By ankit

Pooja
Shreya
Vinay
An ecovillage is an intentional
or traditional community
using local participatory
processes to holistically integrate
ecological, economic, social,
and cultural dimensions of
sustainability in order to
regenerate social and natural
environments
 Ecovillages are private citizens’ initiatives. They’re
grassroots.
 Ecovillagers value community living.
 They are not overly dependent on government,
corporate, or other centralized sources for water,
food, shelter, power, and other basic necessities.
 Ecovillagers have a strong sense of shared values,
often characterized in spiritual terms.
 They often serve as research and demonstration
sites. Many offer educational experiences for others.
 Ecovillages are
communities with strong
and vibrant social
structures, united by
common ecological,
economic, social and
spiritual values. Working
with the simple principle
of not taking more away
from the Earth than one
gives back, ecovillages
consciously work towards
progressively reducing
their ecological footprint.
"Ecovillages restore, honour and celebrate the
four elements and their interconnected
processes in Nature and in people."
They do this by focusing on:

reducing, re-using and recycling waste

cooperative, social economies
inclusive decision-making processes
cultural and spiritual diversity
integrated holistic health care
holistic and 'whole person' education
This is a “building block” diagram, in which some
parts of the system “rest” on other parts. The bio-
system and the built-environment provide the most
obvious and visible “requirements” for an eco-
village. They are the “top” building blocks.
 Inspired By H.H Radhanath Swami, A Teacher Of Bhakti-
Yoga For Over 40 Years, And Student Of His Divine Grace
A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-acharya
Of The International Society For Krishna Consciousness.
 Govardhan Ecovillage is a model farm
community and retreat center
highlighting the importance of spiritual
ecology: the need for us
to live in harmony with ourselves, nature and
the sacred.
WHY ORGANIC FARMING?
 Organic Farming involves the use of
traditional means of agriculture which
include
 Indigenous variety of seeds, instead of
genetically modified varieties.
 Instead of chemical based fertilizers, cow
dung based manures and vermicomposts are
used.
 In place of chemical based pesticides, cow
urine & neem leaved based pest repellants
are applied.
 Use of ox for ploughing.
Cows are divine beings and a blessings of god to mankind. At govardhan eco-village
we believe that cow protection is not just about protecting cows from slaughter, buy
giving the due respect and love. Cow protection is about expressing are gratitude for
the wonderful gifts that cows have given to us.

BENEFITS OF COW DUNG

 Cow dung can be used in various fields like farming, energy
generation, construction etc. cow dung can be used to make
medicines. And the use of dung is not restricted to just plastering
floors and walls. Cow dung is popularly used as a bod
 Continuing with our series on the advantages offered by a Land
& Cow based developmental model, this time we focus on one
often neglected cow produce – manure! Manure or cow dung as
called in India, finds its use in various places in traditional Indian
culture. Manure is known in many Indian languages as go-var; go
meaning cow and var meaning boon. It indicates how much the
traditional Indians
ADVANTAGES AND BENEFITS OF BIOGAS
 Provides a non-polluting and renewable source of energy.
 Efficient way of energy conversion (saves fuelwood).
 Saves women and children from drudgery of collection and carrying of firewood,
exposure to smoke in the kitchen, and time consumed for cooking and cleaning of
utensils.
 Produces enriched organic manure, which can supplement or even replace
chemical fertilizers.
 Leads to improvement in the environment, and sanitation and hygiene.
 Provides a source for decentralized power generation.
 Leads to employment generation in the rural areas.
 Household wastes and bio-wastes can be disposed of usefully and in a healthy
manner.
 The technology is cheaper and much simpler than those for other bio-fuels, and it
is ideal for small scale application.
 Dilute waste materials (2-10% solids) can be used as in feed materials.
 Any biodegradable matter can be used as substrate.
 Anaerobic digestion inactivates pathogens and parasites, and is quite effective in
reducing the incidence of water borne diseases.
 Environmental benefits on a global scale: Biogas plants significantly lower the
greenhouse effects on the earth’s atmosphere. The plants lower methane emissions
by entrapping the harmful gas and using it as fuel.
 Disadvantages of Biogas
 The process is not very attractive economically (as compared to other biofuels) on
a large industrial scale.
 It is very difficult to enhance the efficiency of biogas systems.
 Biogas contains some gases as impurities, which are corrosive to the metal parts of
internal combustion engines.
 Not feasible to locate at all the locations.
BENEFITS OF ECO VILLAGES
eco villages work on a very simple principle - create villages systems that require little or no use of external
resources to function in a way that is heathy for all residents.Some of the environmental benefits are:
 Reduce the release of CO2 through a reduction in transport.
 Carbon ‘banking’ through tree and plant growth.
Carbon ‘banking’ within the biomass created through improved soil Quality.
Habitat for wildlife and an overall increase biodiversity.
 Improved Water Quality - leading to greater numbers and biodiversity of aquatic life.
 Less reliance on vehicles for transport (and all the associated damage and waste related to
mining, manufacturing, and transport of materials used in vehicles.)
 Reduction in other chemicals released as a result of fuel use: heavy metals that contained
within fuel, carcinogens and other toxins.
 Lower use of chemicals in food production - pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, chemical fertilisers etc.
By not using chemicals, not only does it reduce the direct use of these chemicals and the flow on effects
of their use. It also reduces the environmental harm when the materials for these are extracted and
transported, and the by-products and energy used in the manufacturing and extraction and transportation
processes.
 Reduced packaging waste, Better air quality, Reduced noise pollution
 Wood grown on property can be used as fuel source for cooking and heating where needed
 Housing designed to have low impact on environment.
 Future building materials produced within the village, and also require zero transport
 Green building (also known as green
construction or sustainable building) refers to a
structure and using process that is environmentally
responsible andresource-efficient throughout a
building's life-cycle: from siting to design,
construction, operation, maintenance, renovation,
and demolition.
 In other words, green building design involves
finding the balance between homebuilding and the
sustainable environment. The Green Building
practice expands and complements the classical
building design concerns of economy, utility,
durability, and comfort
CSEB HOUSES
 Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) is a
special technology of making walls with bricks.
However these bricks are different from the
conventional red bricks that are made by burning
clay. Also called as Stabilized Mud Blocks (SMB)
these bricks are made by compressing a
combination of earthen materials with added
stabilizers:-soil, stone dust, cement,1%lime

ADVANTAGES –
 its local availability and ease of processing makes it
the most energy efficient building material.
 Cold atmosphere, warm effect
 Energy consuming
COB HOUSE
 Cob construction is a time-tested building technique.
Its viability has been thoroughly proved all over the
world for centuries. Cob houses are widely
constructed in the ancient India and are still current
in Indian rural areas. This traditional technology of
construction is used extensively in southern England
where thousands of cob homes exist and are still
occupied after 500 to 700 years
ADVANTAGES-
 Efficiently using energy, water, and other
resources
 Protecting occupant health and improving
employee productivity
 Reducing waste, pollution and environmental
degradation