Cover Story by Laura Wutzke The walls that paintings now cover were covered by vomit nine years ago.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Send mail to The Voice No-waste family rejoices in rainy weather Maitri and Ole Ersson have found their neighborhood receptive to their simple, sustainable lifestyle. The bright red words "Please remove shoes" stands out against the white of Ole and Maitri Ersson's front door. Their house faces Southeast 18th Avenue, a block off Stark Street. Wind carries the sound of children playing across the street into their front yard. A metal arch covers a small flower garden in the front yard. On the side of the house, a long set of concrete slabs guides both people and cars to the garage and backyard. A huge black water tank sits in the corner of the yard. On the tank, a rainbow and a message welcomes a Permaculture group. "The children sometimes use it [the tank] as a blackboard," Mr. Ersson said. The large black tank collects the rainwater from the Ersson's roof. The supply provides the Erssons with water throughout most of the year. A system of gutters deposits the rainwater into the tank each time it rains. "When it rains I feel good; I think, 'Oh, my tank is being replenished,'" Mr. Ersson said. The rainwater is readied for use in the basement with a purification and sanitization process. Normal water pipes pipe the water into the house. The Erssons use their rainwater system for their water supply nine months out of the year. The "rainwater harvesting" is only one way the Erssons strive to live an ecologically friendly or "sustainable" lifestyle. Mr. Ersson defines sustainability as "the way you live not drawing on or destroying the place you live." For many years the Erssons have aggressively pursued a little-impact, no-impact and eventually positive impact-on-the-environment lifestyle. On the Ersson's front porch, above one of the two chairs they own, hangs a mason bee house. Around the property hang bird and bat houses. "There are multiple reasons [for living a sustainable lifestyle]; it's better for the environment, saves resources and reduces pollution," Mr. Ersson said. He said the bee, bird and bat houses are important examples of enhancing nature by maintaining "wildlife habitats." He involves himself with several organizations that try to maintain wildlife habitats. In the summer, the Erssons use almost every inch of their property to grow fruit and vegetables for their consumption. Wildflowers and a small winter harvest of kale cover the Ersson's back yard. Grape vines hang over the back yard fence. Even the space between the slabs in the driveway is ready to be cultivated. The Ersson's first step toward sustainable living was extensive gardening. When they first moved into their house seven years ago, they began to aggressively garden every inch of their property. Their gardening evolved into mulching, which led to using wood chips in their composting and eventually heating their hot water through pipes in their compost heap. When they began to remodel their home, they realized how burdensome hauling around their furniture was, so they got rid of it. Cushions and Japanese mats now decorate the hardwood floors of their sitting and living rooms. The table in their dining room is an old door glued on top of cardboard boxes. "We have two chairs left in the entire house," Mr. Errson said. A guitar hangs in one of the rooms. "When it rains in the summer, I think, 'Oh good, I don't have to water my garden,'" Mrs. Ersson said, "I can do something like play my guitar." Pictures of their family adorn the walls. The Erssons have three children: Krishna, a 15-year-old boy who attends Benson High School, and two girls, Shanti and Kamala, 14 and 12, who attend DaVinci Middle School. The walls that paintings now cover were covered by vomit nine years ago. One day, while the Erssons were looking to buy a home, they spotted an old, boarded up halfway house. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ersson saw the potential in the two-story, three-bedroom house. They bought it. They completely repainted the house and replaced 30 broken windows. Part of the remodeling included installing second-hand cabinets in the kitchen. The Erssons are vegetarians, and part of their simple lifestyle includes eating foods made from ingredients such as whole grains and vegetables that they are grow in their own garden. When they shop they try to avoid excess packaging and hidden meat products, such as ingredients in jello and candies. "The children are taught to read labels," Mrs. Ersson said. "As a physician, I know that people eat too much meat," Mr. Ersson said. "It would be healthier if everyone would cut down on meat. Healthy diet and exercise are the foundations of preventive medicine." Living simply is a practice that harkens back to the founding fathers of the United States. The Quakers, who helped found the United States, practiced simple living and many groups, such as the Amish, continue these practices today. According to Mr. Ersson, people are rediscovering these old-fashioned values. "We forgot them [values] in our rush to get rich; then we realized that wealth didn't make us happy. So we searched for other things, exploring other values," Mr. Ersson said. The Erssons are trying to share these values with as many people as they can. They hold meetings in their home to raise awareness about simplicity and run a website with information about sustainable and simple living. "We mostly try to inspire people to do better than they're doing, but it's got to be on their own time, " Mr. Ersson said. "Out of 30 people we have in our home, maybe five will really do something, but the rest will be inspired." Mr. Ersson runs the website from his upstairs office. A computer--monitor, keyboard, tower and speakers--sits on a desk resting inches above the floor on top of the floorboard. A small cushion sits next to the desk. Wall-length bookshelves line the opposite wall. The bookshelves, like the desk, are attached to the wall, resting on top of the floorboard. By suspending the desk and bookshelf above the floor, only three items in their home are left touching the floor : a file cabinet in the office, a stove in the kitchen, and their daughter's bunkbed. With so few items on the floor, cleaning is easy. They vacuum twice a week, having to only lift the cushions, roll up the mats and make a quick sweep of the entire house. "Let's face it, how often do most people vacuum under most of their furniture?" Mr. Ersson asked. Most people don't build straw houses either. Their newest project is building a three-story house made out of straw bales. The straw bales will keep the house well insulated from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. In the Errson's living room a model window sits that Mr. Ersson hopes to install in the straw bale house. The model includes a cloth blind running down between the two panes of glass in the storm window. The window is an example of "appropriate technology." Appropriate technology is the "simple technologies that are, even by the poorest people in third world countries, found to be useful," Mr. Ersson said. He sees the bicycle as another example of appropriate technology. A bicycle is simple and carries a person short distances without expending any irreplaceable resources. The Erssons own a car but have recently begun a carpooling group. They organize their errand trips in the most efficient manner possible. "We have found in simplicity, you can simplify by maximizing the use of things," Mrs. Ersson said. Efficiency pervades the Ersson's lives. The compost heap in their back yard has produced more than six inches of topsoil in the seven years they've lived in their home. Every time they shop at Fred Meyer, they get 5 cents back for every plastic or paper bag they bring of their own. Their hardwood floor is usually clean enough to eat off of. And, according to Mr. Ersson, as an extra-special bonus, the rainwater they use to shower and bathe with is great for their hair. Laura Wutzke likes to sit on the floor. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2000 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.