If you could say ONE sentence to non permies...

If you could only say ONE sentence to non permies about permaculture, to try to make them understand the importance of it, what would it be?

Brevity = power.

Hihi,

probably not helping - but the shortest i can come up with is:
'www.permies.com'

but there also is the 'permaculture explained simply thread'

Haha yeah "permies.com" is probably a good one. But people who aren't interested in something typically don't want to spend hours reading forum after forum about it. Good start though!

Anyone else?

One sentence to a non permies person! What would it be?

Industrial civilization is exploiting and destroying the natural world upon which it depends for survival; permaculture heals and grows the essential relationship between humans and Nature.

A long sentence, I know, but it's the best I could do to summarize a complex idea!

Edited to say "humans" instead of "man."

Matthew Clark wrote:Industrial civilization is exploiting and destroying the natural world upon which it depends for survival; permaculture heals and grows the essential relationship between man and Nature.

I like this a lot. Focusing on the healing aspects of it. Not only heals the "relationship" between man and nature but also literally heals the earth. Also, the length isn't bad at all. I've definitely seen sentences the size of paragraphs before. Ha!


What else do people have for me?! I like this question.

Permaculture is sustainable, civilization isn't.

Then if people want to argue with you point out to them that Mayan subsistence farmers are still around, while archaeologists are still trying to dig up more of their lost civilization.

"Teaching gardeners to think like farmers and farmers to think like gardeners"

John Elliott wrote:Permaculture is sustainable, civilization isn't.

Then if people want to argue with you point out to them that Mayan subsistence farmers are still around, while archaeologists are still trying to dig up more of their lost civilization.

I love that you give an "incase people argue" explanation! Those are always nice. And your original statement is nice too. Like I said before, I am a very strong proponent of brevity and simplicity.

I want to find something that appeals to non-choir. This the best I have come up with so far:

"Permaculture is a scientific method of farming which increases yields over current farming methods."

Thank You Kindly,
Topher

Yeah I think it is very important to think about how to catch the attention of the the non-choir Topher. I think your science based answer would definitely appeal to a LARGE crowd of people other than the already science obsessed permies.

"Darth Vader wants to control outer space, while Yoda wants to explore inner space; that is the fundamental difference between the light and dark sides"
-Mof (human traffic)

Ok, just kidding, but I think it is somewhat relevant.

I try to craft a sentence on the fly for each audience or recipient, meeting people where they are, then giving a slight nudge in the direction of permaculture.

For a blanket statement, I tend to use something like:

Permaculture has completely changed the way I think and live, and has given me hope and a vision of our abundant future on this planet.

In some cases, I get all reggae on them, talking about my over standing of the fact that the past is the past, but we are living in the present... the present is a gift; a present...
and until we turn off the TV... tell lie vision... we continue to understand... more like stand under... the Babylon system, so we need to emancipate ourselves from human slavery, so we can live in Zion.... And to me, Zion is the garden of Eden, and we can have it now, or at least in the future if we start now... And the way is permaculture!

But that is usually too much at once, and quite a run-on, so I tend to just tell people to swing by and check it out if they are interested. Then when they come over, they usually have to step on more than one easily recognizable food plant before they look around and realize there is food everywhere. Even then, I wonder what the take home message is. "So, permaculture is where you grow everything everywhere?" Ergg!

So, final answer:

"Permaculture is a really cool system of design."

The one who coined the term defined it as :

"Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenence of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity , stability , and resilience of natural ecosystems." - Bill Mollison

I was just bumming around on reddit and found this article/blog post. Really ties into this discussion. He says it ALL boils down to one thing.

"Permaculture brings people together."

Read his blog post here.

What do you think of this?

I like what Geoff Lawton has been saying.

It's an Ecological Design Science WITH Ethics. Just that simple.

Just try 'this' for a season, see how it works.

*'This' will depend on the person's interests. You probably don't want 'this' to be composting toilets if you're talking to a newb, so choose your introduction wisely .

We CAN save ourselves and our planet because we CAN grow ENOUGH of what we TRULY need and want, including happiness, by doing it the way NATURE already does it... permaculturally! ... and lots of folks have already started :) (Too long, I know, but... this is the non-choir listening :)

All are great! I love the variety of phrasing and different ways we are coming up with.

Also, Wayne, I just really love your signature. I think that is a good one. "Permaculture is CPR for the planet". Plain and simple. That is sort of how I start by explaining it to people. Then go into details of polyculture and all the million other facets.

Permaculture is the design and implementation of a complete growing system that Mother Nature can fine tune to best fit the local environment.

Learn to design your live, to work with, not against nature.

Permaculture equals sustainable enduring homeostasis within the "ecological" design, and implementation of agricultural, architectural, social, and other tangible constructs.

Or shorter...

The sustainable enduring homeostasis of human constructs...


I have taught both modalities to my students, yet claim no credit as these are the foundational concepts of Bill Mollison.

Regards,

j

"Plant once, harvest forever"

Permaculture is a design science that uses integrated components that have multiple functions to create efficient and sustainable design systems.
It is most often used in agriculture but it can be applied to anything.

Ludger Merkens wrote:but there also is the 'permaculture explained simply thread'

Good ones there, and also here: permaculture Elevator Speech. Especially this one:

Julia Winter wrote:Permaculture is a way to make more food with less work and less inputs, all while increasing diversity, healing the land and sequestering carbon.

Permaculture achieves this by observing Nature and working with her. People have restored degraded land all over the planet using these techniques.

The only thing I'd change about Julia's line is that permaculture is far more than about food.

Paul likes to say:

Permaculture is a symbiotic relationship with nature so I can be even lazier.

I've been saying that permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable food, housing, people, and energy systems. Though I usually add that it is far beyond what most people think of as "green" and "sustainable."

"Come, have a look at my garden!"

reading this thread this is what I cam up with:

Permaculture is jumping the line and making our life worth living and telling. It's about reshaping our view on nature because we're part of it.

Permaculture is a never ending story of satisfaction were every achievement, even the smallest, is built by our own hands.

Permaculture tells us that if you can dream something, or think it, you can build it.

Topher Belknap wrote:
I want to find something that appeals to non-choir. This the best I have come up with so far:

"Permaculture is a scientific method of farming which increases yields over current farming methods."

THIS line would catch your typical Fox News viewer's attention without words that would make them tune you out the moment they heard anything like "nature" or anything else warm and fuzzy! The only think I would add is is perhaps "with less expense in materials (fertilizer) and labor!"

The people who most need to be "sold" on permaculture are the people who think GMO crops are our best hope and think that corn syrup is good for you and who probably shop at Walmart...LOL!!!