Neo Enviroputer Recrudescence 2.0 (Or, New Environmentalism and Permaculture)

Is it getting cliché to use the economy to explain, support, or justify a certain set of changes that are taking place in our present society? The answer is, yes. But I’m going to use it because it makes sense in the context of what’s currently on my mind: a new environmentalist movement.

Yes! New environmentalist movement. What mindless nomenclature should I use to label this? Let’s see… we’ve got… Environmentalism 2.0; we could also use New Environmentalism; Neo-Green? How about, Neo Enviroputer Recrudescence … 2.0. Bing. There’s originality in it.

I should start off by saying I read a lot of environmental and DIY (Do It Yourself) blogs. Maybe at a later date I’ll put together a nice blogroll for you all to throw onto an RSS Reader. For now, let’s just say that the two subjects – in my mind – are necessarily linked. Environmentalism aims to protect nature through accountability and decisions, on a personal level as well as a broader scale. The DIY philosophy aims to shun larger corporate behemoths, and instead favors an individual approach to building, fixing, and maintaining a sustainable lifestyle that, at its core, preaches reusability.

Which brings me to Permaculture. It sounds like a frightening thing; as if maybe a cult in Texas[1. all good cults start in Texas] had decided to start some fanatical yahoo group. This is not true.

Permaculture is from Australia.

It’s also not true because Permaculture preaches, simply, sustainable[2. or as near as you can get to sustainable living] living through better individual land management. Growing your own food, harvesting energy, catching water: these are all things that lead to a cheaper lifestyle (I told you the economy would come into play). They also lead to a world where we aren’t buying food from supermarkets, who purchase their goods from large corporate-owned farms that are largely inefficient when it comes to land and water use; or unnecessarily siphoning potable water from underground reservoirs to sprinkle our grass; or… well, you get the picture.

Here’s a major book on Permaculture from its main advocate and founder, Bill Mollison: Introduction to Permaculture. Check it out if you’re interested in some Further Reading.

This Spring, Summer, and Fall my major house project will be to convert my land into a smarter, more environmentally friendly place. I’ve got a greenhouse planned for construction, as well as a rain catch, garden, and more efficient pool watering system to build. I’ll keep you updated on where this goes.

In the meantime, keep your ears open and you’ll hear it; there’s a movement out there, and it’s growing. Neo Enviroputer Recrudescence 2.0!

Oh, and something for Hump Day via my man Jimmy C.:

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 12:46 am and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.