Conscious Business ·Feb 01, 2019

Is Permaculture a Way Out of the World’s Sustainability Problems?

Permaculture is the design and development of natural ecosystems. The purpose of permaculture is providing sustainability to the environment and being self-sufficient.

There is a visible tussle between the consumerist lifestyle versus regenerative sustainable lifestyle. The former already has high ground and indicates the near collapse of the ecosystem.

Sustainable farming and regenerative farming is starting to gain ground

The voice of sustainable farming is faint. Corporations are hell-bent on driving the world to an unsustainable future for profits.

The environment has abundant resources, but man's greed is the reason why the environment is disintegrating.

The ‘no-till’ Method of Permaculture

Mimicking nature is what permaculture or sustainable farming is all about. Primitive societies were already practicing this holistic approach to sustainable living. David Holmgren and Bill Mollison coined the word permaculture. They defined the 12 principles behind the philosophy. Masanobu Fukuoka initiated the natural farming movement which includes no-till system farming.

Permaculture in Meghalaya

Jhumming - a slash and burn cultivation was practiced by the tribes of Meghalaya. Now outlawed, as it is destructive to the environment in the region. The main purpose of jhumming was to reduce the pressure of unsustainable farming. After jhumming the cultivated lands regenerate, usually in three years. After a land regenerates, a new area was selected for jhumming.

Permaculture and sustainable clothing | Muezart

Today the land in the region is left to revive itself. So, instead of falling apart, the ecosystem resurrects. It is a continuous, unfailing reinvention of perpetual sustainability.

Modern Agriculture - a Prequel to Overfeeding

Over-feeding, over-medication, and disconnect with nature have resulted in a kind of brain-fog. Soils and ecosystems suffer undue stress. Trees are cut down to cater to the demands of architecture and paper.

Permaculture and modern agriculture | Muezart

Modern agriculture affects homesteading farming. The demand for processed food stifles natural farming.

Over-consumption and high food supply are endangering natural farming. The land is getting depleted and natural resources are running out.

Permaculture - The Solution to Connect Us With Nature

Permaculture is the solution to modern agriculture. The system seeks to integrate rather than segregate. The prerequisites to it is a series of ‘connections’. Connect your homestead with the environment around it. Like connecting the kitchen to the chicken. Kitchen scraps connect with compost materials, the compost with the chickens, the chickens with the garden. The result is a reduction in wastes, costs and an increase in production.

The guiding principle is ‘produce no waste’ and ‘connect’. Harvest rainwater, up-cycle rather than recycle or down-cycle. Make more connections for less waste and more sustainability.

Assembling the Ecological Homestead

In permaculture, we assemble the ecological homestead. Connecting our homes with the natural world around, not with the destructive grid. This requires ecological literacy by being able to design homestead with the environment. To practice permaculture, we need to learn to interconnect our homes with our immediate surroundings.

Ecological Homestead | Muezart

To succeed we will have to create our own roadmap to:

Identify our position – see the direction, the lay of the land
Access our situation – discover the natural resources on our land or homes. The field, the forest, and the local and wild animals.
Financial priority – how much can we afford? Start small, and not owe a debt.

Go Natural and Spare The Environment

Permaculture advocates the no-till method and requires little or no mechanical equipment. It makes use of natural methods like cattle grazing, animal droppings and micro-organism action to enrich the soil. Tilling the soil means leaving it bare, and bare soil is a wounded soil.

Orchards are also connectable to the food forest. Food forests have layers of canopies that sustain life – flora and fauna - at different levels.

Life Ahead with Permaculture

The future is bright for permaculture. In modern agriculture we buy fertilizers and till the land, in permaculture, we create the things we need.

In the end, conventional agriculture leaves the world a desolate and futureless place. In permaculture, we have the power to make this world a better place than we found it. Permaculture predicts the future by creating it.

In the bargain aspect, we not only save money, but we also save time. We not only sustain, but we also regenerate. We invigorate mind and body and we become the solution instead of the problem.

If you think permaculture can be a solution to the world’s food and health problems, visit our website. We would love to hear from you!