A few other places you might check out when in Arizona –

WHEAT’s Hand to Hand Project. Kate raved about this fair trade store, where she’d bought a cute necklace a while back. But we got there on a Monday — when it was closed :(

To the left, a pic of its closed doors. 4000 N. 7th St. Ste 126. Phoenix. 602.241.0372. Closed Monday. Tue, Fri, Sat, 10 am – 2 pm. Wed – Thurs, 10 am – 2 pm, 4 pm – 6 pm.

Gentle Strength Cooperative. This grocery store was as green as my local co-op grocery store. We stopped by to get lunch-to-go before our the trip up to Arcosanti, and I got a super fresh & yummy eggless sandwich.

To the right, Kate, under a sign letting people know the Co-op’ll be moving soon. 234 W. University Dr. Tempe. 9 am – 9 pm daily.

Prescott’s “EcoHood”. We researched this, mapquested it, and drove up there — but as we drove by it, we weren’t sure how exactly to tour it, or even if we were in the right place. So we went to a local natural food store to ask — and they basically said we’d been in the right place.

The thing is, EcoHood’s an actual lil neighborhood for the people who live there, not a spot designed for tourists to poke around. Finding out more would’ve meant knocking on people’s doors — So we made do with a cursory look and went to a local brewery to drown our eco-sorrows –

Lastly — a random happy hour picture, left. Thanks for being a great tour guide and host, Kate :)

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Phoenix has something LA doesn’t: A fair trade cafe, creatively named Fair Trade Cafe.

This neatly designed, well-lit cafe offers free wifi along with fair trade coffee and tea, both by the cup and in bags & boxes to brew at home. Kate and I got a cup each, along with a slice of yummy blueberry bread.

The place brews and sells mostly Pura Vida coffee, but also offers coffee from a co-op of about 50 families in Chiapas, Mexico called Just Coffee (not to be confused with the 100% fair trade coffee roaster Just Coffee in Wisconsin).

The cafe’s a nonprofit operation that appears to be a part of Cathedral Center for the Arts, which is a part of the nearby Trinity Cathedral. But luckily for me, aside from some coffee for sale called Bishop’s Blend, the place didn’t have a religious feel –

Fair Trade Cafe. 1020 N. First Ave. Phoenix, AZ. 602.354.8150. Mon-Thu, 6 am – 7 pm. Fri, 6 am – 10 pm. Sa-Su, 7 am – 5 pm.

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I learned a new word — Arcology: a combo of architecture and ecology — a term apparently coined by the architect Paolo Soleri.

Soleri’s the guy behind Arcosanti, a prototype arcology that’s been in construction since the ’70s.

So my friend Kate and I visited Arcosanti yesterday, becoming 2 of the 50,000 visitors who check out the place each year.

At first, we were a bit taken back by the new-agey feel of the place. The first spot visitors walk into is the gift shop, which displays lots and lots of windchimes, along with lots and lots of books by and about Paolo Solari. To me, the place seemed almost like a shrine to Solari, which got me a lil weirded out about Arcosanti as a whole.

It was an hour till the next guided tour, so Kate and I took a lil hike up the visitor’s trail — which gave us a few excellent views of Arcosanti as a whole — before leading us to a dead end.

So we walked back and went through the guided tour.

Our guide really helped us make better sense of what Arcosanti was about. For one, the sales of the windchimes apparently help fund the continued construction at Arcosanti, which explained why these chimes were all over the place.

The basic idea of Arcosanti: To create a walkable city that’s designed for people, not the car (fuck those Hummers!). It’s a compact city, like Manhattan, but it’s also one that’s been inspired with and created by a cohesive, conscious design.

And while the place is compact, eco-friendly, and walkable, Solari clearly isn’t set on complete self-sufficiency. The place is designed to facilitate a culture of its own, but isn’t intended as one that will, or can, cut itself off from the world around it. Yes, greenhouses are in the plans — but hey, they’ll never grow coffee there.

Right now, about 70 people live there. When the project’s completed, it should house 5,000 people. No clue as to when the place’ll be completed though…

In addition to offering daily tours each hour, Arcosanti offers workshops and seminars. If you attend a 5-week seminar, you’ll be eligible to actually live there.

Ok — I’m not sure I could live there. At least not until the place has been totally built up, and there are at least those 5,000 people living there.

That said, I would LOVE to spend a month there. If I did, I’d prolly get some serious work done on my dissertation…

We’re talking a nice hot desert resort-esque living situation, with a pool and nature all around you. There’s a bakery, there’s a cafe, there’s an art gallery. The place is peaceful and comfortable — and of course, eco-friendly.

More than anything else, Arcosanti’s inspiring, pushing the limits on how we think we can or should live.

Thanks to reader Indigo for the recommendation :)

Arcosanti. 3 miles from the Cordes Junction. Arizona. 928.632.7135.

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Literally, I mean. I’ll be in Arizona — where it’s like 102 degrees today — for a long weekend, visiting Kate, a friend from college.

In my excitement, I’ve added an “Arizona” category to the sidebar ;) On the green itinerary: Visit the eco-village nearby, where apparently one can get the yummiest bean burgers ever. Camp, maybe. Do a lil yoga. And most importantly, go out for happy hour as soon as I get off the plane –

I’ll be in the Tempe / Phoenix area till Monday if you wanna send along any recommendations for things & places to try :)

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