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Permaculture at Grinnell -- Methods to Foster Ecological Leadership

Avi Pogel, Anthropology, ‘06

I feel Permaculture design is the most important idea to have arisen in the last century in response to humanity’s abuse of fossil fuels and the exploitation of plants and animals. Although the term Permaculture is a recent invention the concept has existed for thousands of years. For most of human history small scales societies would have practiced Permaculture by using common sense. Permaculture relies on an ethic of care of the earth, care of the people, and share of the abundance. Although many scholars are not comfortable with the idea of the “ecological savage”, without a doubt the vast majority of humanity’s ancestor lived with an intimate knowledge of their surroundings and a deep connection to the earth as well as knowledge of their place with in the biome. Permaculture is a discipline that strives to apply an intimate knowledge of nature to modern human lives so that we can live in balance with nature. Permaculture is the creation of human habitats that have the stability, diversity, and resilience of natural systems. As threads in the web of life, human beings must return to a balanced way of living so that life itself will exist for future generations.

Permaculture exists wherever humans strive to consume less fossil fuel energy and create regenerative, often edible, landscapes. William McDonough further illuminates Permaculture principles with the simple ideas of “eliminate the concept of waste” and “live on current solar income.” These statements mean that in natural systems byproducts of one system is the energy input to another. Waste is food for other creatures. Our kitchen scrapes can become fertile soil and our shower water can water our gardens. Living on current solar income means designing habitats that take advantage of the solar energy hitting out planet every day. Using current solar energy as opposed to fossil fuels, is feasible, economical, effective and free. With current technology and science, Permaculture offers the solutions for how humans are to live an abundant life on our mother earth.

Imagine if all of the food one eats was either grown or raised in ones own garden or a neighbor’s garden using well designed green houses year round. Imagine public parks filled with fruit and nut trees, vegetables, medicinal herbs, and berry bushes. Each home can receive all of the energy it needs form the sun and wind and treat its own waste water. If such a vision were manifest, every small town in America could be a recreation of the Garden of Eden. There would be no need to support tyrants or wage war for oil in the Middle East. United States industry could be used to build energy efficient cars, solar panels and other tools to sell abroad. Local energy industries would provide thousands of jobs and prevent both the loss of U.S. jobs as they are sent overseas and capital leaving the communities which produced it. Using Permaculture principles, this vision could be immanent. All of the above suggestions are practical, easily accomplished, healthful and profitable.

I am greatly appreciative of Grinnell’s support so that I was able to take a Permaculture design course this summer at Surya Nagar farm in Fairfield, Iowa. Grinnell’s support is invaluable to this project and will continue to pay dividends in brilliant minds for years to come. I would like to ask that Grinnell College not only continue its support of the Permaculture activities in Fairfield but increase its support so that ten or more interns could live and work With Lonnie Gamble each summer.

These interns would then be trained to return to Grinnell and develop Grinnell’s Permaculture infrastructure as well as influence their own future communities.

This current generation of graduates live in dynamic times and a liberal arts education, aside form fostering creative individuals, does not guarantee a livelihood like it once did. Permaculture techniques guarantee that individuals will be able to sustain themselves even if society as we know it falls victim to manmade calamity brought on by destructive use of the world’s resources and the bloody struggles to control them. It is vital that future Permaculture designers are provided with environments that appreciate and foster what Permaculture has to offer. With this in mind I would like to make a number of suggestions to make Grinnell College a leader in supporting the future of the planet.

Although the prairie landscaping around the college is attractive and indigenous, it does not provide many edible plants for people. This could be accomplished simply by increasing the number of perennial herbs found around the campus. These herbs could be used by Dining services as well as students for flavoring foods and to make refreshing teas.
Increase the number of fruit trees on campus - especially hardy varieties of trees that bear fruit in the late summer and throughout the autumn.
Instead of having the student garden on the edge of campus - locate numerous student tended gardens by the dorms and on the edges of Mac field, near the library and other high traffic areas.
Create a campus wide rain catchments system for showering, flushing and a grey water system to water the gardens around campus.
Increase the energy efficiency of all the campus facilities and use more solar and wind energy where ever possible.
Include a course on ecological design and teach incoming students about Grinnell’s commitment to energy conservation and local food production.

This list covers but a few of the changes that would greatly increase Grinnell’s ability to produce well educated future leaders who understand the coming challenges of living and thriving in the 21st century. Please take these considerations into account not just as the ideas of an idealist graduate but as well thought-out and proven techniques to living with a smaller foot print on our home world.

Care of the Earth, Care of the people, and Share the abundance
May all beings in the world have happiness.
Avi Pogel ’06