It’s becoming more and more evident just how strongly sustainability and community are intertwined. Living at Solheimar has made it very clear to me just how dependent one is upon the other. In my life, and I think in many others’, there is a huge disconnect both from each other and the natural world. This is devastating on many fronts; we are social creatures, hardwired to thrive from interaction. We are completely dependent upon the Earth for its resources and its ability to keep spinning; if it stops moving so do we. How have we come to be so disconnected from these crucial aspects of being alive? A certain story has manifested itself in our society; success is determined by just how independent you are. Do you have your own house with sprawling lawns and a 3-car garage? Good. You’ve achieved step 1 of the American Dream. Step 2: spend the rest of your days figuring out why that doesn’t seem to be enough, and why you’re emptier than ever.
I don’t want my life to play out that story, and I doubt anyone reading this does either. There are many solutions to ameliorate the situation, but I propose one very small action that can make a world of difference. Karin our instructor has taught us extensively about permaculture and repurposing unproductive land. My favorite way of doing this is by converting lawns into gardens. There is something so poetic about taking a piece of land that is trying to mimic nature, like a lawn, and bring it back to its true wildness. You don’t need a degree in landscape architecture to implement permaculture in your life. There are three very basic tenets you need to know; earth care, people care, fair share. I believe these three principles are not only important for permaculture practices, but for our day to day lives as well. By working together towards a common goal, especially an environmentally oriented one can really bring community activity and help bring families, neighborhoods, and towns together.
In my own personal life, I am currently helping my parents to organize a self-sustaining system of raised-bed gardening with soil coming from a worm compost. Currently, my family uses traditional composting, but the soil is not as rich as we would like, so I proposed worm composting as a means of increasing the nutrient content. In conjunction with this, the soil will be used in new raised-garden beds that we’re planning to put in our front yard. Our backyard is used almost every season for sports, but our front yard is just sitting, unproductive, but taking in lots of resources like rainwater and fertilizer! By converting this over to a garden area, it will give the area a new purpose, bring my family closer together, and increase the nutrient content of otherwise low-grade soil. I’m very excited to being this small scale project, and want to reiterate how easy this is for anyone to do. Any area you’re able to convert is a step in the right direction. It’s a positive feedback loop; more gardens, fewer lawns, more food, fewer purchases, fewer fossil fuels. It’s a small step towards saving our environment, but I think it can make a world of difference by fostering community and promoting environmental education and awareness.
For more information about permaculture, visit permacultureprinciples.com
Emma McCully