A small community — often just a few dozen houses and the people in them — where everyone has agreed to live in a way that does little damage to the earth: growing their own vegetables, using solar or wind power, sharing tools and cars, building with wood or earth instead of concrete. Unlike an ecotown, it is usually small and started by the residents themselves rather than by a government, and the people there often share meals, decisions and money to some degree. So the word carries a social meaning as well as an environmental one; some ecovillages feel like ordinary neighbourhoods that recycle carefully, others are close to a commune with strong shared beliefs. Countable: an ecovillage, several ecovillages. Also written eco-village.

生態村