We now live in an area with a lot of wonderful houses built with alternative energy and living in mind. There's passive solar, photovoltaics, composting toilets... wonderful!

But it wasn't enough.

For one reason or another the people that built the houses left. When they left the houses were left... unattended. Some were vandalized by people, some by nature. Important parts were taken, pipes were burst by freezing. What's left are houses with high ideals... and a lot of damage. Maybe more damage than can be repaired. Maybe they need to be bulldozed under and a new house built on the foundations.

There's a lesson here and it's simple. If one plans on ding something ecologically sound, one must stick to it or take care that what was started is maintained and protected. Without the maintenance and the protection, all of the groundwork... all of those good intentions... might come to naught or less than naught.