Sustainable Bonds

Treehouse veterans reunite to admire new digs and reminisce

April 3, 2007

President William G. Durden '71 speaks to students and alumni at the Treehouse reunion held in the new Center for Sustainable Living.

The clicks of group photos being taken and hugs all around confirmed the sustained bonds among the more than 50 current and former residents of the Treehouse (Center for Sustainable Living) who gathered for a reunion during Sustainability Week, March 19-24.

"It's fantastic," said Becki Walker '06, sustainability specialist, who had sent an e-mail invitation to more than 200 Treekids. "I never imagined so many people would show up."

Like many who returned to see the new center—which replaced the original gray house at 136 N. College St.—Giovanna McClenachan '05 was impressed by the new digs. "It's a lot different from the drafty old house we used to have. It's so warm and efficient," she said as she gathered with friends near the corn-pellet-burning stove.

The new center was created by seamlessly connecting three townhouses on Louther Street and adding an open, light-filled space that attracts large gatherings and social interaction.

What has drawn people to live in the center over the years is more than just a common interest in sustainability. For Jensen Gelfond '08, one of 15 current residents, living at the house is about more than just three-minute showers and monitoring energy usage. It's about the relaxed, family-like feeling among the residents.

"This is an intentional community where decisions are reached by consensus and where we all share a sense of mission about living sustainably," he said.

Not surprisingly, this environment has made competition for living in the house more intense during the last few years, as applications exceed available slots.

Thom Wallace '99, a former house manager, attended the gathering. He founded Alumni For a Sustainable Dickinson and now runs Ecofusion, a Washington, D.C., communications company specializing in environmental issues. Wallace notes that the Treehouse's impact on the college has been profound. "We're past the tipping point, both here at Dickinson and in the country. Sustainability measures that used to seem unusual have become part of our everyday life. We are now the mainstream."