Right livelihood. Right for you. Right for the planet. Right now!

Sitting pretty in your solar passive straw bale house is just a part of the story! Environmental responsibility reaches every aspect of your life, once your house is in order, it is no good to continue to invest time and energy into institutions that further destruction of our natural resources, degrade soils, and fail to recognise human rights.

Sustainable societies recognise their responsibility to the planet. Resource bases are not exploited in the short term, but managed for the long term benefit of our descendants. Tribal lands have remained fit to support their people, with plentiful wildlife and diverse ecosystems up untill the modern era. Now, we have exploited these lands for short term profit for the benefit of a few.

We began to wake up to our social responsibilities about 100 years ago, and it is only now that environmental responsibility is starting to enter the mainstream consciousness. We have for many years remained ignorant of our actions, but now have no excuse to continue down the destructive path we have found ourselves on. Only an ostrich could think that we do not need to change our ways dramatically and quickly, and at every level. If we use our skills and labour for destructive purposes, we are destroyers. Addressing environmental issues at regional level, providing employment and financial structures based on sustainable and diverse endeavours, will also go a long way to reducing the social problems within our society.

Most political systems are polarised - us and them, black and white, left and right, rich and poor... They govern from the top down, instead of the bottom up, and keep the populace fed on a diet low in real food and high in propaganda, living in fear, and not trusting your neighbour. The current political system is all about short term one-up-manship - no thought for beyond the immediate political situation. We need to begin to co-operate with each other more. Break out of our boundaries, and talk to our neighbours. Co-operate, listen, share stories... The power is in the people, but we have to regain it. Centralised government seeks to control as many of the people as possible. Bio-regional government could make decisions based on what the land can support - appropriate solutions for each situation.

Western culture has become a consumer culture, use it up and wear it out is the accepted norm. There is no conservation ethic, where packaging, energy and waste are minimised and repairing and recycling maximised, frugality equates with poverty. It's not about saving dollars, but saving trees, or soils or other finite resources. The average consumer lifestyle is eating into our future at a very high rate . Technology is great, but let's not forget how to do things without power or fossil fuel, for when that day comes, practical skills and low-tech tools will be king! Because we have a lap top, we shouldn't forget how to use a pen!

At Living Waters we have strived to create opportunities for people to earn a sustainable, ethical, income. It is a common ethic that brings a community of people together and it is manifest in all aspects of life - not a weekend hobby. We do not see ourselves as being apart from the world, we wish to be a strand in a web of diverse, resilient communities, living in a harmonious manner with the ecology, and those who live there.

Permaculture is positive action. Nothing gets done just thinking or talking about it! It is essential to live your life better today. Right now.