Robert Redford has become known as one of Hollywood’s original environmentalists as he is always promoting the virtues of renewable energy and eco friendly products and green products long before it ever became in vogue. However when sustainable housing is promoted in his own leafy backyard he is not quite so keen. Robert Redford soon turns into a Nimby, not in my back yard. He was not so keen on green homes and eco friendly homes being built near him.
Redford was once elevated by Time magazine as a “environmental superhero” as he has spent decades pioneering green activism. However he has now joined a crusade preventing the development of a new “eco village” in the area of Northern California’s Napa Valley, the area where he owns a property. The eco village would have promoted green homes or eco friendly homes in the area.
The group call themselves Save Rural Angwin, which is a pressure group who have dedicated their time opposing the development of several hundred green homes for families, along with a retirement home in the area. The development hopes to be built on 63 acres near a secluded estate in the heart of the wine country, which he bought ten years ago.
The development includes 275 low energy homes, they will get energy from solar panels, use recycled water and support an organic farming co-operative. There will also be an electric car-sharing scheme that residents will be automatically enrolled in.
The lobby group, which Redford is involved in, feels that the development will destroy several fields and any environmental benefits that it may have will be cancelled out by the increased traffic in the area. One of Redford’s complaints is that the developers are using “green washing” to try and push the development through with the planners. He feels that the developers are using the fact that they are building eco friendly homes to try and get permission that would otherwise not be allowed.
Others feel that California is in desperate need for thousands of homes to be built in the coming years so whilst the development represents a blot on the landscape these green projects may be the only option for the environment in the future.
His decision to oppose the development in the Napa Valley might seem a bit rich for many Utah residents. Back in 1969 Redford bought 6,000 acres of mountainside and decided to turn it into the world famous Sundance ski resort. Also he has wrote an article for the Huffington Post about two years ago arguing against the nimby-ism that he feels often stands in the way of eco-friendly building projects. Many feel that if Redford knew the whole story about the development then he may not be so opposed to it, the developers especially.
http://www.ecofh.co.uk
Green Homes promotes green homes and eco friendly homes along with green products and eco friendly products with every build.
This article is copyright free.