«to wound the Earth is to wound yourself»

«To wound the Earth, he answered earnestly, is to wound yourself, and if others wound the Earth, they are wounding you. The land should be left untouched: as it was in the Dreamtime when the Ancestors sang the world into existence.»
(B. Chatwin,"The Songlines")

We stayed for 4 days in the middle of the Australian desert... there was absolutely nothing around us ...

Olive Veverbrants, an Aboriginal woman, built her reign in the west of Alice Springs. The Gloria Lee Environmental Learning Centre is a completely eco-friendly house, built on the simple idea of combining the two natural elements that belong to this arid area: the sun and the earth. In little time, a house made of sand bricks, powered by photovoltaic panels and without any internet connection, became a reference point for the local community and, in general, for all sustainable living standards.

Olive was raised in Australia during the Depression years, and ever since her childhood, she was committed to the concept of reuse and of saving essential natural elements. Water, true gold for life in the Australian desert, is consumed with great care in the house. There are two large tanks with a capacity of 22,000 liters each for rainwater collecting, as rainfall is the only water source for both internal and external functions… The sewerage system is natural style: a septic basin to gather waste products. To spend a few days surrounded by nature, approaching the Aboriginal culture and learning the sound of silence, miles away from modern civilization, was a truly meaningful experience to understand the environment fully and as well as the importance of savings and a careful use of resources in everyday life.

The project of Gloria Lee Environmental Learning Centre cannot be compared to a “city-life” context, as it represents a borderline reality, with an striking environmental and cultural diversity from our modern cities. Olive’s sustainable centre, however, remains a great example for all Western countries, as a demonstration that environment, technology and local culture can coexist in a single context and provide a life-quality standard able to meet the needs of local communities. It is amazing to think that such an incredible project was achieved thanks to the determination of a single woman who put aside any possible interest and benefit, to create her dream-house, respecting the culture she was taught as a child: recycling, energy savings and re-use… especially of elements coming from the Earth and the Sun!