A trip to Etopia Eco Village

One thing I am passionate about is sustainability. That is the reason I left my comfortable HR job with one of the world's largest mining companies and have gone back to university to complete my Masters in Sustainable Systems. So being in an unfamiliar world, I curiously typed in 'sustainability' in the Second Life search engine to see what would come up.

I found groups that dealt with the issue, one even solely on corporate governance and sustainability which very much appealed to me and then I came across a sim called Etopia Eco Village - an environmental sustainable living community.

I teleported and was delighted but what I found. It was a sim that put a lot of effort into educating people about sustainability issues but in a fun way. The first thing I did was grab the free bike that is offered at the rezzing point (it took me a while how to attach it etc, being a newb and all) and drove around the sim to see what was on offer.


At various posts around the island there is a 'sustainability quiz' marker where when you click on it a question appears upon the board and it tests your knowledge. It is multiple choice and simple, but nevertheless a good way to teach people the basics. There are also helpful markers that outline the bike trail, but there was so much to see I often veered off to explore some random corner off the beaten path. :)

I visited the water aquaculture farm and spent a while inspecting the windfarm, and the best thing was that many of the signs were linked to websites with more information about the issue for those people that were interested. There is also a lot of other fun stuff to do like take the free train around the island, view it from above with the gondolas on a nearby hill or play around with the flying fox. Overall I had a great time and was pleasantly surprised by what I found and it opened my eyes up a bit more of the possibilities of Second Life.