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A More Sustainable Adventure

The Ethics of Permaculture

By letter2self on June 10, 2023



If you are ready to get your hands into the soil and dive into the permaculture community, Geoff Lawton’s Online Permaculture Design Course is now open for enrolment: https://www.discoverpermaculture.com/pdc2021 ***Enter the code GROW100YT to receive a $100 tuition discount.

Permaculture is a design system built around three basic ethics that help guide communities into cooperative, trusting relationships whilst using nature-centered practices to regenerate the land and those who live on it.

These ethics are “earth care”, which is looking out for all living and non-living things, such as land, water, animals, and air. “People care” promotes self-reliance and takes care of the people in the system. The last ethic, “return of surplus”, is the result of adhering to the first two ethics, allowing surpluses within the system to feedback into it.

What is your stance on food forests being open to the general public?

Food forests are amongst the best systems to provide food with minimal maintenance for maximum yield over time. The knowledge to operate these systems—that work like an actual forest—is inherited from generation to generation.

The design is often initially controversial because it can look unusual and untidy in the rampant juvenile stage. However, as it matures into a productive forest, it is a real community asset.

At that point, it will require regulation/maintenance via a paid staff, as well as volunteers to make sure it keeps evolving into a stable system. It will require a shift in how we manage public lands, but this has already happened in places.

A community food forest can also be the result of private lands as examples or land trusts.

With proper design, these systems build soil, provide ecosystems, and maintain themselves (earth care) while providing resources to the local community (people care) with local systems to return food waste via compost and manure, as food and education to the community (return of surplus).

What are some practical examples of factoring in the ethics when going through a design?

Ethics is central to permaculture, and good design expresses the ethics.

Dave Rastovich’s garden is being designed to support a community with eight families (people care). Design choices were made to collect water from heavy rains, rejuvenate the clay soil, and guide excess water to prevent erosion (earth care). The community practices return of surplus by providing organic matter, manure, and work in order to produce food and learn about the experience.

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► And most importantly, enjoy your permaculture journey!

#permacultureethics #permaculturedesign #permaculturecourse

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I have embarked on a journey to create a more sustainable life for me and my family and I'm using this space to share all the things I've been learning along the way. It's messy and wonderful and I hope you'll join me on this adventure.

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