Permaculture: We're in this together

We’re in this together, and we can do better. We can start from the ground up.

Growing up in the suburbs there is a bit of a disconnect with the environment, and specifically the environmental processes that sustain life. There are so many problems generated out of a general lack of connection to the environment. These drive movements of people; climate change, deforestation, weather disasters, pollution, water shortages.

Our environments provide us food production, wildlife, pollination, nourishment, recreation. Many of these activities are not treated as a distinct local connection. Factory farms, pesticides, and fertilizers rule agriculture. Corporations and profits decide the shelves at the grocery stores. The closest we can get on our food is “Made in the USA” which probably means California even living on the east coast.

Whatever your motivations to want a greater connection to the environment, so many are left without knowing where to start, wondering ‘how do I make a change?’

The world is a mirror, and the only way to address any concerns is to use the reflection to impact your own actions. My hope is to share our experiences, the motivations behind the actions, and small steps to bring the environment closer to our everyday lives.

Permaculture is one area that has spoken to me personally as sharing many ideals I want to build and grow into. I hope we’ll get into many specifics, but in short the ethic is to shift systems to support a permanent culture by supporting permanent agriculture. There first step is to recognize your starting constraints. My choice to take on a permaculture project in the suburbs is driven by a couple factors:

The suburbs are the epitome of wasted and misguided resources. By showing an alternative to fertilized monoculture lawns and bringing food production into the suburban landscape the discussion can begin to change the ethic.
My experiences are driven from growing up in the suburbs, and can serve as a starting point for where to begin.

I hope you enjoy our journey, our mistakes, and the steps taken daily to bring an environmental ethic into our lives. I invite you to share in our journey, give ideas, provide feedback, learn from us, and lets work together to start to rebuild our environmental ethic from the ground up.