Permaculture Design Course — Spring 2011

During the Spring months of 2011, the Simple Living Institute offered Orlando's first full permaculture class for certification with great success. The students and instructors quickly became a tight-knit group as they learned about sustainable methods for living in cooperation with their environment. This short video documents the class and attempts to describe the concept of permaculture using comments from some of the instructors and students.

Permaculture is a holistic way of life that allows people to exist in harmony with nature. The main goal is to close the loop of consumption and waste by using natural products that can then be composted or reused as new natural products. Theoretically, it is scalable, with solutions for apartments, townhouses, urban lots, rural farms and even corporate sites.

Check out the Simple Living Institute at www.simplelivinginstitute.org to learn more about the next permaculture class or about other events.

Also, check out the video producers' local food and sustainability blog at www.withrespectforfood.com.

Music written and performed by Amy Wallace: www.myspace.com/amylorrainewallace.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Simple Living Institute
• permaculture
• gardening
• sustainability
• environmental
• eco-friendly
• composting
• Orlando
• Local Food
• With Respect For Food
• Amy Wallace
• slow food

[9ecafgorf]

@DaveJacke Thanks, Dave. You're absolutely right that permaculture is about a lot more, and this course in Orlando actually covers a lot of it, from composting to water catchment to alternative energy, but I can only include so much in a short video and still make it interesting! Also, the audience for this video is a monthly group of organic growers, so it seemed that agriculture was the best way to get their attention. Thanks for the comment!

[DaveJacke]

Nice video! I have to say, tho, that I find Tia's-and others'-definitions of permaculture too narrow. Permaculture is about WAY more than gardening and landscape design. These are only the beginning of learning how to design ecological cultures-- the essence of permaculture intent. If we don't make it clear, and teach, that permaculture is about far more than gardening, we'll limit our potential and our impact greatly! Build on your success and broaden your course please! Rock on folks!