What is Permaculture? - Part 2 - Ethics

In part 1 we explored what Bill Mollison and David Holmgren (co-founders) had to say about permaculture and how it has evolved over the last few decade, as it enters into the mainstream. We know that permaculture is  a design science, but in part 2 we will dive a bit deeper and explore  Permaculture as a philosophy, it values and ethics. 

Permaculture it is about us as individuals taking responsibility for our actions and inactions, about our sovereignty as a human being. As Bill stated, " .......above all it is about a sense of personal responsibility for earth care". (Permaculture: A Designers' Manual, 2012)

You would have to be living in a bubble (or under a rock) not to notice what is happening at the moment on our world.  It does not matter if you believe in climate change or not, you cannot hide from the fact that we are creating deserts, polluting our oceans with plastics and seeing the extinction of flora and fauna from our every reducing natural habitats.

So what can we do?

The Prime Directive of Permaculture:

"The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children." (Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designers' Manual, 2012).

As Bill  stated above, we need to take responsibility for how we live our lives, the decisions we make and what we teach our children.  It will be interesting to see how history and our children will judge us on what we do next.  We have solutions to a lots of the issues affecting the world and our communities at the moment, it is whether we have a will to make the changes that are required in the timeframe that we left, before nature fixes it for us.  There have been several mass extinctions episodes in the past, we as humans are not immune to this.

With this in mind, Permaculture for me, has provided a way to take some actions, make choices, and challenged the way that I think.  I have been able to take control back on how I lived my life, rather than getting frustrated whilst I wait for someone else to fix it. (Circle of Influence : Circle of Control - Stephen Covey), and to be a positive influence for change.

Permaculture's guiding ethics and principles have enabled me to choose a path which minimises or even enhances the environment in which I live, and returns some of my autonomy, my sovereignty, over the way I choose to live my life.

So what are these guiding ethics and principles?

In the early days of Permaculture, a lot of research was undertaken with indigenous long lived stable communities, to try and seek universal principles which helps guide these communities. As you can imagine there were many, however these could be distilled down to three ethics, with the second and third ethic arising from the first.

"The Ethical Basis of Permaculture (Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A design Manual, 2012, P2)

1. Care of the Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiple
2. Care of the People: Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.
3. Setting Limits to Population and Consumption: By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles."

The third ethic has undergone much debate over time and is also known as: "Fair Shares" and "Return of Surplus". Here is a short video from Geoff Lawton where he explains why the third ethic was changed.

There has been a lot written about the three ethics, here are some great article for you to read, which explore and discuss what these ethics me and how they can influence us:

• What is Permaculture - Part 1: Ethics
• Permaculture Ethics
• Permaculture Ethics
• Permaculture, Ethics and Diversity

How did I apply these ethics in my life?

Here are some of the actions I have taken to try and live by these three permaculture ethics, you may already be doing some of these, or maybe you are not sure where to start.

1. Care of the Earth:
   1. The use of renewal energy to provide for most of my power needs.
   2. Rain water catchment - provides for all of my water needs in my home
   3. Septic treatment system - all the black and grey water is treated and reused on site
   4. Plant trees, a garden, a veggie patch and a food forest
   5. Limit my consumption (consumer), when I do purchase, choose ethically
   6. Reduce waste (recycle, repair, reuse, repurpose, refuse, reduce)
   7. Work with nature, not against it
2. Care of the People:
   1. I teach what I have learnt in my garden, share my knowledge and skills - I set up this business (Grow, Eat, Learn) to help facilitate this
   2. Engage with my community, participate in events/gatherings, and volunteer, collaborate with others to enhance our community and to be a positive role model
   3. Combine my profession (Healthcare provider) with teaching about health and wellness, preserving produce and fermented foods
   4. Taking responsibility for my actions/inactions
   5. Be a good citizen, community member
3. Fair Share (return of surplus):
   1. Increase the fertility of my soils: Composting, chop and drop
   2. Limit consumption - set limits, ask yourself do you really need it? Consider the first two ethics before making a purchase
   3. Reinvest, pay forward any good will, acts of kindness, or generosity
   4. Design a way of life that value adds to what I am doing, the impact that I am having on the earth and those around me

There are many ways we can start to apply these three ethics to the way we live our lives.  If each of us starts with some small changes, we can have a huge impact. The most important thing though, is to START!