It was a full on day at APW PDC workshop. See I am abbreviating everything already. Met lots of very interesting people all eager to learn about permaculture, which, FYI is...
'Conciously designed landscapes which mimic the pattern and relationships found in nature while yielding food, energy and fibre'
OR in short and punchy form - Earth Care, People Care, Surplus Share
It is the philosophical brainchild of two Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren who's theory and practice not only applies to gardens, but all our lives. If this isn't mindblowing well according to MIT system scientists Meadows et al who have written 'Limits to Growth' way back in the 70s and predict the earth is set to blow up. Ok not to be alarmist but, people have been measuring the earth's temperature and its been gradually heating up increasingly mostly over the past century - due to greenhouse gases etc and it seems climate change is inevitable.
I just call it Hell kindling, although some people aren't really aware of the reality of Hell, trying to deny it exists, but we do have a name for it, and athiests are calling it 'climate change'. This is the effect of man polluting God's creation. Unless we stop and repent, sadly, its not going to get any better for the inhabitants of the earth, not just me and you but future generations. The sins of our fathers are actually affecting us seven generations down the track.
Now this sin problem is now manifesting in 'predicaments' like..urbanisation, poverty, family dysfunction, water supply, selfies, energy depletion, fossil fuel convenience, weapons manufacture, acid rain, consumerism, greed, pollution, unemployment, debt, erosion, desertification, extinction, disease, etc etc. You get the picture. Arrgh! Stop the planet, I want to get off!
The bad news is our convenient energy supply that fuels our industrial/technological age, crude oil, or fossil fuel, is about to run out. We are resorting to methods like fracking to get this black gold which takes more energy to do than what we get out of it. So what is going to happen when our economic growth is stunted by us not being able to do anything anymore? I.e. electricity run by fossil fuels is no longer, we can't hop on a plane and fly anywhere, cars can no longer run on petrol, freight comes to a standstill, or imagine an earthquake not just affecting Christchurch but a world wide crisis. I said it would blow your mind..
The good news is permaculturalists are one step ahead of this and taking steps to 'power down' and slowly but surely restore the earth with our green fingers planting and caring for the land so that our carbon dioxide respiration is now going the other way by photosynthesis. Or something like that. I don't know, my brain is about to explode. More later!
