Questioning modern views of advancement using permacultural wisdom (interview with janice setser and sasha rabin of quail springs permaculture)
We're joined by two guests today from Quail Springs Permaculture (@quail_springs), an organization that empowers people with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration that are essential to cultivating ecological and social health.
Janice Setser is its Executive Director, and Sasha Rabin (@earthenshelter) is its Natural Building Director as well as founder of her own natural building organization, Earthen Shelter.
After they each came to their own awakenings of how modernization has strayed from providing experiences that that truly bring joy, abundance, meaning, and wellness, they set out to explore alternative ways of living that put social connection and earth stewardship first.
On this podcast episode, Janice and Sasha shed light on why we need to go past sustainable living to regenerative living; what is problematic about our binary and linear view of societal advancement; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Janice, Sasha, and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
“We need to reclaim our relationship to the land that we live on.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast exploring environmental regeneration and intersectional sustainability from ideas to life. The preview highlighted has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On how urban design shapes our relationships:
"I think we're all fairly disconnected from the understanding of how much the way our cities and neighborhoods are shaped and designed has a huge effect on our day-to-day lives and the ways we interact with our families and neighbors.
I think we need to reclaim some of that.
It's happening a lot in urban areas through people ripping up lawns and putting in gardens, leading people to actually being in the front yards and meeting their neighbors and reclaiming our relationship to the land that we live on. That happens both through growing food, building shelter, and in many other ways."
On the need to regenerate soil as we plant food:
"What we strive to do in permaculture is close the loops as much as possible and regenerate.
If you're not building soil, why are you planting food, really?
You don't extract, you build—you don't destroy without creating something new.
And I think that agribusiness is not looking at the relationship of all the things around it that it's dependent upon, so it's going to fail as a result."
Final words of wisdom:
Janice: "It can't be done in isolation."
Sasha: "Just go for it."
