A Permaculture Approach to Sustainable Development in Puerto RIco
Tuesday, October 22nd at  7 PM
Newburyport Public Library Program Room

Join the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden Group and Northshore Permaculture Meetup for an evening with JD Hutchison-Maxwell, a West Newbury native, and assistant farm manager at New Harmony Farm of West Newbury and Newbury.

JD will be sharing his experiences working with Plenitud Iniciativas Eco-educativas (Plenitud Eco-Educational Initiatives), a non-profit organization located in Las Marias, PR, that supports individuals and communities in sustainable development by providing training, demonstrations and services in organic farming, bio-construction, and other sustainable permaculture practices. He worked 20 months at the newly forming Plenitud as a designer, builder, landscaper, teacher, farmer and much more. He will return to continue work at Plenitud this winter.

JD is a graduate of Boston University with a major in Human Geography and is deeply concerned about the challenge of climate change and our society’s over-consumption. He has decided to focus his energy in the area of food and agriculture, because he feels food is the most direct link that people have to the environment; that it is a good place to do hands on work to stimulate people to think about their use of resources and the importance of a healthy relationship with the planet.

A Mindful Approach to Personal Transportation Choices

The Greater Newburyport area has walkable, bikeable town centers and a rich menu of transportation options. We are served by taxis, a rental car agency, intra- and inter-state bus service and commuter rail. In this open discussion we will talk about our transportation options and explore how we might make our travel choices more mindfully — for cleaner air, better health and often less costly trips.

In addition to sharing all the transportation options we are aware of in our area, we will look at an awareness-raising technique used by Bart Anderson, a urban permaculturist, to examine his daily transportation patterns using a zoned approach.

The event, sponsored by Transition Newburyport and Community Resilience Circles, is at 4 PM on Sunday, October 20th, Central Congregational Church, 14 Titcomb Street in Newburyport.