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We now face an existential
crisis

that may bring humancivilization to an end.

This needs a whole-of-society
effort

to try and resolve it.

Our current system is a
planet-killing Ponzi scheme.

It's a giant casino of
absolutely epic proportions.

The consumer way very easily debauches.

I think we are losing the sense
of community in many ways.

They need to learn about
these fundamentals of a deeper

connection to one another and to nature.

Maybe there's another option.

Maybe there's another way to live,

which isn't the way that I
have grown up with or become

accustomed to or just fallen into.

[music playing]

The story of industrial
civilization tells us that

limitless economic growth,
advanced technology,

material affluence are the
pathways to prosperity.

But as we reflect on the world today,

it is clear that this is
failing both people and planet.

We know this in our heads
and feel it in our hearts.

And, yet, it seems we
have not found a new story

by which to live.

We are the generation in between stories,

desperately clinging to
yesterday's, but uncertain

of tomorrow's.

But then again, perhaps the
story is already with us.

Perhaps we just need to
live it into existence.

[crickets, birds]

[music playing]

I came because I was looking
for a way to simplify my life.

I knew that the way that I was
living my life wasn't right.

And the things that seemed
necessary to strive for

weren't the things that I
really wanted to strive for.

And I've always felt that.

Beautiful windows.

So I guess for the
last five or six years,

I've sort of been paring back.

I just... yeah, I felt I
didn't want to have debt.

I didn't want to...

I didn't want to feel obligated
to work a 40-hour week

and not have time to do the
things that really mattered to me.

So for the past year or so,
I've been experimenting with,

I guess, living simply,
living sustainably,

and trying to challenge myself
to live in a way that is less

harmful towards the planet
and less energy intensive.

I guess I feel like this
experiment is an opportunity

to push myself a little bit further.

And challenge not only myself,
but the modern environmental

movement to come to understand
what it is to live sustainably.

I'm really looking forward to this year,

being part of a team, working
together to explore what it

really means to live
simply and sustainably,

to work towards living within
the resources of one planet,

how we can just improve constantly.

And I'm really excited about
sharing that beyond the group

here and beyond this
place as much as we can.

The idea of this project
really interested me

because I've been trying
to apply these principles

in my own life in quite
an individual way.

I haven't had much support from the wider

group of people I was with.

So the idea of coming here to
be in a supportive learning

environment and to be
meeting lots of new people

who are asking similar questions,

challenging things in a similar
way, that what's excited me.

The idea of working as
part of a larger movement.

I guess my interest in
this project was to join with

like-minded people, learn some skills,

give my daughter the opportunity
of living on a rural property,

being part of a documentary
to educate and inspire others

to one-planet living, sustainable living.

So I was interested in this
project because it provided me

the ability to put the theories
of natural building and natural

food production into practice
on a much bigger scale than

I'm able to do in cities and
without actually buying any

land, because land is so
expensive at the moment.

I've been studying
permaculture for a long time.

But I'm excited to put into practice.

I want to have experiences.

And I want to be able to use my hands

and have knowledge from experience rather

than from books.

In terms of the existing infrastructure,

in addition to the house,
there is a small earthship,

Cobb round house, some
basic composting facilities,

and a moderately sized farm shed like.

My mother loved this place.

So much so that my sister and
I spread her ashes here once

she passed away.

She is very much the seed for us in being

able to explore sustainable
pathways for the property.

It was not long after this that I

was introduced to Samuel
Alexander's book, "Entropia"

and realized that we were
truly on the same page,

envisioning a simpler way.

I shared all this with
the Gunai Kurnai land

and waters aboriginal corporations

cultural heritage manager about
our small [inaudible] patch.

And Wurruk'an was born.

With permission to use Wurruk, a
local indigenous word for earth

and story, infused with
k'an, a Mayan term for seed.

We are beginning to build a tiny house.

It's about 2.7 by 3.6,
and about 3 meters high,

so it's got a footprint
of about 10 square meters.

We're trying to use as much
reclaimed timber and reclaimed

iron as possible.

For the last two or three months,

I've been jumping into skits
on the side of the road,

or jumping into people's backyards

when they tell me that
they're renovating,

or going to the tip
shop or salvage yards,

or finding windows on
the side of the road.

We've got about 15 people
here for the build over

in the next week.

And at the end of that build, I'm

hoping that we've more or less got

ourselves a beautiful,
unconventional tiny house.

[music playing]

This is the tiny house that
was built by a group of people

in when was it?

It was January, as well.

So it took about a week.

And then I had to install
some of the ceiling

and a few other bits and pieces myself.

But it got finished in a week.

So this is the outside of the tiny house.

It's made out of pretty much
nearly all recycled building materials.

So it's probably about,
I would say, about 95%

all recycled building materials.

These weather boards are actually

skirting boards that we
sanded down and varnished.

So I guess the main
feature of the tiny house

is the geodesic window,

which our carpenter
Nick made. It's beautiful.

He actually made the frame,
and I cut all the glass

into the patterns.

First time cutting glass, and
what do you know, it worked.

And then I made a candle
holder for it and everything.

This makes it a really warm
and beautiful space to be in.

And I look forward to many
winter nights with candles.

Then we've got, like most tiny houses,

we've got a loft for
either storage or a bed.

That's my bed up there.

It's got a really cute little window.

You can fit quite a lot of
things into it a tiny house.

And to be honest, it's quite comfortable.

I've got my couch, my bed.

I've got a workstation as well.

This is my little desk, where
I love doing designs from,

which is a really
beautiful place to work.

I often work with the door open.

I've got a view down
into the belly there.

I often work with a kerosene
lamp, candles, sometimes

a head torch if it's getting
a little bit too dark.

There's no power in the house, and that's

what I like about it.

I like to kind of go back to nature.

And it really gives you a feeling

of the fluctuations of the seasons
and cycles of nature as well

I prefer to live in a tiny space.

I like to nest, and I don't think

that you miss out on much...

Much more than living
in a conventional house

in quite a larger house, and that's

because, it makes you minimize.

And makes you realize how
much you don't need, as well.

It makes you realize how
functional a small space can be

In our modern society, we
have usually the feeling

that bigger is better.

And I don't necessarily
think that's the case.

I think that smaller is more
cozy and more nourishing.

[music playing]

I grew up in quite a
conventional way in a little

family in suburban England.

But my family had a
really strong connection

to the natural world.

We'd often go for walks in
the forest and along moors.

And I had a deep love of
nature from a young age.

And when I was a teenager, I,
through videos on the internet

and through publications,
discovered the extent

of the ecological and social
crisis happening in the world today

The deforestation.

The pollution of the oceans.

The toxic dumps.

Factory farming.

That really hit me very hard.

And I became really concerned
about how we were living.

I had a deep sense that
we shouldn't be going down

that track, but at the
time, I had no idea

that there was an alternative.

What do we want?

Climate justice.

- When do we want it?
- Now.

You can't produce an answer unless
you name the problem accurately.

Unless we really understand
the circumstances we're in,

we're not going to get the solutions

and find the path to it.

And I've seen, what I called,
after Barbara Ehrenreich,

a lot of "brightsiding."

It's all happy clappy.

It's all good.

We're all going in the right direction.

There's renewable energy,
sunflowers, all of this.

I think in part, some of that
is a personal psychological

response of people wanting
to talk about the good news,

because it allows them to go on.

But we have to deal with
this problem as it really is.

And it is arresting.

And it is difficult. And
to pretend otherwise...

To pretend it's going to be
light and easy, that it's

going to be business as
usual, with everybody

keep on making profit, and
we don't have to change much.

To think like that actually
means that we can't

get to the solution we need.

We need brutal reality in
order to solve the problem.

Techno optimism in
particular is really insidious.

It's about telling us we don't actually

have to change anything.

We can still have everything we have now,

so we don't really
have to worry about any

of these pesky limits.

We will have everything we have now.

We'll just do it all
in a green sort of way.

I think we have to have
a recognition of the fact

that we are facing limits, and
some sense of the relative time

frame for the different
limits that we're facing.

Because then we know what
we're trying to prepare for.

And we have an appropriate
kind of sense of urgency

as to the need to do it.

I hope that by the end of the year,

I'll have a deep grounding in
what it means to live simply,

and a greater confidence
that this is in fact a way

of approaching life that
it is deeply nourishing.

I believe it is, and
the experiences I've had

so far tell me that it is something

that could be applied to
lots of people's lives

for great benefit.

But I think the explorations of this year

will help give me confidence
in communicating that message

and sharing it with a
wide range of people.

I hope that by the end of the year,

these practical explorations will give me

greater clarity of my
own values and vision

and how I see my life being
a beautiful contribution

to the difficult times that
we were in as a species.

I want my life to be a
gesture towards a more

stable and loving world.

I guess I'm expecting
this year to be difficult.

I'm expecting to...

Again, push simple living to
its probably more extreme ends

and try and...

I mean, I know that it's
going to be uncomfortable,

but I want to try and find out
what my limits are and then

maybe pare it back to something that's

somewhere in between
and more comfortable.

And I guess I've been doing that
by myself for a little while

now, and I'm hoping to do that
with a bunch of other people

that are interested in
the same kind of thing.

And maybe we can work
together, and as a community,

it might be more rewarding
or more enjoyable

or even a bit easier.

And, yeah, I mean if you can
extend that to the community

living, I guess it
would be easy to extend

to a much broader society.

Oh, OK.
No, it's not matching up anymore.

I spent the last eight years
working in an office as a town

planner in a number of different
roles, doing different things.

And in the end of those eight years,

I was actually partaking in projects

that I was very passionate about.

But the bulk of my work that
was coming from up above,

from my bosses, was not something

I was proud or really
fully passionate about.

So quitting my job and doing
a bit of traveling and then

applying to be a part of this project

gave me the ability to remove
myself from the daily grind,

I guess you could say.

And, you know, I found that
once I built my salary up

over those eight years
working from part time

to a full time senior employee
in a local government,

I started spending
that money on luxuries.

And since I've quit my job, it's been

nice to just strip all those
things back and try and live

more simply with far less.

So over the year, I'm hoping that I'll

be able to construct some form of abode

on wheels for very little
money, as I don't have much,

using recycled materials
as much as I can.

I've always had sort
of minor health issues,

and in my mid-30s they developed
to a point where it was

necessary for me to really do something,

to really take
responsibility for my health,

because I wasn't finding the
medical profession helpful.

And I wasn't finding anything
else that was helping me.

And so I started taking
responsibility for my health.

And as I understood more
about the way my body works,

and the importance of the
food that I put in it,

and that food is medicine, and
the importance of knowing where

your food comes from, and
connecting with your food,

the more interested I became
in soil and in gardening,

which I'd never really...

I mean, I'd always been a city girl.

I never really knew
how a strawberry grew.

Wouldn't have recognized
half the plants on my plate

if I'd seen them in the garden.

So those understandings
led me to leave a desk job

that I loved, but which I
realized wasn't healthy for me.

It wasn't good for me to sit
at a desk for five days a week,

all day, every day.

It wasn't good for me mentally
or physically or spiritually.

OK.
So this is the Cobb cabin.

It was built in a workshop
about a year and a half

before the project started.

It's... the walls are
30-centimeter thick Cobb,

which is sand, clay,
and straw, and water.

And the floor is also Cobb.

There's not a lot to
show in the Cobb cabin,

because I don't have...

I didn't come with a lot of things.

So I haven't got much in
here, which I'm really loving.

I gave away or sold most of my things

before I came to Australia
for this project, which was

a really liberating experience.

So, obviously, in the
process of being here,

I've accumulated things,
because that's what we do.

One thing I've done is
make a bed from pallets.

There was some rocks
left over from the build.

And some planks lying around.

So I made some shelves
from rocks and planks.

I've got a little plastic
solar-powered light, which

doesn't put out much light.

But it's... so I don't have
any other form of power

in the cabin.

I'm not going to have
any heating for winter.

The walls being 30-centimeter thick Cobb,

it's really well insulated.

So it's really cool in
summer, and so far, it's

been really warm on cold
days, but obviously, we're

not in the heart of
winter, yet, so I don't

know how it's going to be.
[laughter]

We need a certain level
of material possessions to be

satisfied, but beyond that point,

which is surprisingly low, it's
actually less about what we

have and more about the way we live,

and the way we treat others, and
the way we feel ourselves to be

in relationship with the wider world.

And lots of beautiful
writers spoke very clearly

about how people can
find more satisfaction

in a less consumptive way,
which at the same time,

makes us happier in the West.

And it also reduces the load that we're

putting on other people
around the world who

don't have access to the wealth
that we're taking from them.

So voluntary simplicity for me is

a very elegant way to both
increase personal satisfaction

and sense of meaning and richness.

There's now a mountain
of literature that...

It's overwhelmingly convincing
that not only are there

savage limits to growth, but we've

gone through many of them,
in the sense that it is now

utterly impossible for people to live

at anything like the
standard of consumption

or environmental impact that
we have in rich countries.

And yet the mainstream has
virtually ignored that case.

The economy at the moment, despite all

those brilliant tech fix
like the computerization

of everything, the resource
use rates are going up

at a fearsome rate.

So if technical advance...

Technical fix...
Is going to solve

our problems, what I want to know

is when's it going to start?

And it often seems to
me that these debates about

our environment, our
future, and then, you know,

an environmental future come
down to almost a blind faith

in technology.

And I should say that by
background, I'm a technologist.

I come from an applied
physics background.

So, you know, I like what
technology does for us,

but we have to be really
careful about putting

so much faith in this factor.

Well, essentially, all
human political systems exist

to extract wealth from the periphery
and concentrate it at the center.

It's just that some of them
do it a lot more effectively

or efficiently than others.

Capitalism does it extremely effectively.

So it's a very effective
mechanism for sucking wealth

towards the center.

What you do is you create a
Ponzi scheme, essentially.

You're sucking everything in.

But you constantly require
larger and larger periphery

to suck it into in
order to keep expanding

the capacity of the center.

And if you can't keep expanding, it

will collapse, like any Ponzi scheme.

So you have to keep reaching
out further and further.

I don't necessarily
think it's certain that

we're in for collapse or
that it's happening now.

But I just think the evidence does

appear to be assembling
and stacking up for

that it's likely that we may even

be in the early stages of
a collapse mode right now.

It just makes sense to
me to start to prepare,

and I suppose that that
to me means expect...

Being more self-reliant.

[music playing]

We're using organic gardening practices.

So we're not using any pesticides.

We're not using any fungicides.

We're not using any chemical fertilizers,

anything like that.

It's mainly about trying to
build soil in whatever we can.

Mostly with compost.

And mostly with manures.

Food is more than just fuel for the body.

It's... it's your
connection to the land.

It's the most... food is the
most intimate connection

to the land, because you interact

with four of the five
senses, taste and texture

and smell and the sight.

So it's quite an amazing thing.

To be able to enjoy good food,
fresh food, seasonal food,

real food, food that doesn't
come out of a can or a package

and you mix water with it.

I don't understand this type of food.

The giant middlemen in the
form of huge multinational

corporations and supermarket
chains are not able to treat

farmers in a way that
respects the absolute reality

and necessity of diversity.

These farmers have been pressured

to grow standard-size apples
without a single blemish.

They have to fit
the machinery... that

is the harvesting machinery,
the washing machine,

the supermarket shelf, and the packaging.

The end result is we burn
tons of food every year.

The end result is that the
very research and development

at university is now concerned
about transportability

and the looks of produce,
not the nutritional value.

We don't know now when
our food naturally grows.

We get watermelons in June in Victoria.

Like, watermelons don't grow
in June in Victoria, you know.

And I think that's really disconnecting.

When you wait for something
to grow in your garden,

it's a completely different feeling.

Because you've anticipated it.

You've cared for it.

It not only tastes delicious, but you've

got this kind of connection with it

that makes it taste even more delicious.

And the fact that you've
waited for it all season.

So we get some of our
food from the garden.

But during the winter, we
haven't had as much coming in

from the garden.

So we get some vegetables from
the [? Bora bora? ] Food Hub.

So we've been getting sacks of
potatoes, and sacks of carrots,

and sacks of onions from them.

As well as garlic in bulk and
things like butter and cheese.

They also do veggie boxes with
a range of different vegetables

from the local area.

So we've been getting them as we've

progressed through the year.

Aside from that we get our
dry goods and other food

from a variety of different places.

So we're aiming to source our
food as locally, ethically,

and organically as possible, so we choose

which supplier we get
different items from,

so that we're getting it
from as close as possible

and grown in the best way
possible for the environment.

Because to me, food
consumption is a moral act.

It is also a political act.

And it is up to us,
the consumer... or, I

like to call ourselves like the citizens,

not just consumer... to
do something about it.

Because we can't wait for
authorities or government to

do something about it.

We just have to do things.

It has to be from the bottom up.

My name is Hayden, and I build
SuperAdobe domes and run workshops.

And I hope to do it full
time and as a real job.

It's 3.6 meters in diameter,
because that falls under the 10

square meter floor space that it needs

to be classified as a
shed, so we don't actually

need a permit for it.

About 95% of the building
material is earth.

We've got a really,
really large pile of earth

that we've just pulled
from the site here.

So, hopefully, if your soil
is the right consistency,

you get to use a really, really large
percentage of soil that's on your side.

So it's really, really
local materials, really,

really cheap, and, yeah, really,
really easy to build with.

[music playing]

Yeah, this is our
composting toilet set up,

which we built over the
course of a few weeks out

of a combination of salvaged
wood, local cypress,

which makes these and some
other material we found around

the place.

Some Hessian sacs from down the road.

It's a pretty simple system.

There's a urinal over on this side here

and a composting toilet on this side.

After we've finished using it,
we put in a cup of sawdust,

just here from the local cypress mill,

and that just helps it to...

It balances the carbon and the nitrogen,

and it helps it to
compost into a fertilizer.

So when we're done with the
bin, when it's filled up

most of the way, we'll take it out

and put it in a holding bay
with all our other bins.

And they'll sit for at least 300 days,

and we'll check on the
compost after that time.

And during that time, they'll just

compost away, until eventually, they're

beautiful fertilizer for the garden.

We've used permaculture in
the gardens where we're trying

to maximize diversity and
make sure that there's a lot

of different kinds of plants around.

We're planting herbs and
things like that, as well,

for integrated pest management.

Permaculture can be defined
in many different ways.

But, basically, it stands
for permanent agriculture,

first of all, and then permanent culture.

So the way I see it is it basically

is planning and designing
for more permanent kinds

of systems.

Just like nature does really.

It's mimicking nature.

So it's utilizing design
and careful research

and planning to ensure that you're

creating a self-cycling
system that's regenerative

and produces no waste.

So permaculture is really
a design system for both

sustainable land use
and sustainable living.

And so it's addressing
both the production

side of the conundrum and the
consumption side, and saying,

I want to bring those
things back together.

Where we eat food, why not...

We grow a garden.

Why don't we grow the food in the garden,

and integrate that whole?

Rather than the industrial system

which stretches everything out
in these long supply chains.

So bring it back together.

And through that a whole
lot of design principles

emerge that small-scale systems
actually make more sense

than large-scale ones.

That you need a diversity
rather than a monoculture.

And it's not just sustainable.

Sustainable is not nearly good enough.

What you need is not sustainable.

You need regenerative.

And that's exactly what
permaculture provides you

the ability to do.

Rather than our extractive
system, where we've constantly

been sucking resources out all
the time and cannibalizing,

catabolizing our natural
capital all the time.

Rather than doing that
and leaving ourselves

less and less and less
ability to produce and meet

our needs in the future, if you institute

a permaculture system, you're actually

rebuilding that natural capital.

Sustainability is a funny one.

Yeah.

I feel like it's a bit of a buzzword
at the moment, sustaining.

Yeah.

I don't know what it is that you're

trying to sustain anyway, I mean,

when you think about sustainability,

it means, I guess, you can continue

doing what you're doing ongoing
into the future, indefinitely.

But I just don't really
think that there's

that much that we should be trying

to sustain at the moment.

We should be looking at solutions

that can improve the
land over the long term

and can improve the lives of people.

But I don't think the rampant inequality

and the extreme concentration of
wealth in the hands of the few

is something worth sustaining.

I think that's something worth
destroying and challenging and replacing.

You're really answering
what is a deep human need,

because that's how we evolved.

It's coming back onto a
track that would allow life

to continue evolving.

That would allow for real progress.

The other path is suicidal.

It is... we are going to
soon get to the point where,

localize or die, basically.

Because we cannot continue
extinguishing species.

Cannot continue creating

frustration, fundamentalism, terror.

We cannot continue so blatantly

destroying any form of democracy.

Things are going to change, and I

think we will see that people are

waking up very, very rapidly to
the benefits of localization.

This week, we're retrofitting
our existing farm shed to be

a kitchen, lounge, and craft space.

We want a multifunctional large area

that can be converted to different uses

with portable bits of furniture.

So with the materials we're using,

we've sourced locally milled
timber from a local sawmill.

And we are also using as many
recycled materials as possible.

So we've got a bunch of
floorboards and bits of iron

that we're going to use as cladding

for the internal space.

[music playing]

We're also going to be
doing a recycled bottle

wall along the front of the building

here to let as much light in as possible.

And that's also going to
feature some large glass

doors to bring the outside in
and feature that beautiful view

we've got of the property.

There's so much waste
these days of buildings

that are getting torn down
or scraps of wood that

are left over from building
jobs that we can divert

those resources from landfill
and actually use them

in a meaningful way and be really

creative with just making
something out of nothing.

[music playing]

We're here at the Wurruk'an
kitchen, lounge room,

communal space, which we've been
living in now for about three

or so months.

I guess the theme starts
with our recycled timber.

These ones up top and on the side

here are oak floorboards
that were left over

from a building project, and we were

able to get them very cheap.

We've got some recycled windows
that there are a couple of sets

around the room.

So over here you can see we've used

a combination of corrugated iron
and some hardwood fence pilings

that we were able to get
for free from demolition.

We also scored some of
this splash back stuff

around the sink and the
oven, which is heat proof.

And, yeah, that was
left over commercially,

and we were able to get it for free.

These beautiful bench tops.

Both these ones and the larger
slabs came from a sawmill,

from Jed Wood.

We're very lucky to get their offcuts

and be able to actually
use them with the help

of our professional carpenter

to get to this stage,
which is really nice.

Up on the roof, we've actually
had to use some plywood.

We were a bit short on
materials to do the whole thing

with reclaimed stuff.

And there's also insulation and framing

behind all of these walls
and the ceiling now.

So that insulation was
also a bit of a compromise.

We bought that new as
well, because that can be

pretty hard to find secondhand.

It's been really great to
have a wood-fired stove to cook

on.

It feels a lot better than
cooking with an electric stove

as we were before.

Just knowing that the source of energy

that we're using to cook with
is a renewable source is better.

At the moment, we've used some offcuts

from building which
have no other purpose.

And we've also some of our
firewood from this property

and also from nearby forests
in the way that is permitted.

So it's clear enough now that
we need to transition swiftly

away from a fossil fuel energy
economy to an economy based

on renewable energy, not
only due to climate change,

but also because in
coming years or decades,

fossil energy production will
inevitably peak and decline.

But we can't just green
the supply of our energy.

We also need to significantly
reduce energy demand,

because there is no way that we can

run the globalized, energy
intensive, consumer society

purely on renewable energy.

Yes, we need to transition
to 100% renewable energy.

But that implies significantly
reducing energy demand.

And it would be far easier, obviously,

to meet 100% renewable energy
if we consumed much less energy.

So that should be our goal.

But given the close connection
between energy and economy,

a society based solely
on renewable energy

would have reduced energy supply,

and, therefore, would probably have

to go through a phase of
planned economic contraction,

at least in the developed
regions of the world.

So I think if we were
successful in transitioning

to 100% renewable energy, we wouldn't

be able to live high-consumption, energy

intensive lifestyles.

We would need to aim for far
more humble but sufficient

living standards.

The silver lining to
consuming less is actually

consuming more of what we really
want

and what we really long for.

And that includes
handmade artisan products

that most people treasure much more

than some mass-produced product.

It includes more time
to breathe, and to just

sing together, to dance together,

to make things together.

It's... there's a whole universe
of things out there that we

could do right now without money,

but it requires the insight
and the courage to connect

to others and to form groups
where we can change the I

to a we.

[rooster crowing]

[music playing]

[singing] I rose up at the dawn of day.

Get thee away.

Get thee away.

Pray'st though for riches?

Away!
Away!

This is the throne of Mammon grey.

Lunch is ready.

[singing] Said I, this sure is very odd.

I took to be the throne of God.

For everything besides I
need is only the riches

that I can't leave.

I have mental joy and mental health.

I have mental friends and mental wealth.

I've got a girl I love and that loves me.

I've all but riches bodily.

In the praise of spirit night and day,

it never turns its face away.

The spirit by my side does
stand and holds my money bag

in its hand.

You don't need that much
in the way of material things

if you know that your neighbors
have got your back and any time

you get overwhelmed by
things, you can go next door

and there's someone whose
shoulder you can cry on.

Or they can come to you.

Or someone who's tomatoes you can water.

Then they're coming and
helping you fix your bike

or whatever it might be.

There are just so many advantages.

There are no disadvantages
to building community.

And the potential advantages
are absolutely massive.

So I think that's something we
really, really need to focus on.

[singing] Getting, spending,
we lay waste our powers.

Getting, spending, we
lay waste our powers.

Getting, spending, we
lay waste our powers.

Getting, spending, we
lay waste our powers.

I think the benefits of
living in a community reveal

themselves to you more and more each day.

There's the strict financial benefit

of being able to share
in the costs of making

this transition.

And also the benefits of being
able to draw on each other's

skills and attributes and knowledges.

So you don't have to do it alone.

You don't have to do
it financially alone,

skills alone.

Some of those things are
very intimidating for people

trying to make that step.

But... but more than
that, it's about being...

Doing it together.

And what's possible here is possible

not just because of us as individuals,

but because when we get
this unique collection

of individuals together,
we're capable of so much

more than what we would be on our own.

Wow.

[cheering]

So we have to do one of two things.

We either just accept that
we have no community at all.

We just have a casual neighborhood

and some nice acquaintances
at work and perhaps a couple

of people we drink with at the pub.

Or we create community...
Intentional community.

And I think that's the side that's

always interested me, personally,

as well as in my research.

Is how can people create
intentional community?

Can you consciously do it?

I know people subconsciously
do it all the time.

I mean, it's our natural position.

But can you actually do this?

Can you set out to create this thing?

That always fascinates me.

You're going to have to come
up with some idea of how

you're going to make decisions.

Yes, we're going to have consensus.

And, yes, we're going to
live lightly on the land.

And, yes, we're going
to support each other.

And, yes, we'll look after each
other's children and elderly

and all of that sort of stuff.

But it depends whether they have
any experience with doing that.

I think the other thing is
that we are losing so many

of those skills for living in community.

It's like, I know that
I have to develop skills

in organic gardening if I'm going

to become an organic gardener.

I know that.

So, therefore, I also
have to develop skills

in inter-human,
interpersonal relationships

if I'm going to live in community.

Don't assume you're kind of born
with that, because you weren't.

You have to learn how to cooperate

and how to put the group
above the individual.

And that, that's very challenging.

It's been a lot of challenges.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie.

I think although we had to
live the first few months

without much infrastructure,
without a warm kitchen space,

without much of a lounge room, or without

a whole lot of running water.

And we had to... had a composting
toilet that was sort of outside.

I don't think the infrastructure
challenges were all that big.

I think there seemed to
be a sense of solidarity

and like all doing it
together, and that kind of

gave me a lot of comfort, knowing

that we're all kind of pulling through

and stronger because of it.

So I feel like the
infrastructure challenges were

a little bit problematic, but, yeah, they

weren't as hard I think as
the community challenges

that we faced when there was
conflict in the community

and our conflict
resolution processes around

that weren't fully developed.

So, yeah, I think I struggled
a lot when things were not

going well, and people left, and
things weren't fully resolved.

Or when there was substantial
difference in the direction

that people wanted to
take in the project.

Whether people wanted to
build lots of infrastructure

or start practicing simple...

Simpler living.

I feel like those sort of chasms,

those divides were challenging
for me because I didn't really

know where I sat

and didn't know how to bring
the group back together again.

I wanted everyone to sort of start

working together again, but.

Obviously, starting a
community from scratch with

people who don't really know
each other at all and designing

a property and finishing
buildings, houses,

and bits of infrastructure is
very challenging in the context

of a one-year project.

So, yeah, that social aspect of
just getting to know each other

and getting decision
making processes in place

has been one of the key challenges.

Another major challenge I think
has been the group figuring out

how to accommodate a wide
range of people's styles

of voluntary simplicity.

It can be interpreted
to differing degrees,

and there's not necessarily
any right or wrong answers,

so just figuring out how
the group can accommodate

the variety within our personal
direction and preferences

has also been a challenging component

of that social side of things.

[music playing]

[singing] Let's look
to the sun and the moon.

Civilization could have left soon.

No one knows if we'll get through.

But let them be beautiful
and that much is true.

Humanity...

One of the humbling learnings
I got from being here was how

difficult it is to be in
community, and how, in a way,

we have to relearn that art.

That we have broken that long
tradition of shared ritual

and song and mythology
and living in one place

and knowing that history.

That's kind of been fragmented for us.

And when we now come together in groups,

it's much harder to
find that common culture

to draw upon in times of discord
and in times of confusion.

So it's easy for us to fragment back

into our individual desires and paths.

And I know that for lots
of people as resources

become more scarce, and we have
to rely on each other more,

there'll be positives to
that, but there will also

be a lot of challenges.

So I'm very motivated now to
keep practicing and developing

those skills of communication
and conflict resolution.

Naming the difficulties.

Bringing up the emotional challenges.

And also celebrating together.

Creating,

relaxing,

learning how to play

and dance in a group, and it's a real...

It's the art of being human
and the art of being together.

Yay!

Whee!

No way.

We've been living in a tent.

We were living in a tent
at the start of the year.

And the tent was in a place where it

didn't get a whole lot of sun.

And as it started to rain a
bit more coming into winter,

it didn't really dry out,
so it started to get moldy.

So there was a bit of pressure
on us to do something else.

And we decided that building
a really small house

with recycled materials would
be the simplest and most

economical way to do that.

And yeah.

So we did.

[music playing]

This beautiful structure
behind us is the house that we

built over the course of about
three months of pretty much

entirely recycled materials.

We had to make five purchases.

We bought some cement for the
foundations, some steel bracing

tape because it was a bit wonky.

We bought some screws for the roof.

We bought...

Tub of wood glue.

A little tub of wood glue
to make some window frames.

And what was the other thing we bought?

We bought chains to
hold the windows open.

Hinges.

We bought... there's six things.

We bought some hinges as well.

But that's it.

Everything else is recycled materials

we got entirely for free.

Yeah, we went by dumpsters
from demolition sites.

We looked on the website gumtree.

And we ended up getting
pretty much everything

we needed to build the
whole house just for free.

If we can demonstrate
that it's possible to do

without 3 and 1/2 years of training

and without tens of thousands of dollars

to build a house that is going
to be a lot better in terms

of its ecological footprint, then I

think that can kind of
disperse that knowledge more

amongst the people that
might not have the money

to take part in a more conventional
sustainability movement.

So the total cost of
the house is about $420

if you include the petrol
money that went into it.

Yeah.

It's a lot more time
consuming doing it for free,

but it's definitely worth it.

A lot more rewarding, I think.

Yeah.

So while I've been at
Wurruk'an, I've been continuing

to work for eight hours a
week, for publishing clients,

and that's enabled me to cover
the small expenses that we have

at Wurruk'an.

So we've put $30 a week
into the kitty, which

is the great benefit of
living in a community,

that for $30 a week each,
we've been able to pretty much

ourselves feed ourselves
for the entire year.

And, obviously, all of
us have little extras

that we like that weren't
items that everybody wanted.

And so we've bought our
own cheese or bread.

I think I'm right in
saying that we've all

spent under $100 a week this
year for basic living costs.

The borrower receives the
full amount and pays it back,

plus interest.

Either way, the interest
that it collects on loans

is one of the bank's
principal sources of income.

Now Mr. Morton has
obtained his loan.

He has increased his bank
credit by nearly $2000.

But this credit was
not transferred to him

from some other account,
so where did it come from?

So currently, the existing
monetary system, essentially,

has a growth imperative
built into its structures,

because banks create money
by loaning it into existence

as interest-bearing debt.

And in order for that debt to
be paid back, plus the interest,

that implies an expansion
of the monetary system.

So it needs growth for stability.

But we also know that
growth is the driving

force behind our environmental problems.

So if we were to transition
to a post-growth economy

as we need to do for
environmental reasons,

this would require us to
create a different type

of monetary and banking system.

One that wasn't so dependent on growth.

And I think there's is a
huge amount that governments

can do to rein in the worst aspects

of the current monetary system,
but perhaps a more promising

line of opposition, given
that governments don't

seem to be doing much would be
for individuals and households

to try to create new forms of economy.

Try to escape the
existing monetary system

as far as possible.

And they could do this through things

like creating local currencies,
local exchange networks,

and engaging in practices like
barter and gift and sharing.

That would be... it's obviously
so much easier for a community

to deal with a contracting economy

if communities and households
shared the stuff that they had.

Well, you have to hug, too.

John, get in here.

No, I'm an observer at the moment.

[inaudible]

No.

[interposing voices]

Do you feel rejected?

You're about to go [inaudible].

He wanted to get up.

And so there was a long process of...

What felt like a long process of learning

to communicate with each other.

And it's immensely satisfying now

to feel that that process has actually

been really successful.

And to be living now with a community

of people who, when problems arise,

know how to work through them.

And I think we've actually
been really successful

at making those...

at developing those communication skills.

And it's a nice feeling
when we have a meeting,

and someone raises an issue,
and you can see the change.

You can see the different
way that people approach it.

You can see the different
ways that people sort of

think about...

Respond to issues, especially if...

Where at the beginning of the year,

they might have felt
a little bit attacked,

now they think through the
reason for the issue coming up.

And, yeah, I think we're
all much better at...

I mean, I think we're probably
all in some way more mature

community dwellers.

Here he is.

Ready?

Rrrr.

Oh.

Ah, no.

Scary pumpkin.

It's an angry pumpkin.

It's a pumpkin head.

Aw, Ruby.

Living in such close quarters
with other people as part

of our community, especially
on quite a small scale,

where we all use the same
lounge room and kitchen,

and there's you know, seven or
eight of us in that same space

on a daily basis.

It certainly presents a lot
of challenges on a personal

and a group level that are
just inherent to human beings

and families and
communities and all types

of human relationships.

So it's certainly been challenging.

But I know for myself, that's made

me look inward and examine my
own

personal journey and where I'm at.

And how my own psychology is evolving

and just if you feel a bit down one day

or feel a bit anxious about
how someone else is acting,

it's ended up kind of flipping
around and making me examine

how I'm contributing to
those sorts of dynamics

or social situations
and just trying to learn

more about myself, I guess.

[singing happy birthday]

Hip hip hooray.

Hip hip hooray!

[inaudible]

Clap, Ruby.

Yeah.

[music playing]

So I'm going to be building my
house in less than a week now.

I've got 14 people coming
out to learn how to build

a tiny house on wheels.

And I've been gathering materials

for the last couple
of months in Melbourne

and around the local area to
build a tiny house on wheels

out of recycled material.

We've got a few rough plans,
but being a tiny house,

it's quite easy to go with the flow.

And it being recycled materials,
we have to adapt to that,

and it's going to be a bit
of a jigsaw puzzle, I guess.

[music playing]

So there's a mighty, mighty benefit,

if you don't get trapped
into working 20, 30,

40 years to pay the mortgage
on your two big McMansions.

Boy, oh, boy, have you gained
a lot of time and freedom

from worry to do other things.

And in the same world, we would be

able to build a very nice
little house for, I reckon,

$10,000 at most.

And you can do it for less
than that if you like.

And that's a perfectly adequate house.

Now, you've saved
$400,000 there by the time

you've taken the payment
of interest and loans

to the bank and tax on the money.

That's not negligible.

There is a benefit for
moving to simpler ways.

So we're three days in to the workshop,

and it's going really well.

As you can see, we've got our
full timber frame of the walls

up, and down the groups
working really well together.

They're all learning off each other.

And Nick, our carpenter is
doing a really great job.

So I feel very lucky to have
everyone working so hard,

and we're on schedule.

I was really humbled by
the goodwill, the energy,

and all of the contributions
brought by everyone

who made it possible.

It was just an amazing
week of everyone's energy

vibing and making this
beautiful house possible.

And, you know, I've got
a little bit left to do,

but I've basically had people
come and build me a house

with the great intentions.

And we all learnt a whole lot.

And it couldn't have gone any better.

I'd say it was probably
the best week of my life,

without a doubt.

[music playing]

There's a whole history
of the sort of energy descent

ideas and permaculture
being associated with a move

to the country.

A move to rural areas as a
place that's a better place

to be more self-reliant.

And that still will may be
true, but for most people,

there's both a necessity and an advantage

in looking at where they live already.

And for most Australians, that is

some sort of detached housing
in what we call suburbia.

Whether that's in our capital cities

or whether it's in similar
housing in our regional towns

and even villages like the one we

live in, that most people are
living in those separate houses

on small blocks.

And what that template
of living makes possible

is it's possible to incrementally adjust

what is happening there and
provide a lot of people's needs

by growing food, by
modifying the house to make

it less dependent on energy.

By harvesting some of the water.

And by using some of the space that

exists in our relatively large houses

to start doing more in
the household economy.

Doing things for ourselves
rather than depending on money.

One of the things that's most
exciting about the intentional

communities movement now is that
it's like we have right across

the landscape hundreds of
experiments about how to live

in a way that confronts and
resolves issues associated with

climate change and peak oil...

You know, environmental
damage on a global scale.

Instead of just having a one-way
solution, which just says,

this is the way that we have
to go forward to resolve this.

Instead, we've got all
of these little bubbles

of creative responses and new ways

of living and being together
and building lives together.

Patterns of settlement,
and patterns of production

that are popping up all
across the landscape.

Each offering different pathways.

And it's almost like the...

As more of these emerge, we
have more opportunities for resilience.

Ideally, I'd like to see
more initiatives like this where

people with resources and
land and spaces making them

available to allow passionate
and enthusiastic people to live

more self-sufficiently and
demonstrate through example

that there are other
ways of doing things.

[humming]

So there is so much we can do
right now without spending any

money to greatly enrich our lives.

And let's not be fooled by this idea

that we have so much choice
in the modern economy.

And that our lives would
be so limited if we were

to choose a different path.

We would have not even begun
to explore the potential

for more diversified,
localized ways of doing things.

There are reasons for
pessimism, because it's a big,

big task, and we're in a lot of bother.

And we are not very far down the path

to the kind of
consciousness that we need.

But there are a lot of
strong reasons for optimism.

One is that the vision of an
alternative way is, I think,

so attractive.

It's what keeps me going.

And it's so easily done.

We could do it in weeks if we wanted to.

It's about moving to ways
that would liberate all of us.

You don't want to wait until
you have absolutely no choice.

So I would say, it's a bit like we're

standing the edge of a cliff,
and we're going over the edge.

Like it or not, we're
going over the edge.

That's not up for debate.

So what are you going to do?

Are you going to stand
on the edge of that cliff

and wait for someone to shove you off?

Or are you going to put on
your parachute and jump?

Because not that base
jumping is without its risks,

but it's a lot less risky than going over

the edge without a parachute.

So let's not think of it
as good guys and bad guys.

And let's not believe for a minute

that the way we'll change it is
by getting some good guys to go

into those large structures.

Let's look systemically at how we

can shift towards smaller
structures with more holistic

knowledge underpinnings.

And that really is the localizing part.

When you know how to live simply,

the sense of freedom can
be just overwhelming.

There's nothing as addictive as freedom.

And there's nothing as attractive either.

So I think if we find the right way

to explain our ideas to people
and explain the ideas that

are fundamentally workable
in the first place,

then there is so much
that can be achieved.

There's no need to despair.

I came to Wurruk'an wanting
to explore a really radical

form of voluntary simplicity,
because I felt a real sense

of urgency around the various
crises that the world is facing

at the moment.

And radical simplicity seems to me

to be the best and most logical response.

After the experiences here of living

in community and despite
all of the challenges,

I feel really strongly that this is

the right way for me to live.

So, yeah, my intention is to
return to New Zealand and find

or found a community.

And in the long term, I'm really hoping

to live in a community that
operates in a gift economy.

That feels like a right
and responsible way to live

or thing to work towards.

The person I was at the start
of the year is vastly different

to the person I am at
the end of the year,

as I would hope would be the
case for every other year

for the rest of my life.

My plans for the future extends
as far as I should probably

pick that zucchini over there.

Beyond that not many plans, but
I'm imagining that Rachel and I

will probably stick around
here at Wurruk'an for a little

while.

I'm feeling pretty settled here.

It's feeling a lot like home.

I think the number one thing that's

been solidified in my mind this year

is that my favorite things in the world

are imagination,
creativity, and teamwork.

And the combination of those three things

is personally the recipe for
living in a beautiful way

in the future.

I love community.

I love other people.

I love living and spending
time with other people.

I don't know whether or not living

in an intentional community
is part of my future.

One thing that I knew coming here

was that living in
community is a challenge.

It involves effort and that
that effort is worth it.

Yeah, it's been a really
transformational year for me.

I didn't expect to have the opportunity

to be constructing my
own house this year,

so it's been very humbling to have

the generosity of all the
people involved and the land

owner to allow me to
do that, because it's

been quite a journey to
collect the materials

and go through the process of building

over an extended period of time.

So that's just been fantastic.

You know, blown my
expectations out of the water.

So once I've finished
building my house, which

will be sometime early in 2016, I

plan to relocate it to
Melbourne, hopefully,

in a backyard somewhere
that affords me a location

where I can ride my bike and catch

public transport without
having to be car reliant.

But after moving it to
Melbourne and living there

for a little while and
enjoying a bit of city life,

I don't really have a plan.

I'm very happy to have
that feeling of freedom

and liberation for the
first time in my life.

And I'm going to make the most of that.

I think one thing I get
paralyzed by is the sense

of having to do it right, of
somehow not making mistakes.

And we've made so many
mistakes living here.

There are buildings that are leaky.

There are disagreements
that never got resolved.

There are contradictions in the way

we're living and compromises
that we had to make.

So from one perspective, we failed.

We haven't transformed the world
or lived this perfect example.

And from another perspective,
those very failings

are our gifts, and they are the offering,

and they are the learnings,
because we've risked

and we've been willing to
put our values on the line,

and we've been willing
to test these ideas,

and try and bring them
into the shared reality.

And no one holds the answers.

No one has the perfect solution.

It's going to require a
response from everyone.

We're going to be moving towards a
more wholesome and enduring way of life.

And, you know, the challenges,
the failings, the mistakes,

the triumphs, they're all
part of the story of change.

And I just hope that other people

can feel that encouragement to make

their own beautiful mistakes on the way

to on the way to integrity.

[music playing]

[singing] Picture me standing
in a forest fire counting

every burning branch.

Picture me sifting
ashes through my hands.

Picture me sitting in a clearing
now, my head between my hands.

You told me that the
forest wouldn't burn.

Why did I wait for so long to
see the silence in your song?

And why did I hold out my hands as

if the rain would understand?

You said you made your money
when the markets crashed.

You covered yourself in gold.

You've said you'd only
done what you'd been told.

You said to head to the forest
when the fallout starts.

You'd meet me there in turn.

You promised me the
forest wouldn't' burn.

Why did I wait for so long
to see silence in your song?

And why did I hold out my hands as

if the rain would understand?

I'm going to take a branch
from the black tree.

I'll scratch a circle where I'm standing.

I'll draw a line to the dry grass.

And plant a Ghost Gum to remind us.

I'll trace my way through the suburbs

and move in like a dry
wind with no words.

I'll take a fist full of charcoal

and write my name on your white walls.

Why did I wait?

Bearing the bells in the Times Square.

We're gonna build a fire there.

We'll fill it with our old plans.

We'll let them burn, burn, burn.

You'll ring the bells
in the Times Square.

We're gonna build a fire there.

We'll fill it with our old plans
and let them burn, burn, burn.

Let them burn, burn, burn, burn,
burn, burn, burn, burn, burn,

burn.