Imagine trying to grow food in a desert with summer heat of 120°F. Jordan’s arid Dead Sea Valley was the site of a “greening the desert” experiment, one of 60 projects profiled in Sustainable [R]evolution: Permaculture in Ecovillages, Urban Farms, and Communities Worldwide by Juliana Birnbaum and Louis Fox, who live in San Geronimo Valley. The book profiles 60 communities, from West Oakland to Zimbabwe, and offers inspiring ways we can act collectively and thrive.
In the Jordan valley, one of the driest places on earth, the Permaculture Research Institute transformed 10 acres of parched land into a food forest—raising figs, date palms, pomegranates—by building swales, mulching and using cover crops to help to retain moisture and restore microorganisms to the soil. If even desert climates can become verdant and abundant with food, what is possible in Marin?
Juliana and Louis describe permaculture as an invitation to think and act in an entirely new way. Inspired by the birth of their daughters, the couple sought examples of flourishing ecovillages as part of a commitment to creating a sustainable world for their children. “Permaculture is about taking nature’s patterns and cycles and applying that knowledge to designing systems for human use,” Juliana says. “It is based on three ethics: care for the earth, care for people and then sharing the surplus.”
I used to think permaculture was just about agriculture, but the book reveals a long history of practices in other domains—education, economics, health. Permaculture can be understood as an ancient systems science, passed down through indigenous communities with millennia of accumulated knowledge and practice. It offers the kinds of innovative thinking and solutions that can transform our current ecological crises. Juliana even applies permaculture principles in her work as a professional doula: by observing the mother and her physical, emotional and relational systems, she discerns how best to conserve energy and facilitate an easy birth.
The first of permaculture’s 12 core principles is “protracted observation.” Before growing or building, for instance, it is important to observe the area, noting how water and solar energy naturally flow through the land in order to design the most energy-efficient systems. Another principle is “stacking functions,” meaning that each part of a design is intended to accomplish more than one function. Juliana describes the creation of biochar from agricultural byproducts as an example: burning straw or scraps creates high heat to warm or cook with; the char can then be planted to trap water in soil and host helpful microorganisms.
The authors offer practical suggestions for implementing these principles: growing or sourcing food locally, eating in season, creating your own energy system through solar power or other means, learning about the carbon cycle to keep carbon in the ground and reducing water usage or catching it. The three ethics and 12 principles create guidelines that foster creative and innovative solutions in every domain.
Ecological stability is also profoundly related to our collective wellbeing and even happiness. One example in the book is a social movement adopted by a third of the villages in war-ravaged Sri Lanka, called Sarvodaya Shramada. Based on Buddhist principles, Sarvodaya has been successful in meeting 10 essential human needs, including safe water, basic health care, housing, education and cultural and spiritual engagement. “Mindfulness is the primary skill of sustainability,” Louis explains. “If you’re not mindful to remember to bring your reusable bag into the store, then you’ll be bringing home plastic bags all the time. Meditation, mindfulness and sustainability require each other.”
In permaculture, personal health and wellbeing is considered the innermost zone in a schema of expanding zones extending to the whole world. “It became clear to me that we’ve all bought into the idea that our personal choices are the most important thing,” Louis says, reflecting on his experience working on “The Story of Stuff,” a film short that rapidly went viral. “But you can’t shop your way out of this. You can’t even compost your way out of this problem. We have a centralized culture with massive systems. Our problems are at that scale and have to be dealt with at that scale.” The psychology of permaculture includes extending our circles of compassion from ourselves and our families to our local and global communities. This understanding of interconnection inspires compassionate action.
The “greening the desert” example is being extended throughout Jordan, and has spread to Iran, where the government has implemented permaculture practices to restore fertility to the land. Germany has also taken major steps toward sustainable energy production. Louis identifies a key leverage point in making systemwide change: “internalizing costs.” “We know carbon has a huge external cost,” he says, citing climate disruption. From the perspective of permaculture ethics, “You can’t just burn or sell oil and make a profit off it without paying for the damages.”
But the authors agree it all begins locally. “We need to get to know each other locally and tackle issues locally,” Juliana says. “It takes a local group of people to put pressure on the government to make change.” And that is something that West Marin knows how to do.
Authors Juliana Birnbaum and Louis Fox will read from and sign copies of their book at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11, in a free event sponsored by Point Reyes Books. (The location will be posted at ptreyesbooks.com.) Lisa Ferguson, Ph.D., lives in Nicasio and is a freelance writer covering topics of personal and social transformation.