Environmentally responsible living
One of the most important aspects of Permaculture
is ethics. One of these ethics is “Care of the Earth”. Many of the
sprays, deodorants, laundry cleaning agents and body care products that you
have used in the past and that many others are still using, are slowly
poisoning our own families and the environment.
There is an extremely fine line between human
desires and ecological disaster. We are slowly destroying the balance that
exists between the organisms which live in our environment. Our production
of expensive, chemically based cleaners, insecticides and herbicides
intensifies these problems.
It is only when humans reflect on the use of such
substances, or investigate and realise the long-term effects of their
actions, that we moderate or abandon the kinds of things which ultimately
threaten our own survival.
Earthcare is the first permaculture ethic, which
itself is all encompassing, as all the other ethics arise from and are
included in it. We have a responsibility to care for all living and
non-living things. This includes all plants and animals, the soil and the
environment. The earthcare ethic implies the ethical use of resources,
active conservation and the rehabilitation of our fragile earth.
Humans need to plan for sustainability and to
moderate their actions.
In permaculture systems we should be minimising our
impact on the environment by using renewable energy sources such as wind,
solar, and water energies, using native species wherever possible in the
system, cultivating the least amount of land by growing food in intensive
systems, developing community responsibility and then assisting others to
become self-reliant.
From Getting
Started in Permaculture by Ross and Jenny Mars
Candlelight Trust 1998
