Living green, living simple

Eugene residents are taking sustainable living to a new level

Story by Whitney Malkin
Photos by Ashley Baer

Ashley Baer / Photo Editor

Rob Bolman is the founder of the Maitreya EcoVillage — a community of more than 30 people who live together, focus on eating from their community garden and use their waste to cultivate the soil.

The afternoon sun catches shards of green and blue glass, bringing Rob Bolman’s driveway to life. His hands are steady as he puts the final pieces of the carefully planned mosaic in place.

Bolman has spent several days scavenging chunks concrete, broken plates and shattered bottles —piecing them together like a quilter to create a work of art.

“Everything I used to complete this was going to be thrown away,” he says, standing to admire his project. “With a little imagination and some planning, you can turn anything into something beautiful.”

Bolman’s mosaic represents more than just concrete. He has pieced together community in the same way — working to create change in the world . It is easy to miss Maitreya EcoVillage — the buildings are nestled in a quiet West Eugene neighborhood, set back from the street and fenced by tall leafy trees.

But a step onto the driveway is a step into another world. More than 30 people live together at Maitreya, focus on eating solely from a community garden and use waste to cultivate the soil.

At Maitreya, everything has more than one purpose — and residents believe working to live sustainably can help make the world a better place. In 1991, when Bolman and his mother bought the five city lots that make up Maitreya, he was not thinking about sustainability.

The California native saw the property, which sits at Almaden and West Broadway, as an investment. Then in 1999, Bolman discovered green building.

He says his years on construction crews led him to question contemporary building techniques and materials. Now he works to use natural resources like clay and cob and hand crafts all of the windows and doors for his projects.

Green building gave new meaning to his work. He became a teacher and a student — studying the practices of green building and permaculture. Along the way, he changed the way he lives.

“My idea is focused on making sure everything gets re-used,” says Bolman, gesturing to the fenced walls of Maitreya. “Everything we need is right here, from housing to food.”

Bolman’s first project was a small building, but it wasn’t long before his hobby blossomed into a green building project. Now, more than nine buildings sit on the land.

From the outside, many of the buildings look like other houses on the street. But a close glance reveals floors made of earth and sealed with bees’ wax, walls insulated with wood chips and clay and entire buildings constructed with earth.

“The way I build houses is not what a shrewd business person would do,” said Bolman. “I do it this way because I’m stubborn.”

Ashley Baer / Photo Editor

The Maitreya EcoVillage, located in West Eugene, houses more than 30 people who work together to lead sustainable lives.

In addition to cultivating a community garden, Bolman has made other modifications to the property, like altering gutters to save rainwater. He also buys 20 buckets of Alpaca manure each month to help spread in the community compost pile.

“I guess this might look weird to some people,” says Bolman as he sinks a shovel deep into the bucket of manure. “But to me it’s practical — I’m trying to limit my consumption and care for the earth.”

Being at Maitreya is like being in another world. But for some people, that is the point. Jack Stephens was working 80-hour workweeks in a corporate job when he realized he needed a change.

“I needed to get off the treadmill,” said Stephens, who heard about Maitreya from a friend. Within two months, he and his two children moved to Maitreya from their home in rural Oregon and he began touring the nation as a personal leadership and development consultant.

Stephens and his children have spent the last year living in the village’s triplex, built in 2002.

“In many ways it looks like an average house,” said Stephens. “But sometimes my son brings friends home from school and they look down and it’s like, ‘Wow, your floor is made from dirt!’ It can be culture shock.”

For Stephens, Maitreya is all about family. As a single father, he says having the help of an entire community to raise his children has been wonderful.

“I see my seven-year-old, Maddie, out chasing the chickens in the yard, or in the garden munching on something, and I realize that this is a simple way of life,” said Stephens. “But it is such a refreshing change.”

Stephen’s experience of a “simpler life” is exactly what Bolman hopes will catch on in mainstream society.

Ashley Baer / Photo Editor

Sitting in one of the cardboard domes he designed, Finn Po extols the virtues of the “eco-ghetto” within Maitreya, composed of seven domes. “It’s a revival for an indigenous class of people who want a natural experience,” says Po. The interiors reflect the style of the inhabitants and look like dorm rooms, with photos and brightly painted walls.

Ashley Baer / Photo Editor

On the west side of Maitreya, mailboxes are built directly into a cob wall, made out of clay, sand and straw. Throughout the self-contained community, aesthetic beauty is incorporated into the design of the buildings, from stained-glass windows in the cob wall and crescent moon cutouts in the doors of the triplex, to curved designs on the walls of the houses and circular brick patios.

“I look at rising gas prices and I can’t understand why people can’t see how the way they are living won’t work for much longer,” said Bolman. “It isn’t about becoming a hippie or a radical, it’s about adaptation.”

Bolman and the residents of Maitreya are not the only ones who have learned through Maitreya. Neighbors say living next to the EcoVillage has been a unique experience. Pam Hatstat, says she wasn’t aware “there were hippies across the street,” when she moved into her house three years ago.

But one day, Melanie Rios, Bolman’s partner, came to her yard to talk.

“They’re so mellow and happy, you can’t help but enjoy them,” Hatstat said.

“Sometimes I’ll look out the window and they’ll be meditating in the street at sunset. Just seeing them slow down and take time to appreciate life — it’s awesome.” Other neighbors say drumming circles, early morning yoga classes and the occasional parade have all been welcome additions to the neighborhood.

“They probably live a little differently than we do,” said Hatstat, “but I think we have all learned along the way.” But no matter how much teaching the residents of Maitreya may do, many, like Finn Po, still consider themselves students.

Po used to live in one of the seven huts in the village — six by six foot domes framed with wood and insulated with cardboard. He calls it the “EcoGhetto”.

Wired with electricity from a nearby building, residents that live in the huts go to one of the main buildings to shower and cook.

Po says the process is about getting back to the way people used to live. “All it takes is some getting used to,” said Po. “After you do, you never want to go back.”

Bolman says he realizes residents of Maitreya may be more willing to change their habits that many in mainstream society, but still hopes people will take notice of the world around them.

He hopes Maitreya will serve as a model for the rest of Eugene and has plans to expand his green building project to include other areas in the city. But for now, he is focusing on the little things — memorizing bus routes and trying to cut down on using his car.

“I don’t think there will ever be a time when I will be ready to stop learning,” he said. “Life is all about change.”

For more information on the Maitreya EcoVillage or green building techniques and practices, visit www.maitreyaecovillage.org.