After Oil

We are living through tough times. We have heard about Peak Oil, and we are witnesses to the environmental devastation which results from fossil fuel use and extraction. As you can see here, oil is currently used in a wide range of products on which we depend.
There are people who are already thinking of the future - a future with less oil. The following short documentary follows one woman's investigation into alternative farming methods. She approaches a subject that I am particularly passionate about - permaculture.



The Wikipedia entry describes the term quite well: "Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies."

We like to believe that we accomodate Nature in some way, and that we enjoy it from time to time, but the truth is that we are part of Nature (whether we like it or not) and when we pollute or destroy, we are doing much more than making unpleasant views. Sustainable, efficient living can only come from working with Nature. Working against it doesn't seem to have taken us very far. As William Wordsworth once wrote, "Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher."