Some Permaculture Thoughts

Last fall, I went to a basic permaculture training. It was two weeks in New York state. I loved it. It is time for me to revisit some of the ideas I learned and I thought I would do that through this blog so I could share the thoughts and information. This is the first installment.

First of all, there is a lot of misconception about what permaculture is. Most people conjure up images of fanciful gardens and maybe a composting toilet when they hear the word permaculture. And although these may be part of a permaculture design, they in no way encompass it. Permaculture is a design system. A way of looking at something, thinking about something and planning something. It is applicable to anything that you design. And we are arranging and planning things all the time. You could apply permaculture principles to arranging your desk, planning how your kitchen is set up or use it to design an intentional living community. Only your imagination limits the ways to use design principles of permaculture.


There are a couple of questions that should be asked when planning a system. The first of which is, is what we're doing something that cares for the earth? Permaculture is designed to help you create systems that are not only sustainable but that aim to be regenerative. If you are planning a garden, your goal will be to actually help to restore the soil and ecosystem. This will become more clear as we discuss the principles in more depth. A second question that needs to be asked is, will this design care for people? Again, in permaculture, ethics is an important consideration when designing a system. It is imperative if we are to create sustainable caring communities that we consider how we are impacting both the earth and other people. Currently the way most systems are designed, they are created without these two concepts in mind. Think of your local grocery store, it is not set up in a way to care for the earth or people. It is designed to illicit a shopping response and to manipulate the way you shop. It's goal is to get you to buy more groceries. Think about how local communities are planned. Again, it becomes pretty clear, pretty fast that these systems are not designed with people or the planet in mind. I think this will be a necessary shift in focus for us to create the kind of place where most of us would want to live if we were to have a choice. It will also be a necessary shift as we move towards sustainability and not the plunder of people and the earth.

Slouching Towards Sustainability

I think it is imperative that we think seriously about what it will take for us, as a planet, to become sustainable. Most importantly, I think it is absolutely necessary for those of us in the United States to think about our impact on the rest of the people of this earth and the planet herself. There is no way we can continue as we are, it is irresponsible, selfish and impossible for us to sustain. The earth is a finite planet. There is no amount of technology that will make the lifestyles we have now sustainable. We are robbing from the future, and we are closing our eyes to that reality.

I think that a large part of the population of our country has an itchy feeling in the back of their head that says to them, things are not right. I also think a large part of the population believes there is nothing they can really do about it. So, they bury their heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening. Some of us buy organic, bring recycled bags to the store and buy "green." However, we can not buy ourselves sustainability. There are no amount of "green" products that can make our current consumption patterns okay.

It is going to take an extreme shift of priorities to reverse the current trend. There are those that say we were only sustainable at the hunter gatherer stage and that is our future. I am, however, not so bleak about our prospects. I do think it will take a major paradigm shift. We will have to become responsible for our impact. It will not happen overnight and it will take the participation of everyone. We can no longer condone overconsumption. Those in their giant SUV's should be looked down on, not admired. Taking the bus or walking should be emulated, not scoffed at. Trying to grow your own food should be a responsibility, not a hobby. Going out to eat should mean taking a dish over to potluck at a friend's house. Recycling should be almost obsolete because we are not buying gross amounts of items with tons of packaging. Instead we will be buying locally from craftspeople we know. We will be learning how to fix things instead of disposing of them.

The future does not have to be full of deprivation. It should be full of things that really matter. Good, fresh food grown from gardens. Face to face interactions with friends. A pride that comes from creating something good instead of buying things for our closets. These are the things we should aspire to. Not a vacation house in the south, three cars and a house full of stuff we don't even know how to use.