Living sustainably in a Danish eco-community: how social and physical infrastructures affect carbon footprints

Abstract

The Self-Sustaining Village is a Danish eco-community whose mission is to develop communal sustainable living. This paper evaluates its sustainable living through a questionnaire survey of residents that measures their carbon footprint based on self-reported consumption. The survey also measures their life satisfaction. Results show that residents have a carbon footprint that is 60% below the national average and have a higher life satisfaction than the national average. Results from long-term participant observation explain the lower carbon footprints relating to energy, transport, food and other material items by the existence of particular physical and social infrastructures that shape life in the Self-Sustaining Village. Residents live more sustainably because their collective decisions make sustainable choices the standard or default options. They do so without having to make conscious choices individually and without sacrificing their private comfort for the environment and the climate. These villagers live up to their sustainable ideals and enjoy a richer social life that provides a higher life satisfaction than if they lived separately as independent households. The Self-Sustaining Village provides us with a model in which people live happier with less.