Permaculture Ethics: Earth Care, Part One.

The phrase "Think globally, act locally". come to mind when you are planning to incorporate Earth Care into your life. You do not need to be a permaculture designer to work with the three permaculture ethics, People Care, Earth Care and Fair Share.

Reduce, better yet, eliminate your use of single-use plastics. This is simple enough to do. Do not by bottled water, for a start. If the tap water is unfit to drink where you live, then you will need to filter or boil it, but the next thing you need to do is engage in non-violent political action to support your right to drinkable water. Water is a human right and our politicians have an obligation to honour that right.

Eliminate the amount of garbage you toss away, after all, there really is no such place as away. We are all inhabitants of one planet. Everything is connected. Reduce, reuse, repurpose, compost. I

Composting turns what is called waste into valuable, organic material, any garden will love. This act of adding compost to t e soil is a great way to take care of the Earth.

Harvest rainwater. Don't let it run away down that asphalt driveway, use it to water the ornamental garden, or lawn, if you must have one, create a rain garden. Do some research on rainwater harvesting before you set up a system.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 25.

 

"(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection."

Articles 26 and 27 should also be read.

source

I see the ethics of permaculture in alignment with this existing Declaration. Next post I will discuss People Care and how it is supported by the Universal Declaration.