Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Jumping back to the fifth of Holmgren's Permaculture Design Principles
I seem to have fallen a little out of order with these principles so we are jumping back to the one which is fifth in Holmgren’s original list of twelve: Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services.
Looking to the natural world renewable resources and services are those things that are renewed and replaced by natural processes over time. Within a familiar ecosystem like a woodland that would be things like the soil, the trees, fungi, sparrows… In each unique ecosystem everything is entangled and interconnected, balanced and reliant upon each other as part of the whole. Where there are gaps they are filled through mutually beneficial exchanges with associated ecosystems. Everything is used and everything is valued.
Looking to the realities of industrial capitalism life for most of us humans could not be much further away from this reality…
I sit at my kitchen table writing this using a single use plastic pen that I was given at a conference, the covering on the table is a plastic backed cotton, the floor beneath my feet is a synthetic material, the computer I type the words on is also plastic filled with unjustly extracted minerals.
I could go on and on, and I am sure that the same would be true for most folk reading these words if you took a look at the items that are surrounding you right now…
Our culture is awash with stuff, and the vast majority of it is made out of materials that are not renewable. Heaps and heaps of crap exists already and it isn’t going away easily or soon. So what might that mean in terms of the things that we create, and the structures that support that making?
Avoid (or stop!) buying anything new – forage materials that exist already instead. And when you come into possession of those things how might you care for them so that they last as long as possible?
When thinking about items made out of renewable, natural materials the same applies about using them for as long as possible. Also think about the whole of their existence and ensure that you choose to use materials that have not been produced in extractive ways. Just because an item is made of renewable materials does not guarantee that the processes that have created it are regenerative or even sustainable.
Move beyond thinking about “things” to think about other resources that are essential to you that are not physical things This might be volunteer time, electricity, ideas… Where are these coming from and how can you ensure that they are valued properly, and produced in sustainable ways?
Build structures and processes that value and prioritise relationships and experiences over stuff!
Commit to not creating anything new. And if that is unavoidable make sure that any virgin materials used in its production come from renewable sources and sustainable processes
The images above are pieces of work created by Leilah Babiyre, which were shared as part of an exhibition at Yorkshire Sculptue Park in 2024.
Babirye was born in 1985 in Kampala, Uganda. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She studied art at Makerere University in Kampala (2007–2010) and participated in the Fire Island Artist Residency (2015). In 2018, the artist was granted asylum in the US and presented her first solo show at Gordon Robichaux, New York.
Babirye frequently uses traditional African masks to explore the diversity of LGBTQIA+ identities, assembling them from ceramics, alongside discarded materials like metal, rubber and wood. This use references the prejudiced slang for a gay person in the Luganda language – ‘abasiyazi’ – which is the part of the sugarcane husk that is rubbish, thrown out.
“My work is basically using trash, giving it new life and making it beautiful. It is always influenced by where I am working, I will use whatever is there. That’s why the work always looks different, because I’m not sure what I’ll find. The wood I’m working with here is a soft wood, whereas in New York it’s usually pine, which is a harder wood. This gives the sculptures a different feel and contributes to their different personalities.”
I would love to hear how you relate to this principle in your work and also in your life.
Lovely reflection. I generally write with my Lamy Fountain pen filled from a pot, but we still manage to accumulate single use pens alonf the way. My current fountain pen, I have had about 12 years - I can't believe you can buy something so brilliant for £15!
I love the way it makes me slow down because you can't easily write quickly with it. And I love how much people appreciate receiving letters that it writes. You have to really care to invest in a note with this pen.
I love the idea of a pen that takes you through your working (writing) life. And that can be fixed as you go along. That's the dream I reckon! 💚🖋💚
I’ve been using a re-fillable fountain pen for the last five or six years. A small thing, I know but I grew up in the late 50’s and 60’s watching my father refill his every morning before going to work as a teacher.
After being diagnosed with MS in 2001 I more or less lost the use of my left hand (my writing hand) and my writing (with a ballpoint) became illegible, even to me!
The fountain pen made me really have to concentrate, much like when I first started with one back at school- lefties were notorious for smudging their writing! I must have regrown those damaged neural connections as my writing now is as good as it ever was. It’s also a much nicer pen to use than a ballpoint, whether writing or drawing.
Back in day, if your work involved writing you might get one as a “starting work” present and use it for the rest of your life - every part replacable!