Sustainable Living Floats Into Sheepshead Bay

You’d better hurry, though, because just as quickly as it sailed in, it will sail out.*

The Waterpod Project, based out of New York, is a self-sustaining floating home to four artists, a few chickens, and a large array of vegetables. The barge, made from recycled and reused materials found around New York, was built as a collaborative effort by a multinational team of very innovative people in an effort to transform the way we think about living “off the land”, so to speak.

And living “off” land is what this team of artists plans on doing when they are not visiting the shore. They have everything they need for survival on the barge: food, water, power, and waste treatment.

While the facilities are spartan, they meet the needs of the inhabitants sufficiently. When we visited them at their humble abode moored in Sheepshead Bay, they were quite content preparing a snack in the open air kitchen.

With the wide variety of fresh vegetables growing in their various tiers, as well as the eggs supplied by the chickens, the peas in the pod seem to be quite satisfied nutritionally.

They asked us for nothing other than we should let everyone know that their Waterpod will be at Pier 2 (Bedford Ave & Emmons Ave) in Sheepshead Bay until July 5, 2009. And oh, if you should have any extra eggshells that would be welcome, too. The chickens on board will thank you.

There is no admission price, but donations to support the project are welcomed. You can visit the self-sustaining home from Wednesdays to Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Check the Waterpod website for full details and open hours. Get to know  three ofthe residents before you enter their living room garden, Mary Mattingly, Eve Tremblay, and Mira Hunter and their artistic expressions at the website.

*Technically, the barge doesn’t have any sails and was pulled in by a tugboat from the Weeks Marine Transportation, Inc. as a donated service.