Permaculture Principles: One Element, Multiple Functions

In our continued exploration of the design principles of permaculture, we've already looked at permaculture zoning, sectors and relative location, all of which were principally concerned with where we place design elements within a system.

But in order to decide where to place something, you've got to decide what it does. And in permaculture we try to get as holistic a view as possible of every single element in a design - be that a plant, a structure or any anything else. This, perhaps, is the most interesting thing about permaculture, namely offering a break from the linear model of input-output gardening - and instead seeking to form an interconnected web of mutually beneficial relationships, just like in a natural ecosystem.

The most commonly cited example is the permaculture chicken, versus the industrial chicken. In an industrial system, everything is fine tuned to get the maximum output of eggs (or meat) - and that involves a huge input of resources, and a denial of a chickens basic, umm, chickenness. (Captain Paul Watson of Whale Wars recently claimed that industrial chickens are one of the biggest contributors to over fishing!) But is there a different way?

In permaculture we view the chicken first and foremost as a sentient being - and we seek to integrate it within our system as naturally as possible. And in nature, nothing is wasted. So we seek to meet as many of a chickens needs as we can from within the system - allowing them to eat waste food from the kitchen, bugs from the garden etc; collecting rainwater for them to drink, and even using the heat from a building or greenhouse to keep them warm in the coop.