Heard about One Planet living? I hadn’t until this morning. One planet living, a joint venture between BioRegional and WWF, sets up eco-villages around the world according to 10 guiding principles:

• zero carbon
• zero waste
• sustainable transport
• local and sustainable materials
• local and sustainable food
• sustainable water
• natural habitats and wildlife
• culture and heritage
• equity and fair trade
• health and happiness

This is not your common garden variety 'eco village'! Their next proposed village is Sibaya, just outside Durban – the first One Planet eco-village on the African continent.

Sibaya will be a community of indigenous gardens, a place where neighbours share cars, where cycling lanes take you to nearby restaurants and shops, where all waste is recycled and where fresh fruit and vegetables are dropped off on your doorstep. [IOL]

The development could potentially consist of 6,000 residential units, up to 8 hotels/resorts, 186 000m2 commercial space, and conservation/ recreational/ leisure space such as a botanic garden, animal farm, butterfly farm and forest trails and boardwalks.

The project’s sustainability targets are under exploration but include changing from 80% private car use to 80% public transport use; procuring 50% of construction materials within 50km radius from the site; 60% savings on freshwater consumption; and creating new wetland habitats on site.

There are already three endorsed One Planet communities around the world that have approved sustainability action plans and aim to meet the tough One Planet living targets. The Sonoma Mountain Village (a 200-acre development in California, 40 miles north of San Francisco), One Gallions (a 233 home project with 35% affordable homes, which forms Ken Livingstone’s flagship zero carbon scheme in the Thames Gateway)with One Brighton (adjacent to the mainline train station in Brighton and Hove)and Mata de Sesimbra (a project in Portugal). Sibaya will the fourth.

Wow! The emphasis behind BioRegional’s work is that if we all consume as much as the average UK resident, we would need 3 planets to support us. They try to demonstrate that it is possible to significantly reduce our ecological footprint in areas such as wood products, paper, textiles, food, transport and housing to a sustainable level, whilst maintaining a high quality of life.

Their approach is based on using LOCAL – local farmland, woodlands, renewable energy and waste, so that we reduce our ecological footprint and live within a fair share of the Earth’s resources. Go One Planet, Go! [one planet]