Photos from a Permaculture Class

Photos from a Permaculture Class

Andrew Faust permaculture class

Today my husband, daughter and I – at the invitation of a friend – had the privilege of attending a permaculture class in New York City, held at the Sixth Street Community Center. We spent all day listening to the students’ final design presentations. Wow, was this inspiring! Not only were all the ideas great, but merely the collective enthusiasm, consideration and pragmatic optimism these people embodied gives one hope for the world.

This Permaculture Design Certification class is taught by Andrew Faust (click here). Shown in the first and last photo below, he’s a thorough, passionate and committed teacher, if his students are any indication. These students were not only empowered to take practical, grounded action, but also gushed about how transformative this class was, how it had “blown their consciousness wide open,” and how they would never again see things in the same old way. Their project locations varied from urban to rural, from upstate New York, to Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, New York City, and even beyond to California, Arizona, Chili and Peru.

They were taught a strategy of cheerfully “mitigating and moderating,” i.e. doing the best they can with what is available. They talked about becoming “social pollinators,” and doing “social reengineering.” They defined waste as “resources in the wrong place,” and also utilized the understanding that “an excess is simply a resource.” Especially fascinating, is they leveraged the realization that “the problem is the solution;” for example, if flooding is your problem, your solution involves water. And did you know that the biggest monoculture in this country is not corn but lawns? Do you know what a swale is?

Permaculture (click here for the wikipedia definition) was explained to me as applying 18th century solutions to 21st century problems. It’s not only about sustainable land use, but community as well. If our future is in these folks’ hands, it is bright, fun, beautiful, safe, delicious, human scale and functional. These practices need to spread! And thankfully, they are.

Andrew Faust _MG_1183 _MG_1188 _MG_1161 _MG_1165 _MG_1159 _MG_1143_MG_1168 _MG_1170 _MG_1174 _MG_1173 Andrew Faust _MG_1158 _MG_1154 _MG_1153_MG_1151 _MG_1162 _MG_1147 _MG_1121 _MG_1200 _MG_1116 _MG_1114 _MG_1196_MG_1111 _MG_1193 _MG_1110 _MG_1198 _MG_1211 _MG_1197 _MG_1099 _MG_1105 _MG_1109 _MG_1098 Andrew Faust 

I work to amplify good wherever I find it. I love color, texture, beauty, great ideas, nature, metaphor, deliciousness, genuine spirituality, and exploring new territory. I encourage authenticity, nurture creativity, champion sustainability, promote peace, and hope to foster a new renaissance where we all are free to be our most fulfilled, multifaceted, and terrific selves. Read more here.

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  1. […] Saturday, when we sat in on the Permaculture Class (click here) we spent the day on 6th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. There are several neighborhood […]

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