"Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple."
Bill Mollison; The father of permaculture
"The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold
The disappearance of wolves by being hunted in Yellowstone park contributed to the imbalance of local ecology. Because of increased
population of elk, new plants fail to establish to replace old ones. This results in soil erosion. After reintroducing wolves in 1985, elk polulation
returned to former levels. Beavers returned too after the growth of willow at the water edge. In return, dams were constructed and minimized the risk
of floods.
Image by Thomas from Pixabay
Lawns started in Europe during the 17th and 19th centuries as a status symbol. The rich would demonstrate their wealth by maintaining expensive, well-kept lawns that served no agricultural purpose.
Source: mind-blowingfacts.com
Photo by Pankaj Shah on Unsplash
Countries generate 2.01 billion tonnes of solid waste with less 40% not managed in an environmentally safe manner. It is expected to increase.
Source: World Bank
Photo by Antoine GIRET on Unsplash
Fog nets installed on mountain ridges to capture water droplets from passing clouds at height 3-10 metre. A 10 cm PVC pipe collects the water distributed to a collection tank.
Source: The Permaville Handbook
Authored by: Brian Newhouse
Red worm, red wiggler worm, Eisenia Fetida, can covert coffee grounds & filters, tea bags, brown paper, newspaper and egg shells into worm casting. 1 kg is equivalent to 1000 worms.
Grow it organically!
Hydraulic ram pump can pump water uphill with no electricilty and no gasoline. It is made of PVC.
Pumping water
A process called pyrolysis can recycle plastic waste in the abscence of oxygen to produce gasoline. There are three types of pyrolysis: slow, flash and fast. An 8.3 pounds of plastic can produce one gallon of fuel. A super glue can be made from gasoline and styrofoam. (super glue). The latter is so dangerous that can be easily set in fire. SO BE CAREFUL!! Video clip shows the steps to make pyrolysis in a simple way.
Would it be nice to have a flock of sheep grazing turf grass instead of lawn mowers? A specialized company in Fairfax called Lamb Mowers offeres such ecological services. Instead of charging per hour, the cost will be $275 on weekends and evenings. The benefits are tremendous. Sheep's poop are low odor
and biogradable fertilizer. As per the ordinance of the city, sheep should be kept on a minimum area of 2 acres.
Ollas are unglazed clay pots with a tappered shape buried in the ground leaving the neck opening for filling then can be capped with a clay plate. Since the wall of pots are porous, water can be pulled by adjacent roots . Ollas are eficient in irrigating plants by reducing evaporation and runoff. This method of irrigation was used over 4000 years in China. Many countries like India, Brazil, Iran and burkina Faso are still using this method of subsurface irrigation.
Kill A Watt is a device that meassures the electrical currency of various appliances. Try to plug your radio into Kill A WATT device and increase the volume. The power will increase. Some devices will keep drawing electricity even if they are turned off. The device is manufactured by Prodigit Electronics.
Porkrind, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsChicken poop can not only be applied as an organic fertilizer, but it can be used as feedstock to biogas. An innovative concept was put in place by a Kenyan farmer to generate electicity from biogas after mixing it with water. Chicken can provide meat, eggs, pest control, fertilizer and electricity.
An imaginery corn farm located in Georgia. This design was for my final project of Permaculture Design Course that I enrolled with Permaculture Education. Applying insecticides, pesticides and industiral fertilizers will affect soil organisms, beneficiery insects and companion plants. Although hybrid corn can produce high yield, infestion by pests can spread rapidly due to the lack of diversity. Dandelion which is considered a weed can accumulate nutrients in tissues. By mixing with soil, plants can benefit from these nutrients. Moreover corn produced ethanol doesnot reduce carbon dioxide emissions as being indicated by Lark et el, 2022.
For the permaculture final project, I turned an imaginary monoculture corn field in Georgia into primary olive tree farm by applying permaculture design principles such as stacking functions / multiple functions, incorporating diverse plants, nitrogen-fixing plants, water harvesting and renewable energy systems. In this system, one input can aid in producing many outputs. Applying mulch, olive trees produce olives, oil and soap. Moat and pounds can have multiple functions such as preventing fire spread, habitat for insects, fish & birds and a resovoir for emergency.
Swales are ditches being dug along the contour line in order to catch, store and enable water to slowly penetrate the soil upon rainfall in slopes less than 15%. The area beneath the swale will act as sponge thus making suitable to grow small trees and shrubs. In a remarkable video of greening the desert, Geoff Lawton explained in this video Greening the desert that the purpose of this system was to harvest every single drop of rain. One and half km of swale ditches was dug on contour and was heavily mulched. A micro irrigation PE pipes were placed underneath the mulch. On uphill of the trench, nitrogen fixing pioneer desert trees were planted. On the lower side of the trench, rows of palm, fig and othe fruit trees were grown.
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This image shows a simple, eco-friendly water and waste management layout for a small homestead or farm. At the center is a dam that collects water from a higher source through pipes and regulates flow with a gate valve. Excess water can spill over into another dam. Surrounding the dam are trees and vegetation, likely benefiting from the water source. A barn and a house are located nearby, each with roof tanks for collecting rainwater. house also connects to a greenhouse and has a biogas system for converting waste into energy. Wastewater from the house flows into a septic tank, which drains into a soak pit for safe disposal. All elements are connected in a way that supports sustainable living and efficient use of water and natural resources.
