A huge thank you to our generous donors to PA’s Permafund in the lead up to the end of the financial year. Here are two updates from donors Permaculture Central Coast and Permaculture Principles on why they donate to PA’s Permafund as part of their ‘Fair Share’ ethic.
“Most people have no difficulty defining and living the ethics of ‘earth care’ and ‘people care’, but when it comes to ‘fair share’ it can be challenging. After all, in a world where some of us live lives of considerable privilege while others suffer poverty, wars, displacement, and the loss of their homes due to climate change, who decides what is fair?Â
Many permies adopt the philosophy of living simply so that others might simply live. This commitment asks us not to buy what we do not genuinely need and to remember that every human-made thing must take resources from the natural world. Others adopt a philosophy of donating a set percentage of everything they earn to charities that care for the earth and care for people.
The executive team of Permaculture Central Coast recognises that our organisation also needs to actively demonstrate the ethic of ‘fair share’. We have chosen to support Permafund because it is volunteer run and the Committee includes some highly regarded permies such as John Champagne, and Rowe Morrow is one of the charity’s ambassadors. PA’s Permafund’s focus is providing small grants to permaculture-aligned activities and we see this as an extension of the principle of ‘the least change for the greatest effect’. We all know what difference permaculture can make to people’s lives, particularly in places where there is financial disadvantage.Â
Projects are as diverse as tree planting, regenerative farming, seed saving and household food gardening. Perhaps my favourite is a recent project aimed at teaching women in India how to grow food so that they don’t need to rely upon the turtle population for their dinner. This project managed to combine earth care and people care in a truly inspiring way.”
Meg McGowan, President Permaculture Central Coast Inc.
“Permaculture Principles (the business, PcP) is all about practicing the ethics and principles of permaculture. Supporting PA’s Permafund through profits from sales of the Permaculture Calendar is one of the ways in which PcP demonstrates the ethic of Fair Share. We must practice our values. The vision for the calendar is of a collective process; to engage with the permaculture community and to illustrate practices and promote examples.
In order to run a growing business like ours, we need to constantly evolve. The principles that are illustrated in the calendar are the design tools we use to adapt to changing needs. As support for Permafund and the calendar grow, we are expanding our reach to support other permaculture enterprises and projects. This multiplier effect will increase our collective impact to help create a positive future in tumultuous times.”
Richard Telford, Co-Director of Permaculture Principles
More information:
Richard Telford and Permaculture Central Coast Inc are PA Professional and Organisation members respectively. You can find out more including how to sign up as a member of PA here.
The 2022 Permaculture Calendar and a great range of permaculture books and resources can be purchased from the online Permaculture Principles shop here. PA members receive a generous discount as one of their member benefits, access the discount code via the members only section of the PA website (log in).