Chapter 1 History Living and Growing Together Environmentalism is a big word But its meaning is simple Practicing environmentalism means being a friend of Earth and all its creatures Environmentalists want to keep our air healthy our land clean and our water fresh They want to take care of our plants and animals by making sure our planet remains a safe place to live Some environmentalists focus on encouraging people to stop polluting Others encourage people to recycle One of the most important environmental jobs is to teach people how all these things work together Permaculture teaches us that everything is connected The way we grow and make our food and raise and treat our animals affect our planet
Practicing permaculture means learning about where and how our food is grown
Pesticides can lead to contaminated water and soil
The Story of Permaculture Environmentalists David Holmgren and Bill Mollison came up with the idea of permaculture in the 1970s The word they created is a combination of the words permanent and agriculture These two scientists lived on the Australian island of Tasmania More than 25 percent of Tasmania’s land is used for agriculture Holmgren and Mollison were both concerned that all this land was being used in the wrong way with unsustainable farming practices For instance farmers were using pesticides on their crops Pesticides help kill insects that eat crops as well as destroy weeds that get in the way of crops growing But pesticides can be harmful to people and animals When sprayed onto crops these chemicals can eventually enter our water sources and contaminate or ruin them Pesticides can make humans and animals sick It can cause diseases like cancer In addition many Tasmanian farmers were practicing monoculture or planting just one type of crop Planting the same crop year after year ruins the soil When the soil is ruined the
