[Scpg] 10 Questions with Permaculture Club President Avery Hardy /Dos Pueblos Permaculture Project Noozhawk

Sun Feb 12 05:47:54 PST 2012

10 Questions with Permaculture Club President Avery Hardy
http://www.thechargeraccount.org/?p=7323

(Kelly Nakashima / Photo)
By Kelly Nakashima | Staff Writer | February 9, 2012

Junior Avery Hardy is co-founder of the Dos Pueblos Permaculture 
Project, a club hosted by Mr. Gleason on Mondays at lunch in A-3.

The Charger Account sat down with Avery to discuss her plans for the 
school garden, a holistic approach for sustainable living, and the small 
changes that make a big difference.

Q: What is the definition of 'permaculture'?

Permaculture is a collection of principles and practices that allow us 
to live in tune with nature instead of fighting against it. It helps 
guide us in building places for humans, plants, and animals alike to 
grow and flourish. While permaculture--a portmanteau of "permanent," 
"culture," and "agriculture"--is most frequently applied in the area of 
sustainable agriculture, it actually bridges across all areas of life.

Q: What is the difference between permaculture and sustainable living?

Living sustainably means simply not engaging in certain behaviors [i.e. 
avoiding petroleum by driving an electric car] but permaculture takes 
this idea to a new level by actually providing new, innovative ideas for 
how to craft a better lifestyle--not just a less harmful one.

(Kelly Nakashima / Photo)
Q: What is the goal of the Dos Pueblos Permaculture Project?

My vision for the project is to have it become a local leader on-par 
with [Santa Barbara City College's] Student Sustainability Coalition in 
helping to grow awareness of alternative, earth-conscious living. I want 
the garden to be a recognizable feature of our school and I'd love to 
see people connecting Dos Pueblos with sustainability and permaculture. 
DP has sort of been lagging behind the other schools [in the Santa 
Barbara area] in becoming more sustainable, so it's definitely time for 
us to step it up.

Q: What are some activities that members can participate in?

Our meetings are Mondays in Mr. Gleason's art room (A-3); during that 
time, we're usually discussing our plans for the garden. Every six weeks 
or so we have a workday to maintain the older garden and grow the new 
one. We also share and attend a variety of different events, lectures, 
and festivals relating to the sustainability scene in town, too, and 
take trips to go check out things like Coal Oil Point Reserve's native 
plants and goats.

Q: What is your favorite plant in DP's garden and what do you hope to 
add to it?

I totally love sage. We have a couple of different native sages growing 
in the permaculture garden, but my favorite is Salvia apiana--white 
sage. It makes delicious, slightly minty tea, and the dried bundles 
smell amazingly good when burned as incense.

I would like to continue to add more food-providing plants to the 
permaculture garden before I graduate. The first permaculture garden at 
school, which was built in 2009, had only a couple of food-bearing trees 
(like a plum and a strawberry guava), and none of them did very well. 
With the new garden we've built outside Mr. Bower's room this year, we 
decided to plant almost exclusively food-bearing plants and trees 
because we thought it would be awesome to have fresh food from the 
garden throughout the year.

Q: Why should DP students become involved in the Permaculture Project?

High-powered, ambitious high school students have a knack for "big 
things" when it comes to community service. It's great if you want to go 
build a well for a village in Africa, but I think one can enact even 
more powerful change by committing one's time and resources to the home 
front. Yes, [Santa Barbara] is pretty liberal, but we still have a long 
way to go. We lag behind many other cities in passing an initiative to 
"ban the bag" [prohibit single-use plastic bags in stores], and many of 
the public schools in town still use horrendous pesticides on the 
foliage and lawns we sit on and walk across every day. Becoming a part 
of the Permaculture Project is a way students can enact positive change 
with real, visible results in the community. It's a manageable 
commitment, and one in which we're all still learning a lot as we go. 
Students who come to our meetings on Mondays or our workdays in the 
garden get community service and the satisfaction of learning about some 
awesome ideas on how to protect the planet.

Q: Why do you think sustainable living has become more popular in the 
past several years?

Obviously, people are frustrated with slow progress towards ending 
environmental degradation. But we seem to be reaching a tipping point of 
sorts where sustainable living is actually becoming [a trend]. We still 
have a long way to go, though, because we now know it isn't enough to 
just stop doing the bad things--we have to actually come up with new 
ways to heal the planet, to make it better and cleaner. Permaculture is 
one way of doing this, since it utilizes every single resource in the 
most efficient way.

Q: What are the benefits of living sustainably?

The benefits are endless! Every time I go out in my garden--even if it's 
only for fifteen minutes between study sessions--I learn something about 
my soil, the climate, the way the plants grow. Through permaculture, 
I've learned to embrace local culture and I try really hard to support 
Santa Barbara's farmers, artists, musicians, and crafters before I 
support the big-box chains on State Street. In exchange, I've gained a 
huge amount of personal inspiration and creativity and have made amazing 
friendships with inspiring people.

Q: How can DP students incorporate the principles of permaculture and 
sustainability into their lifestyles?

We're all pretty motivated at DP, and I think sometimes we do ourselves 
a disservice by setting the bar too high. You don't have to sell your 
car and bike to school to have a big impact on the local environment. In 
fact, it's probably the smaller gestures that have the greater impact. 
We have amazing farmers' markets in town (there's one every day of the 
week!), and buying organic food there or at the Isla Vista Food Co-Op 
are great ways to ease off the "grid" and support sustainable 
agriculture. Supporting local businesses is one of the foundations of 
permaculture, and making an active commitment to do so is also a solid 
step toward a more sustainable lifestyle. There are classes that you can 
take to get your permaculture certification as well.

Q: What kinds of people are you hoping to attract to the Permaculture 
Project?

You don't have to self-identify with sustainability to come to 
participate in the Permaculture Project. The great thing about 
permaculture is that it connects all the different areas of life under a 
single set of guiding principles. There really is something for 
everyone...if you're curious, you should stop by to learn a little more 
or check out our Facebook group 'Dos Pueblos Permaculture' for updates. 
http://www.facebook.com/groups/281929508491739/

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