What is Permaculture

The word ‘Permaculture’ was coined in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, two Australian academics. Their original intention was to create a ‘permanent agriculture, but later they discovered that their design ideas were also creating the foundations for a more ‘permanent culture’.

Permaculture is primarily a system of ethical land use and design for sustainable human settlements. The study of Permaculture Design encompasses traditional knowledge, ecology, sustainability, organic food production, efficient energy use, natural home design, recycling, appropriate technology, ecological economics, and much more.

Permaculture Designers realize that the present systems of big agriculture and agribusiness, their use of harmful chemicals, GMOs, and pesticides, the unnatural treatment of animals, and monoculture farming (corn, soybeans, corn, soybeans, corn, soybeans….) are all seriously flawed. Scientists speculate that these practices are responsible for the disappearance of many species and are the main cause of disease in countries that still farm using these outdated methods. When humans fail to work with nature and instead impose their own will, economy, and destructive methods on it, all humans and the rest of nature inevitably suffer.

The Permaculture approach is to work with nature through careful planning and design and create systems that nourish the earth and ourselves – with less work and more favorable yields.

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