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Permaculture and You
With the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show right around the corner, I started thinking about last year's display garden created by the Permaculture Institute of Northern California. If you were one of the 65,000 people who attended the show, you'll remember this garden as the one with the chickens and ducks in it.
Too often, display gardens in flower shows can look like extensions of a nicely decorated suburban living room. But the permaculture display was bursting with life and creativity: Vegetables were interspersed with useful ornamentals, a gorgeous outdoor living space made of sustainable woods van cleef green necklace knock off and a soothing waterfall. (In a real life setting, the same waterfall would be filled with water emptied from the house's bathtubs, sinks and showers and used to water the garden.)
In permaculture a practical, ecological design philosophy that incorporates the flow of natural systems and materials into human habitats everything is connected in a neat, closed loop. For example, bath water might empty into a pond for pink van cleef necklace knock off the ducks, who in turn eat the snails in the strawberry patch and fertilize it at the same time.
The Point Reyes based Permaculture Institute of Northern California is returning to this year's show at the Cow Palace March 20 24. According to PINC Co Director , the Flower and Garden Show is the ideal place for the institute to spread the word about ecological design.
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The permaculture concept was developed by and David Holgren of Australia in the 1970s, when concern for our rapidly deteriorating environment was heating up. They attempted to answer the question, "How do we, as the human species, sustain ourselves and provide for our needs and the needs of the environment for an indefinite period of time?" In short, how do we create a permanent culture?
To begin, Stark says, we need to regard the planet as a living system. We're not sitting on a spacecraft floating in space, and, hence, we need to design our lives our homes and offices and communities in coordination with those natural systems and forces with which we share the planet.
Our buildings are often built with little regard for factors like the orientation of the sun, yet we can build houses so they can take full advantage of solar heat. We can design our roofs and gardens to van cleef & arpels necklace alhambra knock off catch and store valuable rainwater, and we can radically reduce our waste by engaging in civic composting programs.
Stark says another step is to focus on closed loop processes, as modeled by a fruit tree. The tree blooms, fruit is formed and the fruit falls and decomposes in the soil to provide nourishment for the next generation of fruit. It's the same process embodied in composting our waste or recycling our glass.
Though long associated with alternative gardening and farming, the closed loop, an ecological concept promoted by permaculturalists the world over, is having a profound effect in other sectors. Stark says the kind of linear thinking that has dominated industrial societies in which products are manufactured and sold and then disposed of is clearly not sustainable or profitable in the long run. Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to realize this, and closed loop thinking is becoming increasingly popular.
By example, Stark says that in Germany,
So let's say you don't work in product development at BMW, and you live in San Francisco, so chances are you don't have a duck pond, either. Stark says there's plenty we can do, nonetheless, to bring permaculture concepts into our lives.
We can begin by not using any chemicals in our cleaning products or our gardens or lawns. They work their way into our water system, and plenty of ecologically sensible alternatives exist for most every chemical product.
Also, you can grow a considerable amount of food from a window box, and, if you want to raise more crops than you can fit in your box garden, you can join a community garden. Can't find room at an existing plot? Stark recommends starting your own and even asking your municipal government to turn park lawns into food producing community gardens.
Don't buy pesticide treated food, either, Stark says. By buying organic food instead, you foster a clean environment where your food is grown: When organic produce is grown, soil isn't destroyed, and birds aren't contaminated. If we bought only organic food, the contaminated food would disappear. This form of activism makes a big difference, Stark adds.
And, finally, it is activism that is Stark's final rallying cry. Get 150 percent politically active, he says. It's time we take back vca sweet alhambra necklace knock off the responsibility we've given to our politicians. "If you care about ecological issues," says Stark, "go to Washington with the people you vote for. Be on the phone; write letters. Be at their side, as active as any corporate lobbyist is."
PINC is a globally renowned organization in our own backyard, and it offers unique courses year round. Coming up in March is a one day class on how to convert a diesel engine to run on used, filtered vegetable oil. Stark says that 5 10 percent of our petroleum needs can be met by using recycled restaurant vegetable oils. If you consider how much vegetable oil must be used at all the McDonald's and Burger Kings every day, it's not hard to imagine the wisdom of exploiting this resource.
In April, PINC hosts a two day workshop on building your own outdoor wood fired oven, and in May and June, the institute holds workshops where you can learn the principles and methods of permaculture.
In an era when most ecological news is bad news, the optimism and enthusiasm of a James Stark is heartening. When he says the earth has the capacity to produce abundance for everyone, you believe him. And when he adds, "Anyone who owns property owns a piece of the earth, and can choose to steward that land in a healthy, productive way," you believe that, too.
With the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show right around the corner, I started thinking about last year's display garden created by the Permaculture Institute of Northern California. If you were one of the 65,000 people who attended the show, you'll remember this garden as the one with the chickens and ducks in it.
Too often, display gardens in flower shows can look like extensions of a nicely decorated suburban living room. But the permaculture display was bursting with life and creativity: Vegetables were interspersed with useful ornamentals, a gorgeous outdoor living space made of sustainable woods van cleef green necklace knock off and a soothing waterfall. (In a real life setting, the same waterfall would be filled with water emptied from the house's bathtubs, sinks and showers and used to water the garden.)
In permaculture a practical, ecological design philosophy that incorporates the flow of natural systems and materials into human habitats everything is connected in a neat, closed loop. For example, bath water might empty into a pond for pink van cleef necklace knock off the ducks, who in turn eat the snails in the strawberry patch and fertilize it at the same time.
The Point Reyes based Permaculture Institute of Northern California is returning to this year's show at the Cow Palace March 20 24. According to PINC Co Director , the Flower and Garden Show is the ideal place for the institute to spread the word about ecological design.
Now Playing
Helpful Advice From the InternetStoryfulJust One Hour of Exercise a Week May Help Prevent DepressionTaLTIME7 Popular TV Shows That Get Mental Health RightHealthTimeClever Border Collie Performs CPR on Grateful HumansStoryfulHow to handle harassment at workWibbitz10 things we no longer do because of technologyWibbitzGiant Dog Likes Running Around HouseJukinMediaT Mobile Changes 'Without Borders' PlanWochit9 Things That Make You More Likely To Get DivorcedHealthTime10 things we no longer do because of technologyWibbitz
The permaculture concept was developed by and David Holgren of Australia in the 1970s, when concern for our rapidly deteriorating environment was heating up. They attempted to answer the question, "How do we, as the human species, sustain ourselves and provide for our needs and the needs of the environment for an indefinite period of time?" In short, how do we create a permanent culture?
To begin, Stark says, we need to regard the planet as a living system. We're not sitting on a spacecraft floating in space, and, hence, we need to design our lives our homes and offices and communities in coordination with those natural systems and forces with which we share the planet.
Our buildings are often built with little regard for factors like the orientation of the sun, yet we can build houses so they can take full advantage of solar heat. We can design our roofs and gardens to van cleef & arpels necklace alhambra knock off catch and store valuable rainwater, and we can radically reduce our waste by engaging in civic composting programs.
Stark says another step is to focus on closed loop processes, as modeled by a fruit tree. The tree blooms, fruit is formed and the fruit falls and decomposes in the soil to provide nourishment for the next generation of fruit. It's the same process embodied in composting our waste or recycling our glass.
Though long associated with alternative gardening and farming, the closed loop, an ecological concept promoted by permaculturalists the world over, is having a profound effect in other sectors. Stark says the kind of linear thinking that has dominated industrial societies in which products are manufactured and sold and then disposed of is clearly not sustainable or profitable in the long run. Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to realize this, and closed loop thinking is becoming increasingly popular.
By example, Stark says that in Germany,
So let's say you don't work in product development at BMW, and you live in San Francisco, so chances are you don't have a duck pond, either. Stark says there's plenty we can do, nonetheless, to bring permaculture concepts into our lives.
We can begin by not using any chemicals in our cleaning products or our gardens or lawns. They work their way into our water system, and plenty of ecologically sensible alternatives exist for most every chemical product.
Also, you can grow a considerable amount of food from a window box, and, if you want to raise more crops than you can fit in your box garden, you can join a community garden. Can't find room at an existing plot? Stark recommends starting your own and even asking your municipal government to turn park lawns into food producing community gardens.
Don't buy pesticide treated food, either, Stark says. By buying organic food instead, you foster a clean environment where your food is grown: When organic produce is grown, soil isn't destroyed, and birds aren't contaminated. If we bought only organic food, the contaminated food would disappear. This form of activism makes a big difference, Stark adds.
And, finally, it is activism that is Stark's final rallying cry. Get 150 percent politically active, he says. It's time we take back vca sweet alhambra necklace knock off the responsibility we've given to our politicians. "If you care about ecological issues," says Stark, "go to Washington with the people you vote for. Be on the phone; write letters. Be at their side, as active as any corporate lobbyist is."
PINC is a globally renowned organization in our own backyard, and it offers unique courses year round. Coming up in March is a one day class on how to convert a diesel engine to run on used, filtered vegetable oil. Stark says that 5 10 percent of our petroleum needs can be met by using recycled restaurant vegetable oils. If you consider how much vegetable oil must be used at all the McDonald's and Burger Kings every day, it's not hard to imagine the wisdom of exploiting this resource.
In April, PINC hosts a two day workshop on building your own outdoor wood fired oven, and in May and June, the institute holds workshops where you can learn the principles and methods of permaculture.
In an era when most ecological news is bad news, the optimism and enthusiasm of a James Stark is heartening. When he says the earth has the capacity to produce abundance for everyone, you believe him. And when he adds, "Anyone who owns property owns a piece of the earth, and can choose to steward that land in a healthy, productive way," you believe that, too.
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