Store Update
DVDs/Books — by Bonnie Freibergs April 17, 2013
We thought you might like to know about new items in our online store:
Comments (0)Writing “Toolkit for Climate Stabilization with Tree Crops” (Kickstarter Campaign)
DVDs/Books — by Eric Toensmeier April 4, 2013
I’m writing "Carbon Farming: A Global Toolkit for Stabilizing the Climate with Tree Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices"
To save the planet we may need to turn it into an edible paradise… help me write the book that explains how and why.
Perennial crops and regenerative farming practices can help stabilize the climate by sequestering carbon. How does it work? Plants use photosynthesis to turn atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbohydrates in their tissues. In perennial plants (like trees) this carbon is stored or "fixed" in their woody parts and below-ground roots. But there’s more: in no-till systems where the soil is not turned over, substantial quantities of carbon can be stored as organic matter in the soil. This book focuses on non-destructively harvested perennial crops that can provide staple foods and other essential products, and on no-till or reduced-tillage farming systems that help soil hold carbon.
Comments (0)Film Review: One Day, Everything Will Be Free
Aid Projects, DVDs/Books — by Stephanie Blennerhassett March 30, 2013
Trailer
As permaculture-, environmental-, or philanthropic-based tourism is becoming increasingly promoted by the media, I often feel like I am being sold an idea, experience, or even indulgence for my unsustainable lifestyle. If I want to have an ‘experience’, as a tourist, I want to be introduced to new thought patterns that challenge me to notice what I notice, such as how I have been trained to seek validation through institionalization. This provocation is what I believe is inherent to permaculture, and is why I find it tricky to adequately explain ‘permaculture’ to someone for the first time. Even defining permaculture can feel counter-intuitive and unsatisfying. Because permaculture can take time, skilled wordsmithing, and visual examples to explain, permaculture-theory is increasingly over simplified, redundant, or sensationalized when adopted by the mainstream media, especially in film. Often, when watching a permaculture film, I find myself feeling as if like I have seen it already. However, One Day, Everything Will Be Free, a feature-length permaculture documentary about Sadhana Forest Haiti, released in Spring 2013, is different.
Comments (2)Stories from our Food Gardens (e-Book)
Compost, DVDs/Books, Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation, Trees — by David Bartlett February 21, 2013
The world is dotted with individuals that are driving change from the inside out, inspired by the principles and approach of permaculture.
I wanted to share with you “Stories from our Food Gardens” an e-publication made possible by the Saville Foundation here in South Africa, written by Melveen Jackson. Their partnership is an example of what is possible when certain individuals are backed by opportunity and funds. To me it emphasizes the well-talked-of potential that permaculture has to flow out of our backyards and influence mainstream development. South Africa (and in this particular case, the province of KwaZulu-Natal), without doubt provides a great canvas on which to show these dynamics at work, so we get excited to see it happening in reality.
Comments (3)Gardening with Perennial Vegetables DVD
DVDs/Books — by Eric Toensmeier February 15, 2013
I’m announcing the release of the Gardening with Perennial Vegetables DVD, the companion to my Perennial Vegetables book. Almost three hours long, the DVD visits my own cold-climate garden, Las Canadas in the Mexican cloud forest, and ECHO in subtropical Florida. Many species are covered, as well as practical techniques and gardening ideas.
You can order the DVD from Chelsea Green or your local supplier. It’s a great DVD to have to show PDC students on a rainy day!
Comments (1)Donate Towards Rocket Stove How-To DVD
DVDs/Books, Energy Systems — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 16, 2013
Watching the above video, and others I’ve seen like it, gives me rocket-stove envy. Rocket-stove envy can be a serious condition, if not dealt with in a reasonable time frame. Indeed, it can be a debilitating disease. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, sleeplessness, regret, empty wallets and general surliness. But, if enough people had this serious condition, and also had it properly dealt with, by getting their own well-built rocket-stove, I can only imagine how much more joy there would be in the world, and how many trees would be saved from a premature demise….
Comments (3)PRI Store Specials and Shipping
DVDs/Books — by Bonnie Freibergs December 17, 2012
I am continuing to ship orders up to midday Friday 21st and will re-open on the 7th of January. If you are in Australia and order before this time you will receive your order in time for Christmas. The following specials have been extended until then and are great last minute Christmas suggestions.
Thanks for all your support this year. It’s because of customers like you that PRI continues to do the work it does.
- Geoff Lawton’s 5-DVD Set — 20% OFF RRP
- Bill Mollison’s Four-Book Special — 20% OFF RRP
- Murray Hallam’s Aquaponics 3 DVD Set Collection — 10% OFF RRP
- Permaculture International Journal Magazine Sets — 60% OFF RRP
- Leonie Schahan’s DVD and Book Collection — 10% OFF RRP
- 3 book special – Brad Landcaster’s Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond – Volume 1 & 2, PLUS Art Ludwig’s Water Storage — 50% OFF RRP
Christmas is Only 6 Weeks Away – Why Not Give An Educational Gift?
DVDs/Books — by Bonnie Freibergs November 14, 2012
If you’re looking for an inspiring gift, we have the answer. The following specials are great value for money and have the added bonus of being a gift for the planet — earth care, people care and fair share.
Comments (0)How To Survive the Coming Crises (free Geoff Lawton video)
DVDs/Books, Dams, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Global Warming/Climate Change, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Swales, Trees, Water Harvesting, peak oil — by Geoff Lawton November 12, 2012
At time of writing, our Zaytuna Farm Video Tour video has had almost 11,000 views, after only six months. A lot of people expressed their appreciation for this video, with some describing it as a "free DVD". Where we can, we want to provide more inspirational/instructional material for free, and today I’m writing to let you know about our latest effort towards fulfilling this goal.
Click here to go to an introductory video titled ‘How to Survive the Coming Crises‘. This is a FREE 34-minute video that looks at:
Comments (5)Support ‘Seeds of Permaculture’ – a Free Documentary About Tropical Permaculture
DVDs/Books — by Theron Beaudreau October 29, 2012
Seeds of Permaculture Trailer
While working as a site manager at a startup permaculture education center in Thailand I had the unique opportunity to participate in the filming of a documentary film about permaculture and, in particular, the education center I was helping to create. This film is now moments away from having an opportunity to be distributed internationally… but it needs one final push to make it!
Comments (1)Genetic Roulette Documentary – Free Viewing Period Extended Until End of October 2012
DVDs/Books, GMOs, Health & Disease — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 19, 2012
A few days ago I informed that you could watch the Genetic Roulette Documentary for free until October 17. Well, several organisations have kindly sponsored an extension of this free viewing period until the end of October. With Proposition 37 coming up on November 6 in California, there’s no time like the present to get the word out on GMOs. So, if you haven’t already, please take the time to watch it, and please do your best to share it with all your family, friends and colleagues!
Watch the full documentary here!
If we can get mandatory labelling of GMOs happening in California, this can cascade across the U.S. — making it easier for people to recognise and reject ‘food’ items containing GMOs, and this in turn can cause boycotts of supermarkets who continue to stock them. Using the European example as evidence, we may only need about 5% of U.S. residents to start rejecting items containing GMOs, before supermarkets will feel the pinch and try to outcompete other supply chains by no longer stocking them.
And, below is a new 10-minute re-mix of the documentary, useful for those who just can’t make time to watch the full 1.5 hour film.
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Intro to ‘The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market and State’, Part II – Why the Language of the Commons Matters
Alternatives to Political Systems, DVDs/Books, People Systems, Village Development — by David Bollier October 3, 2012
The text below is the second half of the Introduction to the recently published anthology of essays, The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market and State (Levellers Press). The first half was posted yesterday. More about the book can be found at www.wealthofthecommons.org.
As the corruption of the market/state duopoly has deepened, our very language for identifying problems and imagining solutions has been compromised. The snares and deceptions embedded in our prevailing political language go very deep. Such dualisms as “public” and “private,” and “state” and “market,” and “nature and culture,” for example, are taken as self-evident. As heirs of Descartes, we are accustomed to differentiating “subjective” from “objective,” and “individual” from “collective” as polar opposites. But such polarities are lexical inheritances that are increasingly inapt as the two poles in reality blur into each other. And yet they continue to profoundly structure how we think about contemporary problems and what spectrum of solutions we regard as plausible.
Intro to ‘The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market and State’, Part I – The Commons as a Transformative State
Alternatives to Political Systems, DVDs/Books, People Systems, Village Development — by David Bollier
Below is the first half of the Introduction to our new anthology of essays, The Wealth of the Commons: A World Beyond Market and State, just published by Levellers Press. The Introduction is by me and Silke Helfrich, my co-editor and colleague on the Commons Strategies Group. Part II of the essay will be published in my next blog post. You can learn more about the book at its website, www.wealthofthecommons.org.
It has become increasingly clear that we are poised between an old world that no longer works and a new one struggling to be born. Surrounded by an archaic order of centralized hierarchies on the one hand and predatory markets on the other, presided over by a state committed to planet-destroying economic growth, people around the world are searching for alternatives. That is the message of various social conflicts all over the world — of the Spanish Indignados and the Occupy movement, and of countless social innovators on the Internet. People want to emancipate themselves not just from poverty and shrinking opportunities, but from governance systems that do not allow them meaningful voice and responsibility. This book is about how we can find the new paths to navigate this transition. It is about our future.
PRI Online Store Specials (September 2012)
DVDs/Books — by Bonnie Freibergs September 13, 2012
We have a combination bonanza happening in the PRI online store right now. Exclusive to our online customers are these great deals — four of them in fact — that combine author titles for between 10%-20% off RRP. We don’t know how long we will be able to hold these prices so order now to avoid disappointment.
Click the links below the graphic to find out more and to order.
- Leonie Shanahan’s DVD and Book Collection
- Murray Hallam’s Aquaponics 3 DVD Set Collection
- Geoff Lawton 5-DVD Set
- Bill Mollison 4-Book Set
Other items we have on sale include:
Comments (2)The Man Who Started a Fire (Christopher Alexander Lecture at Berkeley, California)
Building, DVDs/Books, Presentations/Demonstrations, Society — by Oyvind Holmstad September 11, 2012
Jump to 12:20 to skip introductions
As said in the introduction to this lecture held in spring 2011, Christopher Alexander has started a fire that keeps on burning, spread by the ‘wind’ throughout the world. But in the wake of this fire there’s no ash, but only beauty and true living structure. As in the new cosmology of Alexander, matter is not inert anymore — it has spirit, revealed in the field of centers. This means that beauty is seen as a fact of the wholeness found in nature and the universe.
Beauty is the manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever. — Goethe
These natural laws are not so secret anymore. Though Alexander in the beginning of his lecture says he has only taken the first initial steps toward our understanding of living structure, I believe in the end it will turn out that these steps were gigantic. If we survive as a civilization, something we can only do if we start creating living structures, not as something added on, but as the very core of a new civilization where nature and culture are one.
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