Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Amish Way of Life as a Sustainable Lifestyle

Eastern Ohio has the largest Amish community in the country. As a result, I cross paths with Amish in my travels. Although I respect their privacy and don't try to take their picture, I can't help notice something of the way they live. Naturally, these photos came from the web.

The Amish I see aren't old fashioned as we might imagine. For example, the local WalMart has about 30% Amish and Mennonite shoppers when I was there. I stopped at a convenience store near Wooster to use the conveniences. There I saw a young Amish man buying one of those pre-packaged salads and a drink for his lunch. His horse and buggy were "parked" in the grass outside of the gas pumps.

On another occasion, a young family of Amish pulled up in their buggy and stopped in a parking lot. The young father brought out a bucket and sponge to wash and cool off the horse while the kids played in the buggy. A charming scene that was finished up by the father going to the Chase bank ATM to get some cash.

Actually, from what I read on the Internet, the Amish are selectively adopting technology where it fits within their lifestyle. For example, its said that 80% of Amish homes have photovoltaic panels.

If you forget about their conservative religion and their closed community and just think about their local foods, their renewable agriculture, their living in a small area with a small carbon footprint, and even their adoption of solar, it would be easy to imagine the Amish as a perfect example of a sustainable lifestyle.

Now these last pics don't have anything to do with this post, other than they popped up while I was looking for Amish images and I thought they were fun.

The logical extension of the big wheel, skinny tire trend. Now, if I could just find some chrome paint.

Titled, "Amish Speedwagon"

3 comments:

  1. Jac,

    As the son of former Mennonites I have a certain affinity for the Amish even if I don't exactly share their some of their ideas concerning Christianity.

    One of the best, maybe the best site on the 'net about the Amish is Eric Wesner's "Amish America." Lots of good information and a realistic but respectful view of who the Amish are and are not:

    www.amishamerica.typepad.com

    Reading Eric's blog has giving some nice insight on my own forebearers.

    Doug

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  2. Now those are some real run-flat tires!

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