What Permaculture has to Offer
Localized and Resilient Food Systems
Community Building
Cultural Preservation
Economic Viability
Food, Water & Medicine Security
Mental, Physical & Spiritual Wellness
Soothes & Channels Eco-Anxiety
Sustainability
Biodiversity
Regenerative Agriculture
Climate Resilience
Water Conservation
Energy Efficiency
Waste Reduction and Recycling
Service to the World Community
Permaculture Ethics
The guiding foundation for holistic design
Earth Care
This ethic emphasizes the importance of caring for the Earth, recognizing that the planet's ecosystems, resources, and natural environment are finite and interconnected. It encourages responsible stewardship of the Earth's resources, promoting sustainability and regeneration rather than exploitation.
People Care
People care is about fostering self-reliance, supporting individuals, communities, and societies to meet their needs, ensuring fair access to resources, and promoting social well-being. It involves creating systems that prioritize the well-being of all people, including equitable distribution of resources, social justice, and fostering strong communities.
Fair Share
This ethic revolves around the idea of fair distribution or sharing resources, advocating for the need to set limits on consumption and redistributing surplus resources to support both Earth Care and People Care. It promotes equitable sharing of resources among people and communities, ensuring that everyone's needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations or other species to meet their needs.
Permaculture Principles
The guiding framework for holistic design
1. Observe and Interact: Spend time observing and understanding the natural patterns and interactions within a system before making any interventions. Interaction with the environment helps in designing effective and appropriate solutions.
2. Catch and Store Energy: Capture and store resources such as water, sunlight, and natural elements during times of abundance to use them during times of need. Examples include rainwater harvesting, solar energy collection, and storing food through preservation techniques.
3. Obtain a Yield: Ensure that the design elements within a system generate useful yields. This principle emphasizes the importance of creating systems that are productive and beneficial.
4. Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback: Implement systems that can self-regulate and adapt by incorporating feedback mechanisms. This involves being responsive to changes and learning from mistakes or successes within the system.
5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services: Prioritize the use of renewable resources and services over non-renewable ones. This includes practices like using solar power, wind energy, and natural materials in construction.
6. Produce No Waste: Design systems that aim to minimize waste by reusing, recycling, or repurposing resources. Emphasize turning waste into a resource and closing the loop in production cycles.
7. Design from Patterns to Details: Start by understanding and utilizing existing patterns in nature and society before focusing on specific details. This helps in creating more efficient and harmonious designs.
8. Integrate Rather Than Segregate: Foster beneficial connections and relationships between different components of a system. Integrated systems tend to be more productive and resilient.
9. Use Small and Slow Solutions: Implement small-scale, slow, and manageable changes rather than large-scale, quick fixes. This approach allows for better understanding, adaptation, and maintenance of the systems.
10. Use and Value Diversity: Encourage diversity in all aspects of a system—biodiversity in ecosystems, diverse plant and animal species, and diversity in knowledge and techniques. Diversity enhances resilience and stability in systems.
11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal: Utilize the edge zones or boundaries between different ecosystems or elements as areas of increased productivity and diversity. Valuing marginal spaces can lead to innovative and productive uses.
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change: Embrace change as an opportunity for creativity and innovation. Design systems that can adapt to changing conditions and use change as a catalyst for positive transformation.