Residents participate in cooperative activities on a voluntary basis. Individual privacy, autonomy, finances, beliefs and habits are respected. Ecological sanity is built-in to a cohousing community. The clustering of buildings cuts down on pavement and other infrastructure, and frees the majority of the land for other purposes. Shared resources allow less waste, fewer purchases of major appliances and tools, less packaging, less fuel usage.
Shared energy makes it feasible to garden organically on a large scale.
Recycling is easier. Bulk orders lower costs on many necessities and make amenities such as solar technology more affordable. People who live in cohousing find that because of the facilities of the commons they need less private space, so houses can be modest in size. Cohousing communities are not for profit. They are not therapeutic or spiritual communities.