15 Nov Permaculture Design Suggestions for Nonprofits
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by jnazak
The following permaculture design suggestions are written with environmentally focused nonprofits in mind, but could just as easily be applied to other nonprofits with a humanitarian mission.
Focus On People Care. In addition to focusing on "Earth Care," permaculture emphasizes the "People Care" ethic. (Actually, it's "Care of people and all other species.") In the vein of people care: It's tempting for a nonprofit organization to try to build credibility and boost its status by getting a big grant to create a fancy building and grounds. A permaculture suggestion, rooted in people care, would be to take a big chunk of that funding and instead use it to create living-wage jobs for local people. The jobs that you now rely on volunteers to do. Any donors you lose by not having a huge glitzy building aren't worth worrying about. If you communicate your intent effectively, worthy donors will respect your decision to put people first.
Have a REAL green building. And speaking of that building, if you absolutely must build a new one, you will definitely want to make it as green as you can. In permaculture design, "green" goes way beyond solar panels, adequate roof overhangs, good insulation, and rainwater collection (though you should do all of those). It's also a matter of using sustainable materials and insisting on appropriate
SCALE. One of the current trends in architecture is huge buildings that take up the entire lot. Don't do this. Practice space-efficiency principles and reduce to a minimum your building footprint. Leave the rest for nature. For some nice hints on space-efficiency, you might like to read John Jeavons'
How to Grow More Vegetables, Eighth Edition: (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. By applying these principles to office space, you can vastly reduce your building's footprint. I once used Jeavons' biointensive garden layout suggestions to help an organization significantly increase the amount of classroom space available for its students, thus saving the expense and energy of a bigger building.
Better than building a new building – REPURPOSE/RECYCLE. See that vacant building with the weedy parking lot? Oh yes you do, there's one in just about every neighborhood strip mall. Repurpose that building. It's amazing what you can accomplish with heart and creativity. There's something in the American national character that just loves to tear down the old or break new ground. But we've also been known to be very innovative about working with what we've got, and turning it into gold. Nonprofits with environmental missions would do well to cultivate that latter instinct.
And you may not need a dedicated building or office at all. Several highly effective local eco nonprofits, most notably the
Austin Eco Network and
Design-Build-Live, have been run very successfully out of small home offices.
Share and connect. Permaculture has been described as the "science of maximizing beneficial relationships." Robust networks, whether in the plant kingdom or on the human landscape, are essential to a good permaculture design. Along these lines, you should seek out other nonprofits with similar missions, and team up in various ways. For example, several small eco-focused nonprofits might want to go in together on office space. You might even be able to share a phone number, website design and hosting services, and so on. Tiny local nonprofits that can't afford their own offices and admin services may well be able to afford a communal arrangement — and everyone involved will benefit from the increase in organizational connectivity. The benefits will be reaped not only by the organizations but also by the people you serve. And of course the planet will benefit when multiple organizations share office equipment, go in together on the purchase of paper and other supplies, etc.
Permaculture your landscape. Being an environmental nonprofit, you will of course want to have eco-savvy landscaping. Conserving water and providing habitat should be prime considerations. Be sure to put in permaculture earthworks such as berms, swales, and ponds that harvest water on site, enriching the landscape and reducing stormwater runoff. And make your grounds a model for economic sustainability and local resiliency by adding trees and other plants that produce food, fiber, fuel, and other useful yields.
A nonprofit is just another kind of corporation. I mention this because "corporation" and "for-profit" have become synonyms for "bad guy" in some circles. And conversely, people hear "nonprofit" and see an image of a golden halo. But in reality, for-profit corporations are not inherently evil … and by the same token, nonprofit organizations are not inherently infallible. Greed and corruption can creep in to a nonprofit's culture as surely as they can infect a for-profit corporation. I once heard someone describe a certain nonprofit organization as "the Frost Bank of nonprofits." What the critic meant was that the nonprofit had become too dominant. Though its stated mission was to help small local enterprises, it had turned into a local 800-pound gorilla that wound up pressuring the enterprises to reduce their prices below a livable level. A core tenet of permaculture design is distributed power. De-centrist empowerment. Another core tenet is cooperation. So, avoid becoming that 800-pound gorilla. Keep your focus on really supporting your constituents.
Don't grow beyond your sweet spot. In keeping with the permaculture design principles of diversity, distributed power, and appropriate scale, you should avoid the temptation to let your organization get too big. Every organization has a sweet spot beyond which it becomes bureaucratic and unwieldy. This is the point of diminishing returns, where you're no longer serving your public as well as you were.
Haste makes waste. The cardinal principle of permaculture design is to observe carefully before taking action. If you're in a hurry (and you're high on a recent influx of grant money), it's all too easy to just rush out to the store and buy new paints or office supplies or whatever, when back there in the supply cabinet you've still got old stuff sitting around that you could make do with. Or it's easy to just sub out a repair job to the first bidder without really researching the best possible local provider who could save you a lot of money. I've witnessed this kind of waste on many occasions in the nonprofit sector.
Have a business mind-set. Just because you're a nonprofit and have scored a big fat grant is no excuse not to keep striving to be lean and thrifty. Keep your good habits. The cost-cutting instinct is a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly to stay in shape. Even if you get a big grant, that money will be gone quicker than you think. Don't let yourself get flabby — or your thrift muscles won't be there for you when times get lean.
Really live your principles. Weave your eco mission into every aspect of your daily operations. Don't site your organization in an automobile-dependent location. Encourage your people to walk, bicycle, or ride public transport to work. Allow them to telecommute when possible. Go in together on a CSA farm membership and prepare nutritious communal lunches with fresh local food. Speaking of food, grow some fruits, veggies, and herbs on site. Have a picnic table or other place where folks can sit down together and be connected with the natural environment. A piece of nature, even if it's just a few potted plants on a balcony, is soothing and helps people recharge. Strive for zero waste: Compost organic matter, and minimize the use of disposable packaging on your premises. Where you can't reduce or reuse, then recycle.
Caring for people includes caring for YOUR people. I said it earlier but it bears mentioning again. Everyone likes to pitch in and volunteer for a worthy organization, but don't abuse this good instinct by relying entirely on the sweat of volunteers to sustain yourself financially. Reduce your overhead so you can create living-wage jobs for at least a few local people. What's in it for you is organizational continuity, a growing skill-bank, and a reduction in burnout.
That's all for the moment. Can you think of any additions to this list?
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The world needs more permaculture thinking in every industry and sector. Ecologically rooted design principles and ethics need to be applied to factories and organizations as well as to landscapes. For more information about permaculture, please visit Austin Permaculture Guild at www.austinperm.com The Guild's popular Winter/Spring Permaculture Design Certificate course still has spaces open, and you can get the info and instant online registration here.
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