In this episode, Claire and I continue our conversations about the 12 principles of permaculture design in the context of the three permaculture ethics EARTH CARE, PEOPLE CARE and FAIR SHARE. 

The 12 principles:

1. Observe and interact
2. Catch and store energy
3. Obtain a yield
4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
5. Use and value renewable resources and services
6. Produce no waste
7. Design from patterns to details
8. Integrate rather than segregate
9. Use small and slow solutions
10. Use and value diversity
11. Use the edges and value the marginal
12. Creatively use and respond to change.

Paraphrased from David Holmgren who formulated these 12 principles: the Permaculture Principles are thinking tools that allow us to creatively re-design our environment and our behaviour in a world of declining energy and resources. Each principle can be thought of as a door that opens into a whole system of thinking, providing a different perspective that can be understood at varying levels of depth and application.  Because they're the basis of a whole system, they should all be used together, holistically, which means they form a circle of ideas rather than a list of rules.

Local Food Connections thanks Formidable Vegetable for their song You Are What You Eat