Dancing Rabbit is a force for good in this world. I lived in the community for almost a year, and currently serve on the board of the community's non-profit. Their mission is to show that is possible to live sustainably and *happily* with each other, and they are doing it.
I have been on the board of Dancing Rabbit since 2014. I have great admiration for DR as it endeavors to create a truly ecologically and socially sustainable society and share its work with the greater society. Truly, inspirational!
I am also drawn to DR because of my love for community and the people of DR. I find the "rabbits" to be committed activists and just good, decent people. I enjoy seeing people working to make their relationships and the community itself function.
Dancing Rabbit is not perfect, but it is a shining example for the rest of us.
I spent a week at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in March of 2013. There was a great deal about the community that impressed me. They faithfully adhere to their goal of a negative carbon footprint. Each member's uniqueness is valued and accepted. Nonviolent communication techniques are used to ensure that differences are settled equitably. They cooperate in everything from cooking meals, to sharing transportation, to organizing community events. They have a lot of fun in the process. Their children are smart, healthy, beautiful and well-mannered. As a visitor I didn't get to know everyone, but those I did meet were very upbeat, friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Since visiting, I have been more aware of energy consumption and have significantly reduced by electricity consumption. I hope to visit them again.
Dancing Rabbit is a wonderful example of combining heads, hearts, and hands to create a sustainable community that is an inspiration and model for the whole world. They really care about living in harmony with each other and the planet and really show how it can be done. I have deep trust and faith in their experiments in living and believe they would make excellent use of any donations.
Dancing Rabbit members live comfortably and happily CONSUMING ONLY 10% OF THE RESOURCES of the average American. AND with their alternative energy production, they are pumping over twice as much electricity into the national grid as they use! This is only one example of the many experiments that are going on at Dancing Rabbit ... experiments to live more sustainably so that future generations can ... well, can live.
Dancing Rabbit is an ecovillage where all the members live sustainably, teach how to build homes using recycled materials with a variety of natural methods, use alternative energy sources, grow their food organically, and leave as small a footprint on the earth as we wish we all could. I haven't been able to visit their ecovillage yet, but I read their newsletter and am impressed by the cooperation of the community to help one another on their various projects, to welcome visitors and give tours, and offer the opportunity for work exchange to pass on their knowledge of sustainability to others. If more communities could follow their example, they would go far in reducing carbon emissions and benefiting our environment.
One of the things I love most about Dancing Rabbit, is simply that they exist. And that they exist is no simple feat at all. Wow! What this group of people have done together is truly amazing. To bring minds and hearts together to form such an incredible example of HOW we can live life differently, and in a way that is harmonious with what we as humans really want to be doing.
It shows us all that we can make the life that we want to live. It is truly possibly, and these guys are showing us how.
Every week that I read your newsletters I feel re-inspired all over again to live my truly best life and to always put effort and energy into what I believe.
Thank you so much Dancing Rabbit!
When moving back to the Midwest after a decade living in California and working in sustainability, I had a pretty dim view of sustainability efforts in the region until I visited Dancing Rabbit and the collection of communities in NE Missouri.
The work they are doing here is on the cutting edge of community living, natural building, and sustainable lifestyle practices.
It's a particularly good spot to learn natural building (what to do, and what not-to-do). Dancing Rabbit is a veritable laboratory for natural building techniques and styles.
I lived at this residential ecovillage for 2+ years and enjoyed volunteering my time and energy on various committees. Dancing Rabbit is a growing non-profit and is ready to emerge as a leading learning center for sustainable community living practices.
As a large scale example of sustainable living Dancing Rabbit succeeds in its outreach mission and has even signed us up for a full 3 week visit in May to expand on the online information. Great charity and in a great sector.
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage defies the myth that 'truly' sustainable lifestyles will require either self-imposed suffering, a benevolent eco-dictator, and/or hyper-modern technologies. The community demonstrates that a peaceful, abundant sustainability is possible and that the major challenge of the twenty-first century is re-learning to live together. They are true leaders in the ecovillage movement and one of several dozen enduring ecovillages in North America.
I interned in the community in the Spring of 2010 as a graduate student and my experience inspired my doctoral dissertation in Regional Planning. The community is filled with diverse and entrepreneurial individuals that have made the brave choice to live without the un-sustainable conveniences of modern cities and regions. I am amazed that a community (now approaching 75 members) can thrive in rural Missouri with four shared vehicles, electricity produced on-site, and building materials harvested locally.