The fifth principle, use and value renewable resources is widely discussed in the green movement. Using renewable energy is a mantra.
But let’s take a closer look at what this actually means, especially the value part. An oak tree is renewable, because new ones are growing all the time. You'll often see several growing right underneath a mature tree. But currently, there is a movement to burn these trees for energy instead of using oil or gas, and that is counted in some statistics as “renewable energy” because they can be regrown. Trees are also used for things like toilet paper and fashion catalogs or junk mail which go straight into the trash.
These trees can’t grow fast enough to replace the ones we burn or use as toilet paper. They are not a renewable resource when used in that way. So it matters how renewable resources are used; how fast they are used up, and how sustainable the action is to replace them.
In order to be considered truly renewable, a mature tree would need to be used in a way that would last as long as it took to grow a new one to that size and age. It’s simple math - if you use something up faster than it can grow and replace itself, you run out.
This tree is probably about 80 years old. So, if we cut it down, what could we use it for that would last 80 years or more?
Furniture that is well made enough to hand down, perhaps. Housing that is well built. And not much else. Not firewood, not paper. Not unless we’re increasing the overall number of trees at a sustainable pace and in a sustainable way.
How could we ensure another tree will be available in its place in 80 years? To be sure of that, we might want to plant several trees for every single one we harvest. If the population continues to increase, future generations will need more trees, not the same number. Also, there is a lot of healing that is needed from damage already done - so maybe one would need to plant 10 or 20 trees for every one that is used.
The Iroquois Nation had a member of their council who represented the next seven generations. This person would take the viewpoint of how those generations would be impacted by decisions of the tribe. Future generations had a voice. Imagine if Congress had such a representative!
Here’s an example of renewable vs non-renewable use. A rubber plantation cut down a jungle in Malaysia and replaced it with rubber trees. The local tribal elder told them - the soil will be gone in 40 years. You have made a desert. They scoffed, they had replaced trees with more trees, right? But he was right, in 40 years the soil was gone, the trees died and they couldn’t grow any more. Rubber tree monocrop had leached the soil of nutrients, allowed run off of more nutrients, didn’t hold water the way a jungle did, and allowed the severe degradation of the region over time.
A similar thing is happening in the westerm US, with logging of old growth pine. It’s being replaced with plantations of Douglas pine, all planted at the same time, in rows. This is not an ecosystem, and often, there is almost no diversity in these systems. Over time, these pines, missing ecosystem support, weaken and are attacked by the pine beetle, and then go up like torches in a fire, spreading fire far and wide with the sparks that are emitted. There are ways to grow pine or rubber trees that are actually renewable. This involves adding more biodiversity, minimally, which is also a principle of permaculture. Biodiversity helps keep the system healthy and regenerative, and thus, we can extract from it without permanent harm.
What about a tree that is 400 years old? If we cut that down, how are we going to ensure whatever we make with it will last 400 years? How will we ensure it will be replaced and regrown? How are we going to ensure the forest from which it is taken is renewable and can survive well into the future? We continue to increase our understanding of the thousands of valuable ecosystem services that a healthy old growth forest provides. What would we have to know and commit to and do, in order to ensure that resources are actually renewed?
This kind of thinking is challenging. Many people think it’s impossible to operate this way, which it may very well be at first glance. But this is one great thing about permaculture design. When you take the big view of things and think in systems, solutions often become obvious, and they’re often elegant as well. We’ll be covering some of these elegant solutions later in the course.
I’m not pulling any punches with you about how we do things in modern society and what needs to change. This isn’t the whole story, there is a lot of good news which we’ll share here too.
But if we don’t do the math and think these things through, we will continue to limit our resources and our options. Fortunately, you can do something about this in your backyard. Just the fact of planting any food at all in your yard is far more renewable than getting it from just about anyplace else. If you use even just a few of the principles and tools here, you’re a cut above most of what is happening and you’re part of the solution, not the problem. You are doing something about these gnarly problems, in your own backyard, that is meaningful and important! What you do creates a ripple effect and no one knows where that ends up ultimately or how far it goes.
And if you get your friend or neighbor to do it too, well now we’re really changing the world.
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