I believe the mindset of permaculture is essential to adopt when it comes to combatting climate change. Permaculture emphasizes that we should not live sustainably, but instead embrace a lifestyle that is regenerative. We should leave the place we are living on better than it was before we settled there, whether it is our backyard, forest, or our planet.
This mindset goes back to being in touch with our nature, something that Masanobu Fukuoka points out in The One-Straw Revolution. We are a part of nature, and we must integrate with it, instead of continuing to act like we own it. Fostering the idea that nature is valuable and we must take care of it boils down to exposure. We must experience nature, whether it is taking trips, hiking, or living in nature.
It is important to spend time in nature, such as hiking. Link: http://besseggen.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Memurubu_lr_27-1024×576.jpg
In times where urban population accounts for the majority of the global population – 54 percent of the total global population in 2014 – we are less exposed to nature than ever. And I believe it can be hard to care about the immense environmental problem at our hand when it seems like it doesn’t even affect us as urban citizens.
That is why it is vital that we spread awareness, particularly through education. We must educate others about environmental practices and principals, such as Fukuoka did with the students he took in, or create videos, such as the one about permaculture we watched in class.
And the key is that environmental sustainability is not enough. We must leave our planet a better place for our future generations, and therefore we must live environmentally regeneratively.
