Learning How to “Live Local” Pine Mountain Institute Campaigns for Sustainability by kari ruel IFearless Women Conference in Pine That was thirteen years ago.and Joe one weekend. By Sunday, they announcedthey were packing up and moving to the mountain.n early August I received an unexpectedlast minute invitation to attend a Mountain, California. The idea of being in “The city closes down all your senses,” said Paul, the mountains cut off from all electronic who along with his wife has been a writer and communications enticed me to accept, entrepreneur, and has worked in psychology. “We so my Napa friend Jolin Halstead and I saw things we hadn’t seen in years, like stars and jumped in her minivan and made the six- darkness.” hour trek south. The intimate conference They spent five years adjusting to the rugged held at the log cabin home of Mary Ann life, and then in 2004 attended a seminar on Halpin and her husband, Joe Croyle, sustainability. “That was a real eye-opener, and we was filled with eight unique women with realized that things were changing,” added Paul. strong personalities, including a medicine “We knew we needed to help ourselves and explain woman named Sun Jay, a beautiful to our neighbors how our resources are being 70-year-old actress, an entrepreneur and depleted.” philanthropist, a golf photographer (my The couple returned to the mountain with a new rock sister), a healer and business coaches. I purpose. They started having gatherings in their was unusually quiet the first couple of days Kari Ruel, in light blue, and other Fearless Women home showing documentaries like The End of as I practiced listening and soaked up all enjoy a hike. Suburbia and other sustainable type movies. They the wisdom these women had to offer. visited other communities that were practicing Part of our routine for the long weekend “ It can be difficult to sustainability. was to take hikes up to sacred places since By 2005, the couple, along with neighbors, we were in the territory of Chumash bring about a large scale created Let’s Live Local Organization. “It’s a Native Americans, who believe Pine Mountain is the center of everything. change, but we’re here and what our residents can do to help themselvesmovement looking at what our community needs, Yes, many cultures believe their land for the long haul and and others,” said Paul. is the center of everything, but for this weekend I embraced why the Chumash hope this way of life will resources like healthcare, major grocery shoppingSince Pine Mountain didn’t have a lot of honored the sustainability of spiritual connections with each other for a better continue long after we and special needs, many residents had to travel for necessities, sending money outside their local world. Being connected with one another are gone.” economy. When the oil crisis hit in 2008 and within a community is a huge start towards residents saw their heating bills rise to $800 a sustainability. month, the first of many co-ops developed for The high desert of Pine Mountain, located seventy-five miles northeast both economic and sustainable reasons. The wood pellet co-op brought in of Los Angeles and sharing the Los Padres National Forrest, is a magical six 22-ton truckloads of wood pellets to 200 local subscribers last winter. place. Just over 1,500 permanent residents from varying backgrounds have Pine Mountain now has a doctor who comes in once a week and makes adopted the natural look of wood and logs as their homes’ façade, blending housecalls. In 2009, they coordinated a grass-fed beef co-op with Larry the structures with their natural surroundings. Darling Ranch, a local ranch. They also do Red Cross training, a clothing Jolin, who had been to Pine Mountain a few times before, pointed out exchange and a weekly fresh produce drop. the well-thought-out recycling center in the middle of the village. Because This couple work with a lot of volunteers. “Not everyone participates of bears and other wildlife, there is no garbage pickup in Pine Mountain. strictly for sustainable purposes,” said Paul and Sarah. “We have a lot of Instead, every resident carefully separates out all their recycling and retired people on the mountain, and they do it for economic reasons. It can garbage and brings it to the recycling center only when their bins are full. be difficult to bring about a large scale change, but we’re here for the long Everything is recycled, reused or incinerated. haul and hope this way of life will continue long after we are gone.” During the weekend, Mary Ann introduced me to her neighbors Paul and Sarah Edwards, who started the Pine Mountain Institute and created To learn more about Let’s Live Local, a Let’s Live Local Campaign. Like me, they fell in love instantly with Pine go to www.elmstreeteconomy.com/lets-live-local. Mountain when they came from their Los Angeles home to visit Mary Ann 50 w w w. n A PA V A L L E Y L I F E m A g A z I n E . c o m
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