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Introduction
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<p isrender="true"><strong>What is Permaculture?</strong></p>
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<p class="byline">Deb Hart-Serafini, WNC-certified Permaculture Designer</p>
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<p>Permaculture is for the future of our children and our granchildren. I am 59 years old, my lifestyle is probably sustainable until the end of my life. Sometimes when people ask me "what is permaculture?"--I use words like "organic gardening" or "sustainable agriculture" because they seem familiar to folks. However, sustaining our current practices is not enough. The earth, air and water are deteriorated and continue to deteriorate, so now we must think about "restorative agriculture", in other words, we need to start reversing negative trends of pollution and energy consumption.</p><p isrender="true">Permaculture is a design science devoted to restoring our environment by mimicking nature's successes, for finding effective solutions that already exist in nature's toolbox. </p><p>That is my personal take on the definition--everyone will have their own. Permaculture is about awareness at the individual and global level. Below are some well-known quotes and links:</p><p isrender="true"><a href="https://www.globalonenessproject.org/library/films/permaculture-101" isrender="true">Global Oneness Project-Permaculture 101</a><br></p><p isrender="true"><strong>per·ma·cul·ture</strong> <span isrender="true">ˈpərməˌkəlCHər/ </span><i>noun </i>the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient</p><p isrender="true"><span isrender="true"></span><span isrender="true"><em>“The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems, which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems”.</em> -Bill Mollison</span></p><p isrender="true"><span isrender="true"><em>Permaculture is not the movement of sustainability and it is not the philosophy behind it; it is the problem-solving approach the movement and the philosophy can use to meet their goals and design a world in which human needs are met while enhancing the health of this miraculous planet that supports us.</em><span class="redactor-invisible-space" isrender="true"><em>"</em> -Toby Hemenway</span><br></span></p>
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