Living between the bustling metropolises of New York City and Mumbai, it’s sometimes easy for me to forget my dependency on the earth for survival.  It took 35,000 transit workers to go on strike, a power outage, and a citywide drought to inspire a simple truth: I don’t live inside a machine. Cities have their own very fragile urban eco-systems, which I am intimately a part of. I am the environment.  We are the environment.  And the choices we make affect the entire eco-system. I have come to believe that the world is not transformed by big grandiose actions, but by the small ordinary choices we make everyday.

When I first met Kavitha Rao at a retreat for young leaders convened by Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!), she dazzled me with her contagious giggle, her knowledge of ecological systems, and her commitment to live with integrity. When Kavitha first shared the vision of Common Fire it was nothing more than a dream.

I could hardly imagine, just four years later, that I would stand overlooking over 25 acres of forever-wild conservation land, at the Common Fire Housing Co-op. The greenest building in the Northeast, the Co-op was awarded a Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council. The 3,600-square-foot home uses 50 percent less energy than the average home of its size due to features such as geothermal heating, cellulose insulation, and Solatube™ skylights. Kavita Rao and her partner, Jeff Golden, founded the Co-op to create a space in which individuals working for social change can support and learn from one another while practicing a lifestyle consistent with their values.

What amazed me most about Common Fire was its ability to set a model. I took a tour and found out that it is possible to supply all of your energy onsite, to cook on magnetic fields, to use toilets that consume less water. It was clear that there was a mindfulness that penetrated every choice in the construction of their living environment. The structure of Common Fire demonstrates that there are more sustainable ways to live in the world, and while not all of us can live in the Co-op, we can make small changes in our lifestyles that have impact.

SK: What does "sustainability" mean to you?

KR:  It's personal. [Sustainability means] taking time for ourselves, for whatever practices spiritual or otherwise, that help to ground us again and again in our truth so we can engage in the world from a place of love and creative action rather than simply anger and reaction.

It's environmental. It means recognizing our impact on the planet...on the plants and animals and ecosystems that don't have a voice in our decisions.  How can we sustain the rich diversity and health of the planet for generations to come?

It's social. Every issue that can be boxed in to "environmentalism" has social consequences. I want to move us to a way of being where we recognize the far-reaching implications of our actions, of our decisions.

SK: What is the vision of Common Fire?

KR:  Creating housing co-ops, actual physical spaces,that provide a nurturing home for people who are intentionally choosing to use their lives to create positive change. Our first project was creating the Hudson Valley Housing Co-op...it's currently home to nine people, ranging in ages from 19-62 years,  working in fields like organic farming, legal aid for immigrant worker rights, anti-bias education, the effects of globalization on the economies of Latin America, working with special  needs children, and more. [It is also] a place to hold youth programs/camps as well as retreats for people doing critical work in the world.

SK:  What are some of the challenges you faced in building Common Fire? How did you over come them?

KR: We need to start creating new alternatives… with our first project, the Hudson Valley Housing Co-op, it was difficult just getting the zoning, loans, and insurance as a non-profit. [It was also challenging] to learn about all the aspects of green building and to then find contractors willing to work with new products and new techniques. Trying to do work that is means to ends consistent...work that from the ground up holds your vision and values, is really challenging, but it's a must.

We didn't set out to build the "Greenest Building in the Eastern United States.” We set out to create a haven to nurture people doing critical work in the community, most people know us for the green building. We have discovered that green building is really important...the decisions people make about new buildings and renovations have far reaching implications for land use, energy, pollution, waste, etc. BUT we don't want to spend all of our energy on this green building.  It was never what our organization was fundamentally about...it just came as a result of trying to build with integrity and have means to ends consistency. 

SK: How do you think small, everyday lifestyle choices can make social change?

KR: In so many ways.  We live in a disposable world and that affects us all. If we start to think about the ecosystems or the indigenous peoples displaced to clear cut forests to make disposable products, if we start to think about the landfills and the horrible health affects caused by infested water and air to the communities surrounding landfills, if we start to think about the horrible pesticides and hormones and suffering that goes in to our factory farmed meat and dairy products or the poor workers, often women and children, getting paid pennies to pick our coffee or other commodities, then we start to question our disposable quick meals to  go and our cup of coffee on the run. And when we start to question these quick fixes, we also start to realize that they are not good for our bodies either. We realize that the rushing and the stress don't help us.  We can start to celebrate slowing down, planning our days so we can, sit and take a break or bring food with us that nourishes our bodies and our souls and fuels us for all we want to be in the world.

Once we start a process of trying to be more mindful, the effects are infinite. We realize our connection to the rest of the planet, we feel more alive, more awake in our interactions, our work, our relations.

In a capitalistic world with no limits to corporate growth, recognizing the power of how we spend our dollars is huge.  So much of the social change we wish to create becomes possible when we tell the corporations clearly NO. NO, we will not continue to accept child or sweatshop labor just so we can buy t-shirts for $2.

SK: What are a few things that all of us can do to become more responsible consumers?

KR: First and foremost:  Consume less.  And what you need to consume, learn about. 

Kavitha Rao is the co-founder of Common Fire, which seeks to build a diverse and powerful movement of people with a shared commitment of creating a more just and sustainable world, starting with themselves.  You can learn more about Kavitha’s work at www.commonfire.org.

Shalini Kantayya, filmmaker, educator, and activist uses film/video as a tool to educate, inspire,
and empower audiences.  Her production company, 7th Empire Media, gives voice to the unheard.
www.adropoflife.tv.