Our Household
The Tepeyac household
and grounds
We hope to offer Tepeyac as an experiential model
for our guests and interns to learn and try new modes of living
that they may choose to integrate into their lives at home. We try
to live out our values of stewardship through support of sustainable
agriculture and "walking lightly" on the earth with "planet
friendly" household supplies and systems. A few comments and
resources regarding things you may experience at Tepeyac:
In the kitchen, we use dish soap and dishwasher
soap made by Ecover, an exemplary company from Belgium. Ecover built
what the Wall Street Journal referred to as " the first ecological
factory in history". They process their own wastewater and
have an extremely energy efficient factory facility that includes
solar energy heating and is built into the hillside for further
efficiency. Their products are of the highest quality and are totally
biodegradable.
The Tepeyac Water Filtration system was
installed to assure clean drinking water for all. Albuquerque shares
the problems of so many urban areas in terms of pollution from industrial
wastes, agricultural nitrates, sanitation leakage and chlorine gas
residues. We researched many systems and chose this under sink tow
stage system because of its effectiveness, water flow, longevity
of the filters and reasonable price. (This is the system that Dr.
Andrew Weil has recommended on his website.) We'd be happy to give
you some of the information and specifications if you wish.
In the house and bathrooms, we have placed
restricted flow showerheads to save water.
The decorative and vegetable gardens at
Tepeyac are all organically grown. We support sustainable agriculture
in our food purchases (as much as fiscally possible) and always
in our gardening efforts. Organic fruits and vegetables provide
nutrients and trace minerals that are so much lacking in commercial
produce grown in devitalized soils and then shipped and stored for
long periods of time. We also avoid the neurotoxins, endocrine disrupters
and carcinogens present in the pesticides, herbicides and fungicide
residues of so much commercial produce. We do this for ourselves,
our children, our guests, and the farmworkers exposed to the worst
of the petrochemicals. The Tepeyac gardens also give us back beauty
and wonderful exercise in the fresh air.
The cold frames in our garden enable us
to extend our growing season and savor fresh organic geens all the
way from March to November. You can construct cold frames of the
simplest inexpensive materials get as sturdy and fancy as you wish.
The composting system at Tepeyac uses three
bins to aerate and accelerate the conversion of the compost to nourishing
fertilizer.
Our brood of Tepeyac chickens provides us
with quality antibiotic-free eggs, organic manure for our gardens
and delightful contemplative entertainment. All they ask for is
a little shelter and grain. The protein conversion ratio of grain
to egg is very efficient compared to animal meat proteins.
Our Diet
Compassionate Consumption
Supporting Good Business
The Contemplative Organization
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