It’s Time to Colonise Earth!
Biodiversity, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Global Warming/Climate Change, Land, News, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Trees — by Craig Mackintosh September 2, 2010
Ascension Island, in the Pacific Ocean (source)
It seems Darwin was a permaculturist!
In his days globetrotting aboard HMS Beagle, Darwin set in motion the transformation of a dead, volcanic island rock – Ascension Island, described by nearby islanders as "a cinder" – into a green, rain-creating oasis. How did he do it?
Comments (4)Get Paid to Share Your Permaculture Passion With the World
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Networking Sites, News, People Systems, Project Positions, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh August 18, 2010
How to Help Us Educate the World and Save Our Futures
Tongue-in-cheek instructional video
Note: This is an update on PRI’s position and direction, and an opportunity for you to get paid to help!
The short version: We’re now paying you to write for us! Click here to get started.
The background/long version follows:
Over the last two years since I took over the running of this site, I’ve been pleased to see significant growth in traffic. I’m not so narrow-minded as to believe this is just due to my efforts or Geoff and Nadia Lawton’s or the rest of the PRI team, however. Aside from the tremendous support and input from the wider permaculture community, I also note that current events and the spread of information through the internet is threatening to actually wake the world up – and this ‘awakening’ is seeing an unprecedented growth in interest in sustainability, transition and the creation of resilient people systems. This interest certainly isn’t coming too soon, but better late than never.
Comments (20)Mining Madness – We Need Help Here in South Africa
Community Projects, Economics, News, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Water Contaminaton — by Santa van Bart August 3, 2010
In May 2010 life changed dramatically for the community here at Groot Marico, South Africa. We became aware of a prospecting and mining company called ‘African Nickel’ and its plans for us.
The lifeblood of our area is the Groot Marico River, which begins a few kilometers south of the historical town of the same name.
The Marico River is graded as an A/B (least impacted) river, and is one of the few remaining such rivers in the country. This means that the water is clear and safe to drink! In fact the town of Groot Marico and all the farms along the river derive their drinking and household water directly from the river.
Comments (9)Whale Tale
Biodiversity, Comedy Break, Global Warming/Climate Change, News, Water Contaminaton — by Marc Roberts July 31, 2010
Click for full view
Courtesy: Marc Roberts
With phyloplankton levels crashing and the whole marine food chain going belly-up, perhaps marine life should follow this whale’s example, and be a bit more pro-active.
Comments (0)Only Two Months to Go Until the Next Biggest Event in Permaculture
Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, News, Social Gatherings — by Kym Kruse July 29, 2010
The 10th Australasian Permaculture Convergence APC10
September 24 – 27, 2010
Do not delay registering for this premier event and promote it throughout your business, training and social networks.
An exciting programme of forums, presentations, workshops, round-table discussions, plenary speakers both skyped in and visiting from around Australia and the world.
Talking about Transition Towns, Indigenous knowledge, urban planning, agriculture, humanitarian & emergency responses, ethics, advocacy, population, gender, business, education & training and so much more.
Plenary speakers and presenters include: Bill Mollison, Daryl Hannah, Maj. Gen. Michael Jeffery, Mark O’Connor, Gunter Pauli, Janet Millington, Sonya Wallace, Russ Grayson, Geoff Lawton, Darren J.Doherty, Andrea Pape, Robin Clayfield, David Holmgren and Costa Georgiadis and many, many more.
An event for newcomers, as well as the traditional Convergence.
All set within the pristine, protected beauty of the tropical Queensland wet tropics rainforest.
Read the July Update and the Programme (PDFs).
Do not leave it to the last minute. Do not miss out.
Comments (1)Weekly Linkfest – Edition 008
News — by Patrick Blampied July 28, 2010
Welcome to round eight of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- The best use of a backyard pool that I’ve ever seen! It feeds a whole family – a very clever little permaculture design. See more on this topic here.
Comments (3)
A ‘New’ Discovery – Soluble Nitrogen Destroys Soil Carbon
Compost, Economics, Fungi, News, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Structure — by Craig Mackintosh July 27, 2010
How many times must we ‘discover’ something we’ve discovered before – particularly when our lives and our futures depend on reacting appropriately, and shaping society, to incorporate the lessons learned?
One of the most transformative experiences in my life was from studying soil science many years ago. Getting something of an understanding of the inner workings of that thin skin which covers our earth created thought-connections in my mind that had me looking at the world in a profoundly new way.
Comments (10)Solving All the Problems of the World – in a Garden
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Land, News, Nurseries & Propogation, People Systems, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Salination, Society, Soil Conservation, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh July 23, 2010
This video can be downloaded in high resolution from Vimeo (see ‘About this video’ section on lower right side’).
I hope you’ll enjoy this clip. More, I hope it encourages you to dare to be different, and dare to have your work noticed. The garden we profile in the video above, as you’ll discover after watching it, has just won a national competition held by the Jordanian Department of Education – for schools who incorporate environmental projects into their curriculum. This means that thousands of schools, in what is arguably the most water-stressed country on the planet, now have the possibility to learn from this humble example of permaculture in action – and get inspired to do similar.
Special thanks to Lesley Byrne for her enthusiastic support, and to Nadia Lawton for her vision and determination to help her own people – and in so doing setting such an excellent example for us all.
A Callout to All Permaculturists on the Gold Coast, Queensland
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, News, Social Gatherings, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Nick Huggins July 21, 2010
Click for larger view
Note: This is a preliminary concept plan only. As the garden develops, further
consultation will be undertaken with the members and other stakeholders
to drive the finished ‘product’. The garden will be organic and will incorporate
many Permaculture design principles.
What: Queensland Southen Beaches Community Gardens Open Day and Working Bee
When: Saturday 31 July 2010, from 1pm (Sausage sizzle from 3pm, finish by 4pm)
Where: Tugun Community Centre (Please bring own gardening tools.)
During my internship (at the Permaculture Research Institute Aus) I had the privilege of getting involved with some dedicated community minded people. I met Margot James, a focused, determined lady on a mission to set the ball rolling on a project called Southern Beaches Community Gardens. It was named this for a very good reason. The Southern beaches take in a handful of suburbs from the Queensland Border up the coast approximately 12km to Palm Beach. So this has set the framework for not just one garden, but a network of gardens and has started cementing some form of future food security for the southern Gold Coast.
Weekly Linkfest – Edition 007
News — by Patrick Blampied July 19, 2010
Welcome to round seven of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- A forward thinking Sicilian town has ditched its expensive, smelly, dirty diesel trucks in favour of donkeys for collecting the garbage (on YouTube and as podcast). This serves as a good proof of concept for the Maribyrnong council in Melbourne which is one of only two councils in Australia with a public peak oil policy. The policy mainly covers how to keep council services such as waste disposal running, as society as we know it starts to collapse.
- Major wins as biotechs back-off in Brazil and organic beats GE in India.
- An article about our perpetual assault on ‘weeds’ and permaculture as the answer to a war that can only end with nature winning, whether we join it or not.
- A New Orleans’ Zoo is teaching kids about the impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, and the effect we’re having on the environment.
- The creation of new power capacity from renewable energy has exceeded new fossil fuel power generation in the United States and Europe for the second year running, according to two United Nations reports published Thursday.
Municipal Waste Compost Agreement Signed with Local Council in Far North Queensland
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Compost, News, Rehabilitation, Urban Projects — by Kym Kruse July 16, 2010
Close to nine months ago, a group of passionate young Far North locals decided to approach their local council with the idea of making high quality compost for agriculture from municipal waste. A few days ago we marked a moment in time when, after a steep learning curve or two and 1000’s of hours of work, we signed the contract under the shade of a eucalypt on the bonnet of a Holden Commodore. The Tablelands Regional Council had voted and now signed to support Trust Nature FNQ in its “Vital Soils Initiative”.
Comments (8)Weekly Linkfest – Edition 006
News — by Patrick Blampied July 12, 2010
Welcome to round six of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- A Japanese company has invented a battery charger that will charge an electric car’s batteries to 50% in 3 mins and 70% in 5, making fuelling times comparable to a regular car. This could be a great technology for the buses we’re going to need to transport the majority of the world’s populations in coming years.
- Growing awareness that our current usage of water could lead to global conflict as the last drops dry up, has a group called the Young Water Professionals to meet this week. One of the key proposed solutions included farming practices that use less water…
- An anti-whaling activist from New Zealand who was handed a suspended sentence for obstructing the annual Japanese whale hunt has vowed to continue his crusade.
- The climategate debacle has been cleared up by an independent panel going in favour of the researchers arguing human-induced climate change.
- The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles is using goats to control weeds in Los Angeles. Aside from being quite entertaining for city dwellers, they make pretty sustainable lawn mowers.
- Hundreds of oiled Louisiana Brown Pelicans recovered from the Gulf oil spill have been brought to the Tampa Bay area where scientists are hoping they will stay.
- Good to see a bit of coverage on urban homesteading.
- Stephen Colbert makes a tongue in cheek call for unemployed americans to take farmers’ jobs, as there has been complaints for years from politicans and anti-immigrant activists that immigrant farmers are taking down the economy.
Home Cheese-Making DVD Hits the Road!
Animal Processing, DVDs/Books, Fermenting, Livestock, News, Processing & Food Preservation — by Ecofilms July 8, 2010
Okay, it’s taken a while and we were expecting to release this title last year. We even had a few people ask for it for last year’s Christmas, but the truth is we took too long to finish it. So now it’s here, ready to go! Elisabeth Fekonia’s Home Cheesemaking and All Things Dairy DVD has finally been released!
Comments (13)Weekly Linkfest – Edition 005
News — by Patrick Blampied July 5, 2010
Welcome to round five of our Weekly Linkfest, where we share the good, the bad, the ugly and the just plain interesting from what we’ve seen this week.
I would greatly appreciate readers getting involved in this weekly linkfest. Please email editor (at) permaculture.org.au with links (and ideally a summary sentence outlining the key point of each link) to noteworthy articles and news reports on the internet.
Off we go:
Good News (coz we all need it):
- A company in the netherlands has proposed making an island the size of hawaii solely out of the plastic waste floating in the sea – trying to turn a terrible environmental problem into a positive. Since the plastic island won’t have any soil on it initially, maybe there will be some soil creation work for permies??
- www.breathingearth.net is a graphical representation of the births, deaths and amount of CO2 being released in each country while you’re watching. I struggled to work out whether this was good or bad news but I think from an awareness point it’s a good thing.
- Window farming has taken off in new york city and spreading across the world, bringing food production about as close to the kitchen table as you can get.
- www.magenn.com is the home of a new kind of high altitude wind generator that overcomes some of the challenges of wind power such as location and consistency of wind. The Professor of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Ken Caldeira, says "There is enough energy in high altitude winds to power civilization 100 times over; and sooner or later, we’re going to learn to tap into the power of winds and use it to run civilization."
- Paul Stamets has proposed BP use oyster mushrooms which break down oil, to clean up the gulf spill. Audio.
- A really simple way to reuse your plastic bottles and keep your plants well hydrated even when you’re not around.
- Even if you can’t be in a natural building that breathes and doesn’t give off dangerous chemicals, you can clean the air in your house naturally using certain plants.
Daryl Hannah Attending Major Permaculture Conference in Cairns
Conferences, Courses/Workshops, News — by Anne Stephens July 1, 2010
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Media Release |  |
Daryl Hannah, attending major Conference in Cairns
Actress, film maker and leading environmental campaigner, Daryl Hannah will arrive in Cairns to attend a major conference to discuss permaculture design and education in September this year.
The Australasian Permaculture Convergence, APC10, is an anticipated biennial event to be hosted in the Wet Tropics town of Kuranda, a 40 minute drive from Cairns and gateway to the Atherton Tableland food bowl.
Hannah is passionately committed to practicing a low impact lifestyle.
From her small footprint, passive and active solar home, complete with grey water systems and organic garden in California, to being an early adopter of biofuels, Daryl Hannah has been actively spreading the good news of how well it all works and how good it all feels to be part of the solution for over two decades.
Comments (8)
