Permaculture in the 'Hood

I loved learning about this new solution... creating an EcoHood.

EcoHood, n: permaculture retrofit of a mid- to low-income neighborhood with a high potential for ecological sustainability.

Permaculture activist Andrew Millison gave up his dream of a back-to-the-land ecovillage and brought it home to the 'Hood.

What is Prescott's "EcoHood"? It's a mid- to low-income neighborhood situated around the floodplain of nearby Miller Creek that encompasses roughly two blocks, two apartment buildings and thirty houses, the majority of which were built in the 1930s. Fifty percent Hispanic/Native American, it's also home to a significant number of retirees and college students. The district now has six systems that reuse household graywater for irrigation in the landscape, two rainwater cisterns, five organic gardens, 25 heirloom fruit trees, and (at last count) 57 chickens.

...the EcoHood has grown to encompass seven area households. While Millison has contributed key expertise in areas such as graywater irrigation, rainwater catchment and permaculture design, the process has unfolded organically, with neighbors swapping skills, information, tools, and, at times, even child-care, chickens and compost.

What a brilliant idea.