Hancock Permaculture Center FAQ

What is permaculture?	Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the harmonious integration of landscape and people to provide food, energy, shelter, material and non-material needs, in a sustainable way. Permaculture promotes the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems.
What is the Hancock Permaculture Center?	The Hancock Permaculture Center (HPC) is an organization involved in sustainable living training and networking in the Upper Delaware bio-region of New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. HPC seeks solutions to local sustainable living problems, provides permaculture design and consultancy services, and actively supports permaculture projects in and around the Catskills.
What are some practical applications of permaculture?	By becoming involved with permaculture, you can: learn how to integrate organic food production into the broader context of sustainable human settlements understand and be responsible for your energy consumption and waste production learn the essentials of nature-friendly, energy-efficient house design gain skills necessary to design and teach permaculture systems access a global network of environmental activists and projects apply permaculture principles and methodology to other fields
Where did permaculture originate?	Bill Mollison, an Australian, originated the concept of permaculture in 1974. Mollison and his colleague, David Holmgren, coined the word by joining “permanent” and “agriculture” to describe an integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to humans.
How did permaculture spread?	Mollison and Holmgren developed and refined their ideas, which they set forth in two detailed teaching manuals, Permaculture One and Permaculture Two. Permaculture was presented as a way of using and/or imitating natural systems to produce food, clothing, energy and shelter. Because permaculture worked with nature rather than limiting, restraining or exploiting nature, it offered a viable way to achieve and sustain a comfortable lifestyle without destroying nature. This powerful concept spread quickly. Thousands of students have studied permaculture in special courses affiliated with major universities worldwide. Adding further to the credibility of the movement, the United Nations now utilizes permaculture in its programs.
How can I put permaculture principles to work around the house?	Permaculture can be applied with equal effectiveness to large and small-scale projects and everyday household practices: A compost system in your backyard. An herb garden in your window. Landscaping and terra-forming to collect water and solve drainage problems. Planting fruit bearing trees. Recycling. Buying local. Being responsible for your consumption of food and energy and for waste management. These are all ways to put planet-saving permaculture principles to work.
Isn’t the planet too far gone for us to save it?	It’s true that our soil and water, two essential elements of life, have been seriously depleted in the past 50 years. Our water has been poisoned by our destructive, postwar industrial agricultural methods, and billions of tons of soil from previously fertile landscapes have been lost to reduced biodiversity. The good news is that permaculture-inspired systems and designs can turn negatives to positives and improve our lives and landscapes simultaneously.