From EcoReality

Permaculture in Finance

So, what does permaculture mean to the finance steward? In Permaculture - A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison, he talks about how small groups have different financial systems than those of the larger economy, by using a set of exchanges, gifts, obligations and feasts to create a social accounting system where everyone owes everyone. There will still be financial transactions for larger expenditures and trade with the outer systems. Money is not a resource in and of itself. Money represents the wealth of the natural world (plants, clean water, clear air, and stored energy). Money can also represent different categories of assets:

• Degenerative - assets that decay, rust or wear out.
• Generative - the tools of society with which we use to build and process raw materials.
• Procreative - The plants and animals.
• Informational - education and data.
• Conservative - Dams, storage areas, trees for protection against erosion or desertification.

One definition of Permaculture says it is "the science of holistically designing sustainable human settlements is in accordance with natural systems and energy cycles." To me, this says that exchange and barter are more natural ways of sharing our energies.

This only touches the surface of how a small financial system can be in a small setting. To quote my best friend: "Money is like manure; spread it around and it promotes growth, pile it up and it stinks."

-- Carol Wagner, Farm steward