As we all seek to move forward and build back better, we all need to ask ourselves how we can contribute to a green recovery. A green recovery is a recovery that enables us to all move forward together – and to take care of our planet – as we move towards a truly sustainable society. It’s not all about economics. And we need to make sure that those in positions of power always remember that fact.
I’ve already written a post on how we can make our voices heard and demand a green recovery. But now, I want to take a moment to discuss how we could all potentially make a big difference in other ways.
In permaculture, we often talk about how the world’s problems can be solved in a garden. So let’s look at some of the ways gardeners could contribute to driving our society forward in positive ways.
We can:
- Grow at least some of our own food, to withdraw our support for damaging agricultural systems and boost our personal resilience.
- Grow food for our local communities – to boost community resilience and begin to fix our broken food systems.
- Share seeds, plants, tools or other resources with other growers in our communities, to help them contribute in a similar way.
- Share knowledge and skills with others to help them grow.
- Sequester more carbon with carbon gardening practices. (And help fight against our climate crisis.)
- Compost – to recycle nutrients, reduce food waste and build and maintain healthy soil.
- Upcycle and reuse a range of items for gardening and home growing.
- Harvest rainwater and manage water effectively to reduce strain on infrastructure and mitigate the risk of droughts or flooding.
- Grow other useful plants to help our households – such as plants for household cleaning, personal cleaning or beauty products. This can help us reduce waste and live cleaner, greener lives.
- Support green gardening businesses, and choose eco-friendly gardening products, seeds, plants and tools.
You might even be able to become a green entrepreneur, and set up your own backyard business. The resources in your garden could allow you to explore a range of sustainable career options, and help our country boost its economy. By playing a key role, we can make sure we build economically in a way that looks at the triple bottom line, and cares for people and planet as well as profit.
EWSP Consultancy 