PERMATOPIA a graceful end to cheap oil |
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Permatopia highlights solutions to Peak Oil, Climate Change and ecocide. The companion website OilEmpire.US is focused on understanding the politics behind these problems that prevent implementation of the solutions. Road-Scholar.org examines the rush to massively expand highway systems as the world passes Peak Oil, and offers some tools to thwart these plans. |
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PERMACULTURE permaculture for nine billion Permatopia dictionary: documents: environmental patterns Permatopia topics energy
beyond oil? oil depletion protocol climate change Greenwash transportation
food water shelter: community
money: health: permaculture: waste: forests:
biomimicry detoxification: primitive technology homesteading eco-cities
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Permatopia
Patterns:
local, bioregional, global solutions click on the graphic below for local, bioregional, global solutions
Permatopia Patterns is a new way of thinking about permaculture. Historically, most permaculture guides and analyses have been focused on individual properties, often rural homesteads. Zones and sectors are key concepts in permaculture analysis, examining how to locate components of a permaculture system based on distance from the house and ecological factors. These are incredibly powerful tools for the personal level, but are far too limited in their scale for a society wide transformation to cope with Peak Oil and climate change. This page shows how the concept of zones can be extended to the goal of "permaculture for nine billion people." Learning skills at the more local levels can help with efforts to extend to bigger levels, since effective solutions at the biggest levels depend on understanding how the solutions work at smaller levels. The sectors concept reflects how there are many paths needed to move away from overshoot and collapse. Different people have different skills and interest, no individual or group could possibly address all of the various facets that are needed. The concept of interdependence between these issues (and levels) is one not normally promoted in our hyper-individualized society, but it is the type of path most likely to accomplish common goals. Whether you are expanding a local community garden, installing utility scale wind power, teaching environmental education to second graders, starting up a community currency barter system, operating a bicycle shop, creating manufacturing cooperatives, campaigning for accountable elections, or any of thousands of other positive things is irrelevant - the key point is that you are doing something that is a piece of the puzzle.
The Permatopia Patterns graphic indicates two directions of travel. As one gets more local, closer to the Earth, the disciplines become more focused on the practical. But as one becomes more expert in those local practices, it can empower actions at the larger levels, it adds to the skills needed to implement shifts on the bioregional and global levels. They are all interconnected. ![]() Zones (Permaculture) Zoning in permaculture design refers to a method of ensuring that elements are correctly placed. Zoning is about correct placement- positioning things in ways that are the most appropriate; Zones are numbered from 0 to 5, and can be thought of as a series of concentric rings moving out from a centre point, where human activity and need for attention is most concentrated, to where there is no need for intervention at all... Summary of Permacultural Zones
Sectors in Permaculture Design Sectors are a way of considering the external energies that move through a system such as prevailing wind direction, site orientation and aspect (north, south, east, west, etc.), winter/summer sun paths, underlying geological make up (bed rock causing clay or sandy soil types, etc.), frost pockets and so on; and how we might best take steps to either utilise or counter such factors. www.ratical.org/LifeWeb/Erthdnce/chapter19.html
www.energybulletin.net/12052.html Published on 1 Nov 2005 by Permaculture Activist. Archived
on 13 Jan 2006.
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local level | bioregional level | global level |
home power | public utilities, solar cities | global oil depletion protocol |
energy conservation ethics
renewables at the residential scale: solar, wind, micro-hydro,
biogas, passive solar, attached greenhouses energy tips for renters (and owners):
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make megalopolises more sustainable through relocalization, reconfiguration of urban areas for efficiency in transportation, food production and energy production local energy production: solar energy requirements for new building construction (in building codes), local biofuel production publicly owned utilities - public power - utility scale solar and wind power local government roles:
shift from petrochemicals to plant based plastics, inks, glues, solvents and other industrial products (the carbohydrate economy) |
use remaining oil for permaculture for nine billion people - convert the military industrial complex for peaceful purposes The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse technology transfer of renewable energy equipment and efficiency systems to encourage newly industrializing nations to avoid the mistakes of the US and Europe -- reparations for imperialism
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personal finances | bioregional focus for stable state economics | reverse globalization, relocalize everywhere |
get out of debt, if possible learn skills that would be useful in a barter based society voluntary simplicity (is easier than involuntary simplicity) vote with your dollars: support local businesses, buy locally made products from companies that treat their employees and the Earth with respect, invest in locally controlled, ethical businesses gold? if you are thinking about gold, remember that it is hard to dig garden beds with gold coins - it is a substance that has been valuable for millennia, but if the dieoff scenario is the outcome for Peak Oil, it is unlikely that gold would be useful and gold mining has severe environmental and human rights problems |
Community Currency - LETS, paper currency and hybrids (at local and bioregional levels) locally ownership of banks, credit unions , cooperatives and collectives of cooperatives encourage economic development of sustainably oriented businesses tax (or ban) polluting, unsustainable industry and subsidize businesses needed for the post-carbon future municipal support for locally owned businesses, not out-of-region owned chain stores shift economic paradigms away from "growth" toward steady-state systems Community Supported Manufacturing (similar to Community Supported Agriculture) - begin making products currently available in stores but made on the other side of the planet Relax zoning ordinances to promote relocalization and permaculture |
cut military budget to fund sustainability transitions (this would require impeaching the current administration in Washington for election fraud, 9/11 complicity and war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan) This shift of the military budget would include $4 trillion looted from the Department of Defense. There are also $11.5 trillion hidden in offshore accounts to avoid taxation that could be used to eliminate poverty, mitigate climate change and transform civilization toward renewable practices. nationalize US petroleum corporations (to use petroleum profits for public purposes) stop drug profits (through decriminalization / legalization) and arms trade In "third world" -- microcredit loans (such as the "Grameen Bank"), changing IMF/World Bank policies, land redistribution, reparations for corporate exploitation and imperialism - compensate war victims and convert military establishments to the biggest challenge in human history: developing a sustainable civilization that can survive and thrive beyond the petroleum era |
local transportation | bioregional transport | think and act globally, use internet not jets |
walking (humans are bipedal) bicycles (the most efficient mode of transportation ever invented) car sharing and car pooling consolidate driving trips use public transportation slow, dependable electric cars and delivery vehicles telecommuting (although that uses lots more energy that most are aware) turn suburbs into ecovillages (know your neighbors) relocalize production and buy local to reduce fossil fuel use for cargo ships, delivery trucks and freight trains - your personal ecological footprint probably includes many other people using energy on your behalf, to sustain your way of life (even if you are conscious of energy conservation and have already reduced your consumption) |
moratorium on new highways, lower speed limits (90 km/hr, 55 mph), and tighter drivers license requirements fund urban mass transit with federal transportation dollars, use interstate highway funds to maintain and repair crumbling bridges - declare the interstate highway system complete municipal communication systems to support car sharing, car pooling, car-free days improved urban public transit: buses, streetcars, light rail, subways better urban design (ecological cities) - walkable cities, car free areas change zoning and long term planning to promote permacultural cities relocalize production of food and other essentials revival of the national train system in the US -- inter-city high speed bullet trains for passenger service, shift freight from interstate highways to rail, put solar and wind power systems along tracks better intercity bus services increased gas taxes to fund public transit and renewable energy systems, institute gas tax rebate system for poorer citizens so that increased gas taxes impact the rich |
use the internet for international communications instead of jet travel sails on cargo ships can reduce energy consumption for products that are transported relocalize production to reverse globalization and reduce petroleum combustion
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Personal Food Production | Community Food Security | Organic Solutions for Global Food Supplies |
food not lawns - grow food around homes grow gardens if you have a lawn, share with a neighbor or a community garden if not permaculture gardens, intensive square foot gardens container gardening and community gardens for apartment dwellers rooftop gardens "victory gardens" support organic food growers, natural food industry, buy in bulk (cheaper, less packaging) eat low on the food chain (meat based diets require much more energy and water than plant based diets) |
urban/rural alliances to protect farmland from sprawl development, promote urban gardens, farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture convert golf courses to agriculture compost municipal sewage for agricultural fertilizer, if toxic chemicals dumped down the drain (ie. sold in local hardware stores) are banned -- a substitute for synthetic fertilizer made with natural gas -- methane digesters using sewage can also provide cooking gas to replace depleted fossil "natural" gas -- substitute cover crops and humanure to replace natural gas based fertilizers urge grocery stores to buy local Agricultural Extension Services (and permaculture experts) can help teach communities to learn to grow food again inventory regional sufficiency - identify gaps in skills, materials and facilities city dwellers train and work exchange with rural farms
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unprecedented international cooperation will be required moratorium on genetically engineered crops ("frankenfood") substitute hemp, kenaf and other annual plants for trees for paper making (these could also be done on the regional level) ban factory farming (the cause of bird flu?) ban cannibal cows (feeding cows to cows causes incurable Mad Cow disease) reverse Green Revolution with low-input agriculture that is locally appropriate and doesn't require fossil fuels climate change requires promoting drought tolerant agriculture, adapting new varieties for shifting growing conditions halt deforestation to reduce climatic disruptions and protect arable soil food aid for worst disasters - but support local agriculture even during famine relief (when possible) transition from free trade to fair trade -- relocalization plus fair trade of surpluses |
Local Water Conservation | Watershed Protection | Climate Change and Global Water Policies |
rainwater harvesting graywater re-use: divert water drains from sinks, showers and washing machines for beneficial plants (fruit trees, berries and other food plants) humanure (preventing water pollution) piss outside! (especially if you male) solar distillation of drinking water conservation and efficiency drought tolerant plants (xeriscaping) |
water conservation and pollution prevention bioremediation and mycoremediation for toxic areas (especially in cities) reforestation to restore hydrologic cycles plant based diets require less water |
Kyoto Treaty (to slow drought and desertification) enforce weather modification prohibition treaty (1976) prohibit water exports between bioregions (which encourages unsustainable living, damages ecosystems and requires enormous energy inputs)
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Personal Wellness | Health Care For All | Global Public Health |
preventive health: organic food, herbs, exercise, stress reduction, low (or no) meat diet, exercise, bicycle, walk take responsibility for your own health to minimize dependence on industrial medicine systems |
single payer National Health Care to reduce economic waste in the health systems (the money for the insurance industry would be sufficient to ensure basic health care for the uninsured) non-toxic industries reduce consumerism |
international cooperation to prevent pandemics similar to 1970s smallpox eradication efforts -- AIDS, bird flu, malaria global ban on organochlorines and other persistent toxic substances nuclear power ban and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, ban on "depleted" uranium ban land mines, which have devastating effects on war torn regions (Angola, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Cambodia, etc) reproductive rights for women: family planning, prenatal health care, nutrition, abortion rights |
Local Culture | Bioregional Culture | Global Culture |
Reclaim streets for pedestrian purposes Turn off TV, corporate media and entertainment and entertain yourself, your family, neighborhoods - musical instruments, poetry, reconnection with natural world (and much more) Transition out of corporate work learn ways to gently extricate yourself, family, neighborhoods from corporate control of food, economics, transportation and other vital systems |
festivals and carnivals (secular and / or religious) community supported entertainment reclaim endangered languages |
United Nations Declaration of Human Rights cross cultural understanding through exchanges, respect the variety of experience instead of ethnocentrism human rights equal opportunity for women and ethnic / political minorities
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Cooperative Neighborhood | Bioregional Governments | A World Beyond War - Planetary Democracy |
conflict resolution authentic consensus and respect for diversity gender, racial, religious, economic non-discrimination non-violent communication potlucks, gatherings, picnics, meetings learn skills that increase self-reliance and that are useful for trading with your neighbors - this will probably be more practical than individualist, survivalist schemes to survive while those around you do not |
honest elections require paper ballots, counted by hand Campaign Finance Reform to end legal bribery (public funding of elections would cost taxpayers less than corporate corrupting of the political process) break up media monopolies, support local independent media that is not funded by corporate interests or foundation grants abolish the CIA to prevent covert interference in elections Truth and Reconciliation Commission to expose military-industrial-intelligence complex in the decline of American democracy: JFK, Vietnam, Watergate, October Surprise, Iran-Contra, Oklahoma City, election frauds, 9/11, Iraq war and much more |
democracy for the United Nations:
disband undemocratic elite planning groups: Trilateral Commission, Bilderberg, World Trade Organization human rights, women's rights, respect for bioregional autonomy and independence, support for the World Court and International Criminal Court, United Nations Declaration of Human Rights repeal NAFTA treaty and similar "free trade" agreements - replace them with global agreements on "fair trade," workers' rights, minimum wages, and prohibition of slavery and sweatshops |
Green Building | Intelligent Urban Design | Gender Equality and Global Overpopulation |
intentional (and unintentional) communities -- cohousing, ecovillages and other shared housing models City Repair revitalization strategies green building with non-toxic products retrofit suburbia for post petroleum paradigms, if possible |
building codes need to reflect the end of cheap oil - mandatory passive solar design, solar panels, insulation requirements, etc. some US cities make abandoned homes available for $1 if the new owners will fix them up - low interest loans can help poor people achieve home ownership rent control prevents economic dislocation and gentrification land use zoning changes to encourage compact urban footprints, protection of green space in cities, encourage urban agriculture (food not lawns) |
the gap between global overpopulation and declining natural resources is the greatest crisis facing the human race solutions to overpopulation include women's equality and mitigation of extreme poverty family planning to prevent unwanted children (world population increases 10,000 people per hour, births minus deaths) |