Patterns in Nature & Permaculture Ethics

Some observations

Patterns we observe in nature arise in three different ways:

1. Structures that grow - e.g. plants, trees, leaves
2. Structures that flow - e.g. rivers, clouds, fog
3. Structures that emerge - e.g. flocking starlings

The distinctions are not always clear-cut. A regular pattern of cumulus clouds may be the result of both moisture flow, and emergent patterns through complex atmospheric interactions. However, two attributes appear to be common to all structures:

1. They need energy to form, and
2. they use energy as efficiently as possible, causing a pattern to emerge in the process.

For example, a tree uses some of its energy to grow toward the light, distributing its leaves in a canopy to intercept as much sunlight as possible using the minimum amount of energy. In a similar fashion, a river delta is an optimum solution to the problem of transporting as much water as possible, for the least effort (as the water flows travel from mountain spring to ocean, they combine to form enormous rivers).

Consider a spiral snail shell. This beautiful structure emerges following two simple rules:

1. The rate of growth of a ring of shell is proportional to the size of the ring, and
2. part of the ring must be attached to an existing part of the shell

The first rule makes the shell grow larger the further out from the centre it is. The second rule causes the shell to spiral.

All structures have a characteristic scale - the distance over which its pattern repeats. Whether the pattern is easily observable depends on how this scale relates to size of humans.

For example, consider the leaf of an ivy. When we study the ivy leaf closely, we observe the regular pattern of branching structures of veins radiating from the central stalk that make up the leaf. We could say that the leaf has a characteristic scale of around 3mm since the veins are roughly spaced at about 3mm intervals.

Imagine instead that you are an ant crawling over the leaf - your size is now about the same as the characteristic scale of the leaf. You do not need to study the leaf closely to observe the pattern - you are aware of it as each of your legs crosses the veins in turn!

This concept of characteristic scale is very important, for it helps us to classify patterns. It is my observation that patterns around us tend to have a characteristic scale which is either much larger, or much smaller than us.

Observation: comparatively few patterns exist at our own scale, that of metres. Why is this?

Photogallery

Deep Space

Saturn, with beautiful ring formations of unimaginable scale.

The Hourglass Nebula.

Carina NGC 3372.

M16 Pillars.

Cumulus clouds from 35,000ft - patterns from a structure that flows.

Gnarled bark and ivy

Silhouette of a tree and coastline, demonstrating fractal structures (tree trunks forking into branches forking into smaller branches forking into leaves).

Permaculture Ethics

The three permaculture ethics are:

• Earthcare
• People care
• Fair share

These must all be considered right at the beginning of any design activity. We can use these principles to help point us in the right direction.

Linkwork - Going Green at Home and Permaculture Ethics

Assignment: choose a "green" activity in your life and assess how well it meets the permaculture ethics.

Going Green At Home

We're doing a number of things at home to become more green, such as:

• Purchasing our energy from a renewable energy supplier
• Harvesting rainwater and using it to water the garden and flush the toilet
• Recycling
• Using natural paints when redecorating
• Buying locally produced (organic where possible) food
• Continuing not to own a car, but using Shanks Pony, cycling or public transport instead

All of these satisfy earthcare as their prime goal, and therefore implicitly contribute toward people care (leaving a planet for future generations to live on) and fair share (reduced consumption of resources, freeing them up for others to use).

The people care criteria is met by shopping locally as much as possible, avoiding large stores and supermarkets where typically 90% of the money gets siphoned out of the community and into the pockets of corporate fatcats and shareholders. (Aside: an interesting fact: a new supermarket doesn't create jobs in the community - instead it reduces the number of jobs available when it forces local greengrocers and newsagents out of business, making the local community poorer not richer.)

We directly contribute to the fair share ethic by donating unwanted clothes to local charity shops; unwanted furniture is given away.

Permaculture Ethics

I've been applying permaculture ethics (earthcare, peoplecare, fairshare) at home and at work - here are some examples:

Encouraging my employer to 'go green' - earthcare

My employer is a large manufacturing company who use large quantities of energy. I've suggested to them, as part of their ISO14001 environmental accreditation scheme, that they consider purchasing their energy from a renewable supplier. This suggestion is being considered as part of the company's energy purchasing strategy. I've also encouraged them to think about provision for cyclists, perhaps even to subsidise cyclists to the same level as car drivers, who all receive lots of car parking spaces for free!

I've suggested that the health department, instead of advertising "weight watchers" clubs, instead get more people to walk or cycle to work, or even to use public transport (which is definitely more energetic than sitting in an overheated polluted tin box).

Cycling to work - peoplecare

Where I work there's a vast amount of traffic - instead of being a 'box dweller' (a common term used by motorcyclists to describe car drivers) I choose to cycle. This improves my health and also to some extent that of others since that's one less car on the roads; hence peoplecare.

Giving away surplus plants I've cultivated from seed - fairshare

I'm growing lots of food in my backgarden, largely from seed. A single seed packet may contain hundreds of seeds, not all of which germinate. However most seeds do germinate, and I'm left with many viable plants (e.g. tomatoes, chillies, sweet peppers) that I have no room for. Rather than throw the plants away, I try to give them away to family and friends, asking for nothing other than the pot and soil back at the end of the year! This encourages others to think about food growing, or for those who already do it, makes their life easier. It's therefore a good example of fairshare - I'm sharing out surplus that I don't need.