What Does Sustainability Mean to You?

Sustainability is something more and more of us are talking about in Aliso Viejo because of the city’s green initiative and the larger discussion about issues like climate change and how to grapple the impact we have on our environment.  But what does sustainability mean to you?

According to the EPA sustainability is defined as:

“Policies and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”    

Of course, as we evolve as a culture we understand that as our needs change our society changes. We have to adjust what that means to both our generation and future generations in order to sustain a quality of life for the future.

What we have now is an old way of thinking, which is difficult to change. Especially when it can be expensive with things like solar power and other expensive upgrades. There has to be inexpensive things we can do to help our homes and in turn our communities become more sustainable.

That is where permaculture comes into the picture.  It’s moving away from what we have traditionally seen as a sustainable lifestyle and thinking differently about how we build our homes and tie everything together. 

Bill Mollison, the originator of Permaculture describes it simply as:

“A design system for creating sustainable human environments.”  

The Permaculture Institute in New Mexico gives a bit more to the definition:

“An ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of human endeavor. It teaches us how build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities and much more.”

Permaculture uses systems found in nature as a guide to build or augment your home in ways that are self-sustaining and leave as little footprint as possible.  You grow food, use less energy, capture rain water and basically just use less of the things that many of us take for granted.

Some examples of permaculture that can be used at a local level include:

1. Edible landscape
2. Trellising fruits and vegetables
3. Chicken tractors (for yes, backyard chickens)
4. Aquaponics
5. Greywater use
6. Vermicomposting

Are you curious?  Do you want to learn more?  Slow Food Orange County is hosting a Permaculture Primer this weekend, March 20 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with Bill Roley at his home in Laguna Beach. Here is more about the program:  

“The Introduction to Permaculture class will be an overview of permaculture design, using the five fingers of permaculture: combining food, waste, water, energy and shelter into a full circle solution for environmental health. Dr. Roley will show case studies of village design and use hands-on exercises to illustrate these principles. A potluck meal will be shared for lunch.”

If you are interested, you can purchase tickets here.