00141 How to permaculture your college lifestyle and why you should

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. — Unknown

Since nearly all colleges and universities are in cities and larger towns, permaculturing your college lifestyle is an aspect of urban permaculture with its own unique tweaks due to the nature of the college lifestyle.

Here’s some reasons why you should be interested in permaculturing your college lifestyle:

  • 50% of recent college graduates are unemployed or under-employed at jobs that have nothing to do with their degrees.
  • Median wages for new graduates with bachelors' degrees are lower than they were in the year 2000.
  • 57% of student loan borrowers owe more than $10,000.
  • 21% of student loan borrowers were delinquent on their loans as of March 2012.

In other words, despite what you have been promised, getting a degree is no guarantee of a job. Permaculture will give you the design skills you need to help you live a good life during and after your college career. It will help you avoid the traps the system sets for young people that cause you to make decisions that are not in your best interest.

Being a college student can be good for the environment.

The college lifestyle is way more communitarian than most modes of living in the modern world.

College students often live in dormitories, or with roommates in smaller off-campus apartments. Fewer square feet per person means less energy to heat and cool and fewer other resources that are necessary to operate the building. Dormitories are nearly always built to be energy efficient. All of this is good for the environment and for the future.

A college cafeteria is an energy-frugal way to eat. The kitchens prepare food in large quantities which is more energy conservative than preparing small amounts of food.

College students often walk and ride bicycles more and drive less.

Being a college student can be bad for the environment.

Many college students are well integrated into the mindless consumption popularized by media. They run up credit card debt and live way beyond their means while accumulating ever larger piles of useless junk. They borrow too much money for college and do not work enough to earn money to pay for their expenses.

Many college students like to travel by air, which is one of the worst ways to travel in terms of its environmental impacts. They think the only limit on their travel should be their bank account, credit card limits, or time. Some college students spend liberally, accumulating ever larger piles of mindless consumer junk.

Permaculturing your college lifestyle is not rocket science.

Go ahead and read the Education section before going any further.

Permaculture design is more fun than you can presently imagine.

Yes, it involves work. That work is an investment in your future — and let’s not forget our goal —

Permaculture can help you design your life so that you experience more beauty, health, happiness, freedom, and cooperation — with less work, consumption, conflict, injustice, and waste.

What's not to like about that?

The process of permaculturing your college lifestyle:

  • Keep reading and studying,
  • Find or organize a small group to study permaculture.
  • Tell others!
  • Observe, Study, Evaluation, Design, and Implement (OSEDI)! Reflect on what has happened (your experience and feedback), repeat OSEDI.
  • Reflect on what has happened (your experience and feedback), repeat OSEDI.
  • Reflect on what has happened (your experience and feedback), repeat OSEDI.

As you develop your own permaculture design for your college life, you will be part of the process that makes your school more resilient, more sustainable, safer, and a better place to live.

Don’t stop with yourself. Spread the word! Permaculturing your college lifestyle is a lot more fun when done in the company of others.