Gaviotas is a colony founded not by communalists or hippies, but by pragmatic engineers, who enjoy many creature comforts. They do not attempt to drastically change the social structure into something entirely non-hierarchical; instead, one gets the impression this is a group of very intelligent people, who realized they were destroying the planet they lived on with their lifestyles, and so keep it on a 'selfish' level, rather than introducing an ideological debate. This is terribly important, in my mind, to creating a new world in which we can live sustainably. This book is well written, full of intriguing concepts which will send you out looking for more information about photovoltaic systems and how exactly pumps work, and most of all, full of more hope than anything I have read in... well, forever. After all, if this can work in the middle of a virtual desert, in -Columbia- of all places, than it should be able to work anywhere. I recently bought fifty copies of this book, and I give them to almost everyone I meet. I'm not a zealot by nature, but this book is so very important, I would urge every single person who is considering buying it to do so, and to tell fifty friends as soon as you've read it.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: This is truly one of the most inspirational books I have ever read, for a couple of reasons. For the most part, utopian ideals such as this are very hard to envision as a real solution, because they tend to be made up of people who for whatever reasons are willing to give up the creature comforts and bring their standard of living down a few notches. Whether or not their new style of living is actually better, and more enriching is not the issue in my mind, what is the issue is that the vast majority of those in the first world would under no circumstances give up those luxuries. But Gaviotas is a colony founded not by communalists or hippies, but by pragmatic engineers, who enjoy many creature comforts. They do not attempt to drastically change the social structure into something entirely non-hierarchical; instead, one gets the impression this is a group of very intelligent people, who realized they were destroying the planet they lived on with their lifestyles, and so keep it on a 'selfish' level, rather than introducing an ideological debate. This is terribly important, in my mind, to creating a new world in which we can live sustainably. This book is well written, full of intriguing concepts which will send you out looking for more information about photovoltaic systems and how exactly pumps work, and most of all, full of more hope than anything I have read in... well, forever. After all, if this can work in the middle of a virtual desert, in -Columbia- of all places, than it should be able to work anywhere. I recently bought fifty copies of this book, and I give them to almost everyone I meet. I'm not a zealot by nature, but this book is so very important, I would urge every single person who is considering buying it to do so, and to tell fifty friends as soon as you've read it.
Rating:
Summary: Discover a real-life Utopia on the arid plains of Columbia.
Review: Twenty-seven years ago, a group of South Americans envisioned a society in which limited resources would form the base of a sustainable future. To bring their experiment to life, they chose a site in the sparsely populated and nearly arid plains of eastern Colombia. They called their village "Gaviotas" and went on to create a host of ingenious and relatively affordable technologies. Alan Weisman produced a documentary on Gaviotas for National Public Radio in 1994. After producing his radio documentary, Weisman maintained an avid interest in Gaviotas. He returned to the village several times in the past few years, and updates the Gaviotas story in his new book: "Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World." Weisman, a journalist based in Tucson, AZ, has covered some of the world's worst ecological disasters, but when he needs his faith in the future restored, he always returns to Gaviotas where, he says, "people seem to have gotten it right." This book documents the successful implemntation of a self-sufficient, harmonious, ecologically based community that is building a sustainable economy. Gaviotas comes as close as human society can to achieving a real Utopia - and perhaps will serve as a model for a more balanced way of life for all of us.
Rating:
Summary: A book filled with hope
Review: When Jessie Jackson refrains, "Keep hope alive! Keep hope alive!" we were with him, but I, for one, was left wondering where this hope was. Alan Weisman's "Gaviotas", a chronicle of the Colombian village Gaviotas, is the real McCoy in black and white. Over and over again, "Gaviotas" details the hope-filling victories towards a smarter, more harmonious way of living with simple, clever, appropriate technology leading the way. "Gaviotas" talks about the power of creative thought sharply focussed on simple, appropriate technology for totally ignored boonies of the Colombia's tropical plains. It talks about the creation of an extremely dedicated community out of an infertile, barren plains in the middle of war-torn Colombia. It talks about the seemingly miraculous transformation of grassland into rainforest and the tireless dedication of it's creators. It talks about the power of community, networking and partnerships with universities. I was, however, disappointed by the relative lack of contact people, organizations, and publishings for people interested in creating their own community. The story of the Gaviotas community is so inspiring it deserves a newsgroup of its own on the internet! Being an engineer by trade, I was left brimming with questions. How did they come up with the process for ultra-black copper sheeting? Where can I get the six films about Gaviotas made by Pepe Gomez? How can a roof focus and reflect heat away from a building? Can a Gaviotas be created here in the U.S. or is life too easy here? "Gaviotas" is beautifully written; a real turner. I had to tear myself away from it each night so I could get to work on time in the morning and had dreams of creating my own Gaviotas in the U.S.
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