February 20, 2018

1805 - Avery Ellis on Aquaponics, Water Harvesting, and Creating the Laws We Need

41 minutes

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Avery Ellis, of Colorado Greywater, joins me to talk, in a conversation recorded live at a local coffee shop, about aquaponics, water harvesting, and his entry into the world of community politics when he joined the stakeholder process that changed the laws around how people can collect and use water in Colorado.

From these experiences, he created the foundations for a pattern language, which he shares with us, that we can use to remove the restrictions placed upon permaculture designers, homeowners, and businesses that practice sustainability and build resilience.

Find out more about Avery and his work at ColoradoGreywater.com

I mentioned near the end of the conversation about some allies in our work to change the laws that restrict sustainable practices. The two you’ll find linked to in the show notes are Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and National Community Rights Network. The National Community Rights Network also has state chapters in Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.

If you’re involved in any kind of community engagement around the use of natural resources, definitely check out those two organizations.

I really appreciate people like Avery, or Adam Brock or Karryn Olson-Ramanujan, who continue to develop various pattern languages, drawing on the earlier work of Christopher Alexander and team in the book A Pattern Language.

I find that pattern languages extend the core principle of permaculture design and apply this language and thought process to specific problems. Karryn works on issues for women in permaculture. Adam on how to create change, here and now. For Avery, it is to be involved in the stakeholder process and politically engaged on the things we care about and lend our expertise, which lead him to his patterns.

The ones he explicitly identified that we walked through in our conversation today were: allies on the inside, stakeholder cohesion, speaking legalese, CYA, people power, immutable force, and grit.

Have you been involved in the process of political change? Are there patterns you would add to this list?

Let me know. Leave a comment in the show notes or get in touch.

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You can also use those ways to reach out if I can ever help you with your project or permaculture path. I keep my door open to lend a hand in whatever way I can.

From here, the next episode is my conversation with Karen Lanier about her book, The Woman Hobby Farmer.

Until then, spend each day creating the world you want to live in, but getting involved, changing the laws, and taking care of Earth, yourself, and your community.

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Resources

Avery Ecological Design

Colorado Greywater

Colorado Aquaponics

Boulder Permaculture

Sandy Cruz

High Altitude Permaculture

Living Routes (Now defunct. Reorganized as CAPE - Custom Academic Programs in Ecovillages)

Auroville Ecovillage - India

Master of Ecological Design - San Francisco Institute of Architecture

Greywater Action

Harvesting Rainwater and Brad Lancaster

Allies in our work for change

Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

National Community Rights Network

Other Interviews on Pattern Languages

1723 – Change Here Now with Adam Brock

1433 - A Pattern Language for Women in Permaculture with Karryn Olson-Ramanujan

...more

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By Scott Mann

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