Cooperative Lifestyle

Community Photo - Fall '10
 vegetable garden
Halloween Party '09
 vegetable garden
Garden harvest
 vegetable garden
Our lifestyle here at Regen is like that of a cooperative. We eat dinner together, cook for each other, have specific chores, have specific cleaning areas, and have at least a few common beliefs and goals. It's a way for cooperative people to live a fulfilling life in contact with other people, rather than isolated in separate boxed-in compartments. It saves money, too, because many items can be shared (TV, stereo, even computers) and many can be used by all (kitchen, pots and pans, flatware, chairs and tables, etc.). Rideshare, non-polluting lifestyle, locally-grown food and meshing with our surrounding community are important to us.

Two of the biggest contributors towards maintaining cooperation and compromise within the community are the consensus model and non-violent communication. Unlike simple majority-rule, the consensus model prevents the minority in our community from being discounted. With the consensus model in place, no decision in the co-op is made without everyone agreeing to it. While consensus does take more time than majority-rule, and requires that no “blocking” action is taken by the minority, a result satisfactory to all can usually be achieved. Non-violent communication is extremely beneficial to our co-op because it encourages people to talk about problems within the community and discourages harmful confrontation.

The cooperative lifestyle is a living and developing idea.

Please visit this website to view our IC (intentional community) profile. Please visit ic.org for more information about intentional communities. You can also visit our group page on Facebook for updates and photos.