Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

202 Designing ecological Habitats
conservation of natural resources. Within the Damniyamgama we have
integrated those things in the best possible ways.
Sarvodaya Director
The village has five drinking-water wells to fulfil the drinking water requirements
of the community. All drinking-water wells have a water purification
system to ensure safety. Drinking-water wells are more effective for water
conservation than tap-water systems because they minimise water wastage.
The waste-water purification system was explained as follows:
A sub-terra system was introduced for waste-water treatment. Black water
coming from the toilets flows through the pipe lines to the sub-terra and it then
gets filtered through different diameters of sand layers and charcoal layers
built underground. After purification, the water is pumped to the surface and
used for watering the plants in common areas.
Sarvodaya Engineer
In Damniyamgama, each household engages in compost-making from
degradable solid waste. For collection of non-degradable solid waste,
separate bins are provided in two corners of the Village. These bins are
marked as ‘paper’, ‘plastics’, ‘glass’, and ‘metal’. There is a committee in
the village which is responsible for proper waste management within the
community. The Waste Recycling Agency comes and collects the recyclable
waste when the bins are filled. In the initial stages of awareness, it was
difficult to implement the compost making and separation of garbage
practices. Residents needed to become much more aware of the harmful
impact of careless waste management. Many of the residents admitted
to throwing their waste on the beach or in the river or road while living
in coastal villages. Before the establishment of the ecovillage, none of the
residents had attempted compost making, organic gardening or realised the
benefits of sorting garbage. They learned the significance of these practices
from Sarvodaya officials who worked in the transit camps after the tsunami.
In the initial stages of development, all the households requested to have
electricity from the national grid because according to their perception there
is less trouble with the national system. Now, when comparing electricity
bills, they are much happier using solar panels. Lower cost motivates people
to use renewable energy sources. Fluorescent lamps are used for lighting
because they consume less electricity. These are the most energy-efficient
form of lighting for the households. Although more expensive to buy, they
are much cheaper to run and can last up to ten thousand hours. Such lights
also produce less heat, helping keep homes cooler in the tropical climate of
Sri Lanka.
Each household has its own integrated home garden consisting of tree
species, vegetables, and herbs. In the initial stages, Sarvodaya had to assist
residents in establishing their gardens, since the people did not have any