Down a winding road, just off State Highway 10, a community is on its way to becoming more self-sufficient.

And it’s a trend the Sustainable Tahlequah program hopes will grow exponentially.

Leslie Moyer, a core member of Sustainable Tahlequah, said the group is encouraging others to learn how to grow their own food, and live on what they already have.

“Right now, we need to consider local food sources,” Moyer said. “The Tahlequah Farmers’ Market is doing a great job encouraging people to buy locally grown produce.”

But sustainability is more than just growing food to feed your family.

“Our mission is to explore the meaning of ‘sustainability’ with the greater Tahlequah community and discover, demonstrate, model and facilitate activities that move the community toward a more and more sustainable future,” Moyer said.

John Cutrell, with the Community Association of Sparrow Hawk Village, is working on a project that will allow his community to collect rainwater for irrigating the garden and greenhouse.

“We are building a system that will catch and store enough rainwater to supply the irrigation needs of the garden and greenhouse, year-round,” Cutrell said.

Cutrell said a grant from the Oklahoma Water Resource Board, with the cooperation of Cherokee Rural Water District 12, has community members excited.

“We want to become more sustainable,” he said. “It’s important to conserve what water we get.”

He said Tahlequah gets around 48 inches of rain a year, so it’s a great place to start this type of project.

“The rain coming off the roof will go through the gutters and into a retaining pond here,” he said, pointing to the back of the community building. “One inch of rain on the roof will give about 3,000 gallons of water. The water is then going to be pumped into the building next to it, where it will be put into a pressurized tank and then released through irrigation pumps in the garden.”

Cutrell said the project will also equip a residence with a similar system, which will collect rainwater and store it in a tank for use in irrigation and flushing toilets.

“Did you know 39 percent of water used in the United States is used to flush toilets?” he asked.