Permaculture Design Principles
- As mentioned on our home page, the members of Loving Garland Green adhere to the twelve permaculture design principles and consider them to be the foundation for achieving a sustainable local economy.
- 1. Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
- 2. Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
- 3. Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
- 4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
- 5. Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.
- 6. Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
- 7. Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
- 8. Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
- 9. Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
- 10. Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
- 11. Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
- 12. Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.