PERMACULTURE
EVALUATION
CENTRE
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181 Principle 9: Use Small and Slow Solutions
The speed of movement of materials and people between systems should be minimised. A reduction in speed is a reduction in total movement, increasing the energy available for the systems self reliance and autonomy
183 Small scale/ minimum movement alternatives associated with permaculture - list
185 Bias in modern society towards large scale and fast movement. Rebuilding slow small systems will take time and getting the balance right won’t be easy
‘Big is better’ is a form of greed
186 Traditional cultures had ethics and taboos to constrain unsustainable growth and consumption
187 Small scale agricultural solutions do not attract development effort or funding eg tree Lucerne for stony well drained ridges to address salinity recharge issues (Australia)
189 Commuting and other daily travel has been entrenched as a natural way of living. Transport of bulky low value goods is common. Even substitutes of public transport for individual cars will not be sufficient in energy descent
Technological optimum of the 1960s, plans from then still not realised
190 Intermediate technology has been effective in developing countries. Tendency to ignore total per person energy use in designing energy efficient housing – small houses are better
191 The sustained pressure for de-regulation & the subsequent collapse of national economic sovereignty since c 1980 may itself reflect the fact that real energy and resource availability (if measured properly) has been declining. The hoped-for efficiency of unfettered capital can be seen as the final attempt of the system to get more out of the shrinking cake by sacrificing regulatory mechanisms and not caring about the people involved.
192 Corporations operate on short term thinking
We have an ‘adolescent’ society – want things without consequence. Value fast flashy and new over durable, permanent, proven over time
193 Value of perennial crops – don’t need replacing, avoid soil disturbance, save energy, even if slower growing with lower yields than specially bred annuals
194 Organically grown vegetables have better balance of nutrients and no unmetabolised nitrates.
Fast grown plantation timber nt as good in many respects as timber from slow growing species. So much is pressed into laminates which requires loads of energy to process
195 Many of best timber trees grow slowly when young and may need shelter. But after 10y or so their growth rate increases
196 Craziness of intensive animal production
197 Over nutrition of children with concentrated processed foods leads to earlier maturity, taller people who may degenerate faster (as animals do in same circumstances)
Information Economy: reduced attention spans, less memory capability, less interest in history and wisdom of older people
198 Need more focus on quality of content, less on the technology
199 Guidelines on use of computers – list
200 Comments on fundamentalism and reactionary values – neither helpful in imagining a sustainable future