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  • From: EWerb@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@envirolink.org
  • Subject: Re: Industrialism to Ecology of Commerce
  • Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 13:39:23 EDT

Dan's comment is all too true

<<we've built an entire culture on an infrastructure that is itself
toxic and requires a constant input and output of toxicity ...>>

how to work out of this box is a tall order

one of the more useful helper applications to permaculture design is a
strategy contained in the natural step system conditions
<http://www.naturalstep.org/>
posted in brief herein

the natural step provides a framework for assessing options particularly
related to industrial ecology (and as discussed in paul hawken's seminal
_ecology of commerce_)

joanne tippett of holocene design co. has created some really good training
materials that tie together these essential approaches to sustainability inan
artful way <www.holocene.net>

btw there is a big get together on this subject this week in portland
i will be schlepping up from ventura and was wondering if any one on this
list has some perma designs to show and tell up there, please post me
directly or generally

eric werbalowsky

The Natural Step's Four System Conditions

1. Substances from the earth's crust must not systematically increase in
nature.

In a sustainable society, human activities such as the burning of fossil
fuels, and the mining of metals and minerals will not occur at a rate that
causes them to systematically increase in the ecosphere. There are
threshholds beyond which living organisms and ecosystems are adversely
affected by increasobal warming, contamination of surface and ground water,
and metal toxicity which can cause functional disturbances in animals. In
practical terms, the first condition requires society to implement
comprehensive metal and mineral recycling programs, and decrease economic
dependence on fossil fuels.

2. Substances produced by society must not systematically increase in
nature.

In a sustainable society, humans will avoid generating systematic increases
in persistent substances such as DDT, PCBs, and freon. Synthetic organic
compounds such as DDT and PCBs can remain in the environment for many years,
bioaccumulating in the tissue of organisms, causing profound deleterious
effects on predators in the upper levels of the food chain. Freon, and other
ozone depleting compounds, may increase risk of cancer due to added UV
radiation in the troposphere. Society needs to find ways to reduce economic
dependence on persistent human-made substances.

3. The physical basis for the productivity and diversity of nature must not
systematically be diminished.

In a sustainable society, humans will avoid taking more from the biosphere
than can be replenished by natural systems. In addition, people will avoid
systematically encroaching upon nature by destroying the habitat of other
species. Biodiversity, which includes the great variety of animals and plants
found in nature, provides the foundation for ecosystem services which are
necessary to sustain life on this planet. Society's health and prosperity
depends on the enduring capacity of nature to renew itself and rebuild waste
into resources.

4. We must be fair and efficient in meeting basic human needs.

Meeting the fourth system condition is a way to avoid violating the first
three system conditions for sustainability. Considering the human enterprise
as a whole, we need to be efficient with regard to resource use and waste
generation in order to be sustainable. If one billion people lack adequate
nutrition while another billion have more than they need, there is a lack of
fairness with regard to meeting basic human needs. Achieving greater fairness
is essential for social stability and the cooperation needed for making
large-scale changes within the framework laid out by the first three
conditions.

To achieve this fourth condition, humanity must strive to improve technical
and organizational efficiency around the world, and to live using fewer
resources, especially in affluent areas. System condition number four implies
an improved means of addressing human population growth. If the total
resource throughput of the global human population continues to increase, it
will be increasingly difficult to meet basic human needs as human-driven
processes intended to fulfill human needs and wants are systematically
degrading the collective capacity of the Earth's ecosystems to meet these
demands.



  • Re: Industrialism to Ecology of Commerce, EWerb, 04/11/1999

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