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Environmental Ethics and Urban Permaculture in Central Texas

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ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND URBAN PERMACULTURE IN CENTRAL TEXAS by Katelyn M. Samples, B. A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Major in Sustainability December 2013 Committee Members: Audrey McKinney, Chair Chad Smith Amelie Benedikt COPYRIGHT by Katelyn Michelle Samples 2013 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work, I, Katelyn Samples, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the participants of this study, whom without, the study could not have been possible, Dr. Audrey McKinney for her continued guidance1, Dr. Chad Smith and Dr. Amelie Benedikt, and finally Nic Dahlberg, for his unrelenting support. 1 Versions of sections 2.3. Permaculture and 3. Environmental Ethics were submitted in fulfillment of courses Philosophy 5399 Thesis A and Philosophy 5388 Problems in Philosophy, both under the supervision of Dr. Audrey McKinney. The thesis proposal was submitted to the Graduate College in the fall semester of 2012, while enrolled in Philosophy 5388 Problems in Philosophy. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 WHY ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS AND URBAN PERMACULTURE? ..... 2 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF PERMACULTURE .............................................................. 5 2.1.1 Brief Review of Industrial Agriculture ........................................................................... 6 2.2 SYSTEMS THINKING .............................................................................................. 10 2.3 PERMACULTURE ...................................................................................................... 12 2.4 MODELED PERMACULTURE .............................................................................. 17 2.4.1 Other Examples of Permaculture in Action ................................................................ 22 2.5 COMMUNITY ASPECT OF PERMACULTURE................................................ 24 2.6 URBAN PERMACULTURE ..................................................................................... 25 3. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS ....................................................................................... 29 4. RESULTS FROM INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .......................................................... 33 5. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 56 5.1 SOCIAL ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ............................................................. 56 5.2 LAND ETHIC .............................................................................................................. 59 5.3 DEEP ECOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 62 5.4 INTEGRATIVE SUSTAINABILITY ETHIC ....................................................... 64 5.5 DISCUSSION OF URBAN PERMACULTURE .................................................. 67 5.6 FURTHER DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 72 6. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 75 6.1 LIMITATIONS AND RECONSIDERATIONS .................................................. 76 6.2 POLICY IMPLICATIONS ........................................................................................ 76 6.3 FUTURE STUDIES .................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX A ................................................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX B .................................................................................................................................... 87 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................. 91 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Introduce Interviewees .................................................................................................................. 34 2. Rewards of Permaculture ............................................................................................................. 36 3. Philosophies of Individuals .......................................................................................................... 42 4. Industrial Agriculture vs. Permaculture ...................................................................................... 45 5. Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share from Interviewees’ Perspective ................................... 48 6. Emerged, Shared Values ............................................................................................................... 51 7. Examples of Urban Permaculture Practices .............................................................................. 52 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Spiral Herb Garden ........................................................................................................................ 17 2. Permaculture Zones ....................................................................................................................... 20 3. Keyhole Gardening ........................................................................................................................ 21 4. Rural Australian Permaculture Farm ........................................................................................... 22 5. Berms and Swales ........................................................................................................................... 26 6. Greenhouse with Chicken Coop ................................................................................................. 28 7. Scale of Human Interactions with the Earth ............................................................................. 44 8. Hugelkultur Bed After One Month ............................................................................................. 69 9. DIY Wicking Beds ......................................................................................................................... 70 vii ABSTRACT Human activities are causing vast environmental degradation around the globe at unsustainable rates. It is more imperative now than ever that we create sustainable societies that can coincide harmoniously with the natural environment. The dominant social paradigm views nature as resources for human consumption, but this paper argues that there are ethical human activities that challenge the mainstream ways of interacting with the natural environment. Environmental ethics is a subject advancing different ethical human-nature relationships. This thesis explores environmental ethics held by permaculture practitioners. Permaculture is a specific type of sustainable agriculture that focuses on using a system’s thinking approach to designing gardens that emphasize biodiversity and locally-adapted, edible perennial plants, as well as maximizing energy efficiency. Permaculture also contains embedded ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Since permaculture is ‘site- specific,’ this paper examines the environmental ethics held by permaculture practitioners. It also explores the potential of urban permaculture in Central Texas. Through interviewing permaculture practitioners of Central Texas, four main environmental ethics emerged, which are: social ecology, deep ecology, Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, and sustainability ethics. Many permaculture practitioners blurred the distinction between these ethics, while some aligned more closely with one ethic over another. Permaculture in and of itself embodies environmental ethics, and for the interviewees in this study, their ethical practice of permaculture influenced other aspects of their lives, not just gardening techniques. Practitioners also exemplified great hope for urban permaculture and viii felt that with the right amount of support, permaculture could become a more widespread practice.
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