[Sdpg] Eco Punks the Model of Sustainability Mexico City, Permaculture Mexico

Fri May 30 08:05:02 PDT 2003

Eco Punks the Model of Sustainability www.lacaravana.org/condor/index_eng.html

Mexico City, Mexico

Imagine living in a city where electricity and water have been cut off, 
garbage collectors are on permanent strike, and the sewage system no longer 
works. What would life be like? How would you live?

[Amy walks with Tierra Viva members through a dilapidated neighborhood]

Amy walks with Tierra Viva members through a dilapidated neighborhood
If those questions have you stumped, just visit Mexico City and ask the 
punks of Tierra Viva who have lived in such conditions in varying degrees 
from the time they were born.

And they are not alone. Of the 18 million people who call Mexico City home, 
more than 3 million live in extreme poverty, often without the daily 
necessities that most of us take for granted. Just as many don't have 
indoor plumbing.

You can see and even smell the desperation in many of the poor 
neighborhoods: garbage piles up in the streets and abandoned lots; sewer 
water floods the roads, especially when it rains. On top of that, pollution 
from cars and factories fills the air, at times reaching hazardous levels.

The Search for Sustainability

[Amy with the punks of Tierra Viva]

Amy with the punks of Tierra Viva
Like many who are fed up, the punks have joined marches and protests 
calling for improved living conditions. But even they know the city can't 
keep up with a population that grows by more than 1,000 people a day.

Tired of feeling helpless and angry, they took it upon themselves to create 
a world they want to live in, rather than protest the one they currently 
do. For that, they turned to a growing movement called permaculture for 
answers.

Started by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s, 
permaculture seeks to create sustainable environments wherever people live. 
In practice, it means growing food, recycling waste and learning to live in 
harmony with natural processes.

"Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human 
environments. On one level, permaculture deals with plants, animals, 
buildings, and infrastructures (water, energy, communications). However, 
permaculture is not about these elements themselves, but rather about the 
relationships we can create between them by the way we place them in the 
landscape. The aim is to create systems that are ecologically sound and 
economically viable, which provide for their own needs, do not exploit or 
pollute, and are therefore sustainable in the long term."

--Bill Mollison,
from Introduction to Permaculture
After attending many workshops on permaculture techniques, the punks 
decided to put their knowledge to practice by creating their own 
permaculture garden in an abandoned lot. Sounds simple, but in Mexico City 
nothing ever is.

"When we wanted to plant we couldn't because when we started digging we 
found trash, Styrofoam, and rocks," says Roldan, a founding member of 
Tierra Viva.

Their only option was to plant up, above the ground, on small beds of soil. 
But where could they find soil that isn't toxic?

Compost, of course, another permaculture technique.

Taking trash (anything organic) from home and nearby markets, they add some 
worms and let everything sit for a week. The result is a rich organic 
fertilizer that not only grows plants but also helps recycle waste.

To water the garden, they built a pond to collect rainwater rather than 
draw from the city's dwindling supply.

The Growth of a Movement

"What permaculturalists are doing is one of the most important activities 
that any group is doing on the planet. We don't know what details of a 
truly sustainable future are going to be like, but we need options, we need 
people experimenting in all kinds of ways and permaculturalists are one of 
the critical gangs that are doing that."

--David Suzuki, scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster
While their permaculture garden is small and yields only a few herbs so 
far, it's giving the punks a chance to learn by doing and to share with 
people from the community their vision for a new urban environment.

"Our idea is to have this replicated to other neighborhoods that are 
severely damaged by pollution," says Raul, another member of Tierra Viva. 
"Our hope is that more young people learn our technique to help their own 
neighborhoods. But more importantly, we hope they will change their way of 
thinking about the earth their relationship to the earth."

Ultimately, permaculture goes beyond creating gardens. It's about a new way 
of living that is harmonious with everything and everyone around us, and 
being aware of our role as caretakers of the planet.

 From Rebels to Leaders

[Tierra Viva punks on their way to a service project]

Tierra Viva punks on their way to a service project
"Whoever is not doing something right now for the earth to save it is 
living here as a tourist," says Raul. "And as tourists who don't see the 
planet as their own, they will continue to sink further down."

In a world that will soon have more urban dwellers than rural (sometime 
around 2007), it's also about creating healthy urban environments, bringing 
nature back into people's daily lives.

That alone can have therapeutic powers, the punks say.

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[Helen Samuels: Voice of Change]

[Helen Samuels]

The Tierra Viva punks found a mentor in American-born Helen Samuels, who 
spent most of her life in Mexico and started an organization to promote 
community service among Mexican youth.

In an interview with GlobalTribe, Samuels talks about the "Fourth World" 
children she works with and why they have become the "joy of her life." ...more

[Related Links]

Tierra Viva Homepage
http://www.laneta.apc.org/
tierraviva/home.htm

Global Ecovillage Network
http://www.gaia.org/index.asp

The Permaculture Activist
http://www.permacultureactivist.net

The Permaculture Resource Institute
http://www.permaculture.org.au

The Permaculture Portal
http://www.permacultureportal.com