Cincinnati continues to carry a stigma of being overly conservative and slow-moving. I found a compelling argument against that recently while conversing with local Permaculture expert, Braden Trauth. For you who are not familiar with Permaculture, the short definition: a design paradigm for sustainable living. You first observe your (natural) surroundings, then design your landscape, home and (eventually) community to maintain stability within the ecosystem , with the goal being to produce enough goods and services to not only meet individual needs, but also to share (or sell) your excess. Now some of you might think that this train of thought may run more smoothly in a more, ahem, progressive region like the west coast, but Braden has put down some pretty deep roots here… and the movement is growing. This February, Braden kicked off his third Permaculture Design Certification series – a two month session of classes that addresses all of the basics of Permaculture, culminating in student design presentations. Braden tells me that he hasn’t had to advertise these classes too much – his students from prior sessions eagerly spread the word for him.
During my discussion with Braden, he spoke of all of the interesting places he has traveled to and lived in over the years: an Earthship in the American Southwest, various destinations in India, etc., etc. – so I asked him, “What made you choose Cincinnati?” To which he replied, that other than the fact that his family hails from the region, Cincinnati is a marvelous place to try out a new business. I can picture many of you vehemently disagreeing with this statement, because at first, I did, too. You don’t hear about many new Fortune 500 start-ups coming from the Queen City; but Braden pointed out some key factors that make Cincinnati fertile ground for fledgling companies: relatively low property costs, and a berth of different, and often disparate demographics. I thought back over my own experience with local small businesses, and I had to agree with him. The last company I worked for started here back in the late 80’s, then expanded into New York City, and now Chicago –one of the things that made that company so very successful and competitive with much larger companies was the small overhead costs associated with their main offices being located here in Cincinnati.
I would like to draw attention to the fact that I was talking to a Permaculture expert about business. Not too long ago, even the most liberal and free-thinking of my colleagues, myself included, would have dismissed anyone who had lived off the grid in an Earthship as some kind of crunchy granola hippie free-thinker who had no concept of reality or the nitty-gritty of economics. I here stand corrected. Braden told me that there are many universities, not just those in California, that are incorporating some of the tenets of Permaculture into their Planning and Sustainability curriculums (Cincinnati State is slowly offering courses, and Braden recently taught a class for UC’s Engineering Department), and we share a hope that the trend will continue.
Braden said that we, as a (Western) Civilization, are slowly leaving our “teenager stage” – we are learning environmental responsibility the hard way: in human terms – that if you drink too much too often, you can’t hold a good job; if you drive your car as fast as it can possibly go all of the time, you are likely to hurt yourself and others, or end up in jail. Permaculture is a means to think about resource use from a new angle… but what’s funny to me is it isn’t new at all. Our ancestors lived in harmony with their surroundings (for the most part, anyway), and we are nearing a tipping point in how we use the resources that we have left. It pleases me that there are people like Braden who are working very hard to modernize these concepts to make them more accessible for the general public. There may be hope for our species yet.
Dark Martha
http://www.consciousurbanliving.com/
