I’ve just begun an online course on Permaculture and I’m already obsessed with the concept. Before this course, I’d heard of the term before but hardly had a clue what it meant. If you’re sitting there wondering what Permaculture means like me just a week ago, here goes: Permaculture is about creating sustainable systems that take care of the land, support wildlife, and bring people together, both nearby and around the world. Beautiful, right?
So, that’s what this post is for. I want to dive in deeper to what Permaculture really is and talk about what I’ve learned so far.
What is Permaculture?
— The official definition of Permaculture is “the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient”.
— There are three ethics to Permaculture and twelve design principles.
The Ethics of Permaculture
There are three main ethics of Permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
Earth Care
— Earth Care is about nurturing the natural environment all around us. The focus is to design spaces that will not harm the ecosystem, but actually benefit it.
People Care
— People Care is about creating systems that take care of us humans and our wellbeing. In return, this fosters cooperation, self-reliance, and sustainable communities.
Fair Share
— Fair Share is about limiting overconsumption and sharing our abundance with others. It’s also about reinvesting surplus back into the system through doing things like composting waste and planting seeds from harvests back into the ground.
Permaculture Design Principles
These principles, which were popularized by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren (the founders of permaculture), help guide the Permaculture design process.
- Observe and interact
- Learn from nature by spending time outside, observing and noticing.
- Catch and store energy
- Use natural resources efficiently by harnessing and storing excess energy through practices such as rainwater collection and solar panels.
- Obtain a yield
- Design systems that provide enough resources to sustain yourself and others. Resources like food and energy.
- Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
- Recognize when things are off-balance and do what is necessary to restore harmony.
- Use and value renewable resources and services
- Prioritize materials and energy sources that can regenerate or be sustainably harvested.
- Produce no waste
- Create closed-loop systems where waste is reused such as composting and repurposing materials. Utilize everything to its fullest extent!
- Design from patterns to details
- Take a step back, recognize patterns in nature and society, and use them as the backbone of your design. One example of a natural pattern is forest succession.
- Integrate rather than segregate
- Combine plants, animals, and people in ways that they can all mutually benefit each other.
- Use small, slow solutions
- Prioritize gradual, steady progress over rapid, unsustainable growth.
- Use and value diversity
- Diverse systems are more resilient and productive. An example of biodiversity is polyculture versus monoculture.
- Use edges and value the marginal
- The spaces between systems (like forest edges) are often the most productive, so nourish them.
- Creatively use and respond to change
- Go with the flow. Adapt to external influences by making thoughtful, proactive changes.
Permaculture in Everyday Life
Even if you don’t have a large backyard or acres of land, there are so many ways to incorporate Permaculture into your daily life.
Urban Permaculture
— Balcony or rooftop gardens, rainwater collection, and composting.
Zero waste living
— Reducing consumption, reusing materials, and composting organic waste.
— Begin with minimal waste living. (Zero waste can seem daunting in our current society)
Community sharing
— Tool libraries, seed swaps, and shared gardens.
— Check out Facebook Groups and Marketplace for local sharing.
Food preservation
— Preserving food through canning, fermenting, and drying to extend its shelf life.
Why Permaculture Matters
I hope that now when you hear “Permaculture” you actually know what it means! It is so much more than just a gardening technique, it is a way of living in harmony with he natural world—the way we were always meant to.
For more related content, check out my posts on homesteading and self sufficiency.
