Permaculture is a style of gardening and farming that helps us to create human settlements that are beneficial for both people and the environment. The concept was created by Australian researcher and biologist, Bill Mollison, and is a combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture.” Mollison wanted to expand the natural interactions he observed in the Tasmanian rainforest to human settlements, using them as a guide for sustainable agriculture design. The core principles of Permaculture are: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. 

Earth Care

Permaculture is rooted in ecology, which looks at the interactions between organisms and their environment, and aims to mimic the beneficial relationships and patterns that are present in nature. In a healthy eco-system, all of the necessary inputs are provided as part of a closed-loop system. A prime example of a closed-loop system is a forest, which requires no human input, such as watering or adding of fertilizer, in order to thrive. In Permaculture, we thoughtfully attempt to replicate these symbiotic relationships in order to limit our inputs and therefore lower our environmental impact. This is for the benefit of the world at large (less water and fertilizer means less energy to generate and transport it), the local ecosystem (benefiting from healthy soil life and an increase in biodiversity), as well as people (who don’t have to expend as much energy and time on maintenance).

People Care

Remarkably, while Permaculture gardens require less care, they inevitably provide more for people through better soil and therefore healthier, longer lasting plants. Additionally, the Permaculture framework offers many opportunities to extend the benefit of our garden to our families, our neighbors, and our community. This is largely done through the sharing of resources. Resource sharing can be done with physical goods, such as sharing the surplus of a bountiful harvest, or intangible resources, such as knowledge of sustainable gardening. In Permaculture, the ethics of People Care and Fair Share, essentially sharing and cooperation, are seen as essential to the sustainability of our planet.

Fair Share

These principles are also rooted in decreasing consumption and increasing self-reliance. As the production of many goods, both food and non-food, are done in an environmentally destructive way, a decrease in consumption is necessary to limit our environmental impact. At the same time, an increase in self-reliance through ecological gardening and farming will boost biodiversity and therefore contribute to environmental preservation and creation. As well, this self-reliance allows us to be less dependent on major producers of goods and gives us back control over how our food is grown. According to Richard Telford, with permacultureprinciples.com, “Self-reliance becomes more feasible when we focus on non-material well-being, taking care of ourselves and others without producing or consuming unnecessary material resources.” Permaculture is therefore intended to benefit individual people, communities, and the planet as a whole!