David Holmgren's Permaculture Flower

If we speak of a healthy community, we cannot be speaking of a community that is merely human. We are talking about a neighborhood of humans in a place, plus the place itself: its soil, its water, its air, and all the families and tribes of the nonhuman creatures that belong to it. What is more, it is only if this whole community is healthy…[and] the human economy is in practical harmony with the nature of the place, that its members can remain healthy and be healthy in body and mind and live in a sustainable manner. ~ Wendell Berry

According to permie.net:

Permaculture is the design practice of creating truly sustainable human settlements that mimic, honor, and cooperate with natural ecosystems.

A city is both an organism and an ecosystem. Its elements are intertwined and overlapping. Yet, most cities are dysfunctional in terms of operating like a healthy ecosystem or closed-loop system.

The way modern cities are set up, it takes many outside resources to keep them functioning. Our food is trucked in, our goods are trucked in (or flown or shipped in), our water is piped in from external reservoirs. And in turn, many resources we produce, mainly in terms of what we call “trash” or “pollution” are carted off or washed away with the rain. Our food scraps and material trash are sent to landfills way outside of the city. Our sewage is flushed to sea; rainwater flushes sewage and chemicals into the ocean.

This is the height of inefficiency and dysfunction. Why can’t we utilize the resources we have in our cities? Why are we throwing them away?

One easy answer is, it’s just the way it is. It’s how our cities have been set up and there are various barriers to change the way things are done. But I won’t get into the bureaucratic problems or political barriers. I’m here to talk about solutions to the tangible stuff. In many cases, one solution will handle many problems. And as permaculturists (aka, permies) like to say, The Problem Is The Solution. Here are some examples.

Problems #1:

• Toxic soil
• Poor air quality (non-compliance with the Clean Air Act)
• Greenhouse gas emissions (climate change)
• High populations suffering from asthma, obesity, diabetes
• Dependence on outside resources for food
• No place to bury waste (no landfill space)
• Rats

Solution #1: Composting & Food Production

Food scraps are perhaps the number one wasted resource of big cities. Composting food scraps (mixed with leaf litter, paper, tree trimmings  and other carbon) will provide nutrient rich soil. Nutrient rich soil has the power to remediate toxic soil. Nutrient rich soil has the power to grow food.

If we don’t truck out our food scraps and instead remediate our soils and grow our own food then we’ll have eliminated the need to truck in food as well. Fewer trucks in and out means fewer emissions polluting the air, which means reduced asthma triggers. If we’re growing nutrient dense food in the city, our people will be eating healthier and reducing their risk for diabetes and obesity.

The Fort Mason Community Garden in San Francisco. Credit: Briggs Nisbet, The Architect's Newspaper

Food scraps, when put in a landfill, release the powerful greenhouse gas, methane. Methane is 25 times more potent than carbon. If we compost our food scraps and other wastes, there will not just be less to bury in a landfill, there will be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Oh yeah, the rats. If we’re not putting our food scraps on the curb and instead properly mixing them with carbon (trees, leaves, etc.) to create compost, we won’t be tempting our little four-legged friends with midnight curbside snacks.

Problems #2:

• Combined sewer overflow (CSO)
• Dependence on external water resources (reservoirs)
• Polluted waters (non-compliance with the Clean Water Act)
• Urban heat island effect
• Extreme energy demand in summer (air-conditioning)
• Thirsty street trees
• Nature deficit disorder

Solution #2: Hold onto the Rain

The urban environment – paved over, filled in, built upon. Concrete and asphalt are ubiquitous, and are not permeable surfaces. Water rolls off of them, picking up whatever particulates happen to be lying around – lead, mercury, petrochemicals, trash. This polluted water finds its way to the river, to the ocean.

The way our sewers were set up, combining raw sewage with stormwater run-off, well, you can imagine this toxic mire just floating into our waterways every time it rains. As little as 5/8 of an inch of rain is enough to set up a combined sewer overflow (CSO) event in New York City.

In this paved-over place, any semblance of plant life grows in the cracks and crevices in between hardscape, in abandoned lots or abandoned buildings. (A good example of this was the High Line, before it became a park.) This plant life has the power to hold onto the water and store it, preventing the stormwater run-off that pollutes the water.

If we let things be, natural succession of plant life will take place, albeit slowly. But if we speed succession, green will return, which will both keep rainwater on site and invite wildlife back.

There are several ways to approach this, a combination of which can solve the problem. Here are some impactful approaches to increasing water-absorbing potential:

• Plant and care for street trees (and give them bigger tree beds, where possible)
• Install and care for green roofs
• Create more rain gardens
• Start more and tend existing community gardens
• Break up parking lots and other underutilized hard surfaces to create riparian buffer zones

In planting more, gardening more, we will reduce the hardscape and increase the natural green landscape which in turn reduces urban heat island effect, stormwater run-off (and CSOs, polluted water), the need for excessive air conditioning. And we’ll also have the psychological benefits that greenery brings (Please see this wonderful document, Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-being Through Urban Landscapes for more on the subject).

Another way to hold the water in the city is through rainwater harvesting. There are some fairly simple systems for rainwater harvesting which can be used to water street trees, gardens, urban yards, and urban farms. In many places – such as Singapore, Japan, and Germany – rainwater is now being used for general residential use. Perhaps someday we will use rainwater to feed our showers and laundry machines in big modern cities as well, which would reduce our dependence on external reservoir systems.

Permaculture Links:

• Permaculture Activist
• Permaculture Institute
• Permaculture Principles
• Urban Permaculture Guild

How would you like to see your city redesigned?

by Yahya E. B. Henry

Ready

My passion for sustainability has been a gradual expansion of many ideas that I initially accepted then questioned. Albert Einstein said that questions were the beginning of genius. The more I learned about our energy dependence, peak oil, climate change, gentrification, urban development and land use, the more I explored how each were interrelated. My journey lead me to resign from a very promising career in land brokerage and development where aside from making a great living; I begin to notice I was, in fact, a part of a problem. After coming to understand that low-density suburban development was unsustainable, I knew a shift was forthcoming. I was a part of an organization that developed conventional subdivision; yes, those monsters that inevitably aid in sprawl, cause traffic congestion, deforestation and consume massive amounts of land. Evidence suggests that the building sector accounted for nearly 30% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and I knew there had to be a better model to follow. My attempts to interest my then partners in infill development largely fell on deaf ears. A part of my goal was to hopefully influence a decision that would allow for more infill development – development near existing infrastructure, work centers, services, and public transportation. The entrepreneurial bug bit me and I left. This is where things really got interesting

Not too long after my resignation the market took a nose dive. For a new development services company the landscape was not pretty. In what seemed to be the blink of an eye, certainties like liquidating building lot inventory and anticipated revenue dried up. People I knew personally were experiencing unbelievable financial hardships. Without heed or warning, times became challenging very fast. Birthed out of those challenges was a determination to rebuild better, stronger, more wisely and of greatest importance, sustainably. I decided not to sell out to a business model that had been dying for a half century. I opted for the road less traveled and the status quo was forever interrupted.

Fire

Out the gate my very first development proposal was to redevelop eight city blocks in Norfolk, VA. Truthfully, I really didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew, for certain, was that I had to come up with a development plan that would profoundly impact the lives of many. What I didn’t learn until much later was that the life that would forever be changed was my own. Along the way, I learned a lot about failure and the need to persevere. Once my 600,000 square foot proposal died, I, again, had to reassess. It was a gradual process of refinement.

The team I had assembled decided to pursue one of the most well located sites in the area, a one and half acre parcel. We prepared site plans for a five-story, 120,000 square foot hybrid building that combined office, retail and residential uses into one building; a development that had never been done in the region. It didn’t take long for experience to teach me that people don’t respond well to change; anything new had to be tested and proven. My philosophy at the time was, “Create the market where there is none.” When you’re a bootstrap entrepreneur looking to build a 30 million dollar building, you have better had plenty of testing behind you – I had none.

With limited resources I flew to Miami to meet with a prominent developer who I felt would be an ideal partner. The pro forma we created showed the building to be cash flow positive with great returns on investment. I was confident and prepared. Another lesson learned: confidence and preparation have nothing to do with opportunity. The developer I met with has a national pipeline with projects in some of our largest cities. In short, he is a giant in real estate development. I learned that his “proprietary” projects are 100 million dollars and greater. Well, I was about 70 million bucks shy. Knowing that my greatest proposal was not worth his time/energy left me feeling inadequate and unprepared; where did I go wrong? I had been assured by trusted friends that HE was the guy. HE was going to catapult me and Ariba to the next level. As of yet, it hasn’t happened.

Aiming

You see, after losing a considerable amount of money and expending an incredible amount of time and energy in what I thought was going to be the next big idea that wasn’t; I lost confidence in myself. In short, I gave up. However, after about a year of being out of the spotlight; I had time to cry, heal, and then regroup. This new direction for me and Aribra represents the rebirth and I want you to be a part of it. I decided to invite you in and close out failure as an option. There ARE no excuses now. I read a lot and discovered that there are numerous stories about men and women who made a small fortune, lost it all (marriages, finances, businesses, etc.), and found themselves rebuilding. Well friends, this is my second time around. I NEVER thought this would be my story, but it is and I am going to embrace it fully and completely. I am finally at a point where I can share openly; without shame, the highs and lows that I will face on this journey. I welcome you to walk with me and perhaps we can build something together.