who has ideas for new forums?

not promising ALL of them will get created, but what forums would you like to see that don't already exist?

What about a Reuse/Recycling forum where we share Ideas on how to reuse various "throw away" or worn out items or how to recycle things into usable items for ourselves and our homes. I think this would be a great forum because I think that the current recycling system is not all that it is cracked up to be and that people recycling things themselves at home would be much more earth freindly. This could also be a place for people to say : "I have 3 old lamps that won't work what could I turn them into or what parts are in them worth saving?

There is a pretty good thread going on "Adaptive Permaculture" - for those of us who have disabilities of some kind (mental, physical, emotional). Alan McGill who started the thread was actually a co-student of mine in Geoff's first online PDC. I had started a topic in the boards on Geoff's site about that and you'd be surprised on how many people have some kind of impediment to overcome! It was an interesting discussion. Alan actually lost his leg during the class, and I had 4 eye surgeries while trying to complete my project - so much fun!

So a forum - probably under "living" - for "Adaptive Permaculture" might be nice to have - in fact Alan wishes for one in that thread.. I would love to collect a bunch of stories and put them in a book or film. I actually mentioned this to Toby earlier this year.

Edited to add the link - helpful, no?

Sam Barber wrote:What about a Reuse/Recycling forum where we share Ideas on how to reuse various "throw away" or worn out items or how to recycle things into usable items for ourselves and our homes. I think this would be a great forum because I think that the current recycling system is not all that it is cracked up to be and that people recycling things themselves at home would be much more earth freindly. This could also be a place for people to say : "I have 3 old lamps that won't work what could I turn them into or what parts are in them worth saving?

There is the recycling and repurposing forum that's pretty active.

Edit: Jennifer, wholeheartedly agree with the Adaptive permaculture forum request!

Thanks Cassie! Early this year a seed swap thread started but didn't really take off. And occasionally within other topic threads, a few people will offer something. Perhaps if it became an official forum it would grow. There are so many plants talked about here that just aren't available locally, and hard to find or expensive online. If I were technically inclined I'd set up some sort of database like Dave's Garden to make it easy for people to offer and find stuff by plant name. But alas, I can barely figure out how to navigate permies in general.

I'd like to see sub thread under critters labeled something like "critter infrastructure." I've got two problems I'd like suggestions on fixing but I'm not really sure where to post them. One is about fencing across streams and the other is about water delivery for critters.

I'd like to see some segregation between geographic regions or some way of reaching a geographically similar audience.

Maybe a biomes section , similar to the regonal forum. http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

A teen permie section! For the younger folks who we seem to be seeing more of.

Cassie L. : I was very glad to see the Pottery Thingy pop-up in Homesteading and ancient skills, if it is meant to happen i expect to see links to the Rocket
and Cob building Forum Threads ! Thumbs up !

While we have had many threads started about Coppicing and Pollarding Trees and how some tree groves in England have been managed by this method
for over 500 years, They have been posted to many different Forums !

So- for my two cents, I think that if these two terms were bundled together and had their own Forum this would take off !

Thanks again for all that you have done, And thanks for Stepping up big time !

For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL !

Andrew Jackman wrote:I'd like to see some segregation between geographic regions or some way of reaching a geographically similar audience.

So do you just mean more regional forums? Instead of lumping the rockies together, maybe have several different forums for that area? Or do you mean something else?

Miles Flansburg wrote:

A teen permie section! For the younger folks who we seem to be seeing more of.

I do love that we have a lot more teen permies poking around here. I am wondering if we need an entire forum for them. I am not trying to be skeptical or shoot down your idea at all, just curious as to what it would entail that is different from our other forums.

Maybe a new forum specifically for talking about world domination, separating it from tinkering with this site? Or maybe one called "Big Ideas"?? "Think Tank"? "Thought Soup"?

Cassie : Todays youth is tomorrow's future, and it will get here damn fast !

Most of the Wwoof-ers are teenaged to twenties, I certainly would not consider the Wwoof-ing section to be very attractive, how are we represented/linked-to
the other sites that predominately cater to this group.

While this site, and the richsoil.com site and Face book serve the over 30 crowd well, more and more it seems like the under 30 and younger only use Facebook
to talk to parents, and people back home !

So- the question is ARE we serious about attracting them ?

Just my two cents ! Big AL

A Freecycle option to offer up things for free or ask for things for free. We have an active one in our county on yahoo and I am admin of the one for our church on Facebook. They really are a boon when someone has a need. And a good way to get something old re-used. If you need a volunteer to help monitor it, I'd be happy to volunteer!

Dave Burton wrote:Maybe a new forum specifically for talking about world domination, separating it from tinkering with this site? Or maybe one called "Big Ideas"?? "Think Tank"? "Thought Soup"?

From a practical perspective, what does this include? Is this political in nature? Would it include at least a subforum to include legislation news and political actions (gatherings, writing to reps, etc.)?

Cassie Langstraat wrote:

Miles Flansburg wrote:

A teen permie section! For the younger folks who we seem to be seeing more of.

I do love that we have a lot more teen permies poking around here. I am wondering if we need an entire forum for them. I am not trying to be skeptical or shoot down your idea at all, just curious as to what it would entail that is different from our other forums.

It makes sense to not just say "teen section" but cater to activities, education, and resources that teens or beginners would be interested in. For example, enabling a wooffer/gaffer community to develop may go a long way. It would allow farm owners to observe what's going on without interfering or directing. Good farms would get a good rep, bad farms would get a bad rep. That reputation will enable wooffers/gaffers to choose the best farms and make them shine. "Bad" farms would hopefully be given incentive to change and make stronger contributions to the community.

I understand your concern about duplicating effort created on other sites, but the fact is that permies.com goes a long way to enable social interaction and to make knowledge very readily accessible. If it were up to me, I would stay on permies.com and the associated sites and never leave. Providing a new section in the 'one true permies way' is a lot more attractive imho than the way other sites are doing it with their own spin.

While I'm thinking about beginners, I think it's worth offering the opinion that some of the lingo is confusing and there's a lot of overlap. When I look at the front page, I ask, "Where would I most likely find information about swales?" Swales are constructed, so building? They're integral to most/many permie farms' systems, so homesteading? Their major purposes have to do with providing plants with water and microclimates, so growies? At the very least, making the search feature more accessible would help a lot -- it's not accessible on the front page at all.

Cassie Langstraat wrote:

Andrew Jackman wrote:I'd like to see some segregation between geographic regions or some way of reaching a geographically similar audience.

So do you just mean more regional forums? Instead of lumping the rockies together, maybe have several different forums for that area? Or do you mean something else?

I want to easily find people and resources that are most relevant to me and my region.

I personally belong to the 'rockies' region, but it's very inclusive. It includes "montana, colorado, washington, idaho, oregon, nevada, utah, alberta and british columbia." Within those states, even if you restrict yourself to the Rocky Mountains and the immediately surrounding areas, you have huge variations in rainfall, snowfall, elevation, urbanization, latitude, and native plant varieties. Even limited to Utah, we have quite a variety of climates, elevations, and native plant regions.

As I'm writing this, I'm trying to think of the most economical way for you to enable people to find resources and people according to geographic region. Have you seen the Permaculture Global site?

http://permacultureglobal.org/users

The site seems definitely geared towards Geoff Lawton's brand of permaculture. I like the map on that users page, on which I've registered to be included. I just don't think that the site gets the traffic that permies.com does.

As a programmer, I can think of a lot of things you can do, but it simply may not be possible or reasonably cost-effective with an off-the-shelf forum like JForum.

As of right now, I can only suggest that you create subforums as requests come in for those forums. For example, you already have 'rockies'. How about a subforum 'utah' and inside of that 'wasatch front' or a subforum for each county? Because it'd be a lot of work to create all counties from the start, just create the ones people are asking for. You may consider a good example of this to be craigslist, which has slowly included more regions (dividing regions) or creating subregions (suburbs, districts, etc.) as required to assist their audience.

Anyway, it's a big conversation, and my vision may be incompatible with that of permies.com.

Thanks for all your help and contributions!

Dave Burton wrote:
Maybe a new forum specifically for talking about world domination, separating it from tinkering with this site? Or maybe one called "Big Ideas"?? "Think Tank"? "Thought Soup"?

I like this one but someone asked if it should be around politics and I would prefer that be labeled politics, there are very few "Big Ideas" in politics that don't seem to bend us all....

Anyway I like the idea of "Big Ideas", I have been wondering where to place some of my own thoughts that I don't want buried in a section that is close but not really what I have in mind.

Here are a couple ideas that keep rolling around in my head: On the RMH dvds; while I want the set, money is tight, just started a new job during the holidays and if I aint working no money is coming in and being the new guy always has its' ramp up period. I wonder if you could buy them individually, or Heaven forbid... as a group, I know $80 bucks isn't all that much but it is right now. Someone mentioned wanting to just get the dvds and then putting on their computer then tossing the hard copies(blasphemy).

Another idea on RMH kickstarter idea, someone mentioned they are in an area where they have to buy firewood. How about one of the "piling it on rewards" be a list of great places to get wood free and nearly free compared to buying? I went past a tree trimmer who had wood all the way down the edge of their driveway, I bet people could get summer and spring wood, ice storm wood pretty darn cheap compared to tree trimmers having to mulch it. Cities usually have trash/trimming pick up days; it's posted and you can call to find out by calling. Most larger cities do it a couple times a year.

*Another idea is on selling the RMH dvds. What if you had the teaser stuff on a dvd that is sort of a commercial for the main package, then you let people sell these for X$ that pays cost of creating, packaging and shipping.

*Another Idea is on the Wofati; I know it is a lab project but it has a negative thought in my head. While living in Arizona I heard of some young boys that had been digging holes in a dirt pile(I suppose like when I was a kid and we dug tunnels in mounds of snow). Well one of the tunnels collapsed and before they could get a 10 year old boy out he died. I am already claustrophobic but I like the idea of that underground house that is near the same temperature all year round.
Anyway I was thinking with the lab doing some care-taking of other people's properties how would an idea be of putting up say a "duplex" where half could be for Mushroom Gappers and the other half for the landowners when they visit? Something along the lines of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbM2In5Hfx4

*Potato Gapper sponsorship?

Practically, I am thinking the "Big Ideas" or whatever it will be called would be about anything, well, big. I would hope for it to not be political. Kinda a place to throw and talk about large-scale ideas.

For example, I watched a video about floating gardens and it mentioned how the plants remove excess nutrients and heavy metals from the water. This got me thinking about the dead zones and how those are caused by excess fertilizers getting into the waterways. That got me to thinking about hydrilla that took over the florida wetlands. In theory, a combination of massive floating gardens deployed along the waterways and the planting of hydrilla could rejuvenate the dead zones and turn the problem of excess nutrients into a new food source and revenue stream.

This is what I am talking when I say big ideas. If I could avoid politics, I would as much as I can because quite frankly the systems are outdated and slow, too slow to keep up with what needs to be done to solve the world's problems. Then, I can begin to start doing things. I downloaded a pdf of how to build an open-source laboratory today, and my mom is getting nervous because she's afraid I'll damage the house. She's also afraid my brother will damage the house, too. (I'm a senior in high school)

When I started talking about growing plastic-eating bacteria in our backyard through selective evolution, she got kinda jittery, too. Also, it would look bad on a college application if news got out that an experiment went wrong at our home. So, I can understand my mom's worries a little bit. The pipes in our neighborhood are made of pvc, a type of plastic, and I tried telling her that the technology hasn't advanced far enough to degrade that strong of plastic in a devastatingly quick manner. Nonetheless, she said no.

I would like to discuss things like that, big things, and I would greatly hope that others are interested, too! How to solve the world's problems from our own backyards!

Cassie : About being Hung up on regional identities ! Some one can say they live in the 4 corners region and still live within a few miles of someone in Nevada
or California !

Bear with me a minute, I am going to describe a bit of eye candy that Site developers for hire use to convince a Dot Com to use their services !

The developer offers to provide 'free of charge' a map that shows the Client and the clients customers from where in the world the Dot Com is drawing customers !

I am fairly sure Paul will see where I am coming from ! A click on link that delivers you to a page with a flat sheet map showing all the countries of the world, stuck
with colored pins showing the location of all 28,000+ Permies Members would show a future Member that there actually are members in his/her area.

This map and a plan to individually ask new members to go to and complete the My Profile section which can then post their general addresses, would go a long way
to improve contact between members !

This is not a perfect solution, but the 2nd part can be implemented today and the 1st probably within a week, someone like Paul will have to determine if a program
can be made that identifies a persons home state and then creates a new regain based on that state and all adjoining states !

Anyway the 1st two steps are the easiest to start up now !

If this is unclear in any way I am sorry, ( also about 1/2 a quart low !) just let me know and I'll try again For the Craft ! Big Al

One "New Forum" category that I would like to see, and correct me if it already exists under a different heading, is "Winter Indoor Gardening". Just using the following link as a
"conceptual example", there can be much grown without using a greenhouse and without a large investment in artificial lighting: http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/02/03/regional/deep-winter-green-house
Obviously that example does use a greenhouse, but the concepts could be adapted to south facing windows of a home.

One might be limited to what one can grow, but it would be a way to obtain fresh produce in the winter months in cold regions. Since it's a rather new wave, there would be much information to share about what works at what latitude and what doesn't. Indeed, just like any other plant breeding/selection enterprise that's done outside, those on the forum could share, for example, which leafy green varieties work best with low natural light versus artificial light, etc. I like the idea of cross-fertilizing, say, the growing aspect of permaculture with the home heating aspect (rocket mass heaters).

allen lumley wrote:
Bear with me a minute, I am going to describe a bit of eye candy that Site developers for hire use to convince a Dot Com to use their services !

The developer offers to provide 'free of charge' a map that shows the Client and the clients customers from where in the world the Dot Com is drawing customers !

For the record, I am a programmer, but I'm also striving to be a permaculturist. I'm simply trying to lend my experience and expertise to the forum, not make a quick buck.

Andrew Jackman : Great ! We draw from the abilities of our entire mass and feed the needs of all of us !

Nothing in what I was saying was meant to reflect negatively on any one! I certainly do not consider eye candy a bad thing! If it came out that way I'm sorry!

Perhaps you are familiar with the use of a world map to designate memberships, Having that feature prominently displayed may make it easier to provoke
people to share their location. Most people want to know who May Be in their area !

The only people who need a regional grid that is made just for them -is someone who is ether promoting a workshop, or is looking to see if there is one in their
area !

Late Note : Boy is my face red ! I have just re-read the entire forum,where I was Guilty of only skimming before ! Mea Culpa ! Sorry !

I found where you posted the link to the World Membership map, that was exactly what I was Talking About, Any thing to get new members to identify their
location>

I had the bought to find a site with the map several days ago, after failing to find a site like that on my own i thought I could write it down that way for clarity,
something I struggle with !

This is exactly the way that Thread Extentions get Highjacjcked! Its also a little like fouling out and leaving your team short handed ! For the Craft ! Big AL

John W., your link to deep winter gardening was really good. It had me pricing Lexan panels, then I was thinking of geodesic domes with lexan panels, some pipes in the ground going for geothermal heat, I wonder how much the price could be reduced?

Dave Burton, it's great to have such a smart guy in here. I went and watched a couple videos on floating gardens, if the earth is covered by 2/3rds water, these ideas sure will help feed multiple population areas.

I was listening to one of those NPR shows once and they talked about how some of these "invasive species, that thrive in so many areas may oneday be a cure for food for the world.

Keep up the great posts, fresh eyes and ears are great for all of our development.

My suggestions are all water related and would be part of the Building Forums:


Wastewater Treatment - greywater systems and composting toilets are covered but there is not a forum for specific discussions for blackwater or combined wastewater streams. Wetland systems , biogas digesters, and other treatment methods for wastewater streams that do not fall into existing categories would be covered.

Stormwater Control and treatment - the rainwater catchment forum deals with stormwater at the localized household level. This could cover small scale properties to large rural or urban scenarios.

Water Treatment - specific forum to contain water treatment and storage strategies / options

Maybe the right word I am looking for is "Amplification"- finding ways of looking at ideas, combining them, and expanding them to do more. I think that would be clearer than "big ideas". Big is a relative and subjective term.

Or maybe going with Paul Wheaton's theme of conquering the world, the new forum could be called "Plans For World Domination" (separating it from the tinkering with this site forum)?

What about a section for permaculture/sustainable/small scale/organic/etc. educational opportunities. It could include workshops, seminars, college or technical training, or farm visit events. With an emphasis on participatory hands on learning experiences.

Under the building forum, I would like a superinsulation sub-forum.

Superinsulation helps so many other things work better. It makes normal south facing windows suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.

It makes the waste heat from refrigerators and people and cats suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.

It makes the light bulbs of any flavor suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.


In the summer too, it can make a tiny window AC unit suddenly cool the entire house.


It can cut your firewood use by 75% even with a bad stove.


The initial extra framing and insulation costs are somewhat offset by much smaller costs for heating and cooling equipment, and much lower heating and cooling costs.


Easily uses cellulose as insulation, made from recycled news print, and sustainable.


etc etc etc.

troy

@Mike F.: "John W., your link to deep winter gardening was really good. It had me pricing Lexan panels, then I was thinking of geodesic domes with lexan panels, some pipes in the ground going for geothermal heat, I wonder how much the price could be reduced?"

Don't know....I've never explored geothermal but hear that it could be a great way to get air-temp warmed up. We live in the Red River Valley outside of Moorhead, MN. Flat...heavy clay.....flood prone. Still, I'm thinking a greenhouse with soil bermed up outside around the sides might be insulated enough for certain types of crops. I work in ag research and am looking forward to the declining price of "tunable" LED light fixtures. These will be very cheap to run, even with the currently steep purchase price, but can be wavelength "tuned" for optimal light spectrum for plant production. Even with that possibility, I would anticipate not only sticking with mostly ambient winter daylength for light needs, but testing varieties and cultivars of leafy greens for which perform best under that growing regime. And still interested to see how far this could be pushed just using south-facing windows in a home. Lot's of mixing and matching of technologies, plant varieties, and soil/substratum approaches that could make this a go.

I'd like to add my vote for a new "Adaptive Permaculture" forum. The thread that's going now at https://permies.com/t/32966/permaculture/Adaptive-Permaculture-integrate-folks-disabilities#312626 has shown a tremendous interest in and need for ongoing conversation and solutions. Matu Collins started another thread specifically devoted to the autism spectrum - https://permies.com/t/32991/permaculture/Permaculture-Autism-Autism-Spectrum-Disorder.

Disability is a large diverse topic. And we are all "differently abled" from time to time. As we grow communities we will have to deal with these issues. A dedicated forum where we can share solutions will be a great resource.

Troy Rhodes wrote:Under the building forum, I would like a superinsulation sub-forum.

Superinsulation helps so many other things work better. It makes normal south facing windows suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.

It makes the waste heat from refrigerators and people and cats suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.

It makes the light bulbs of any flavor suddenly contribute a significant percentage of the heating load.


In the summer too, it can make a tiny window AC unit suddenly cool the entire house.


It can cut your firewood use by 75% even with a bad stove.


The initial extra framing and insulation costs are somewhat offset by much smaller costs for heating and cooling equipment, and much lower heating and cooling costs.


Easily uses cellulose as insulation, made from recycled news print, and sustainable.


etc etc etc.

troy

I'll second that request. Please.

I would like to see a forum for water and one for natural renovations. Natural building covers a lot of the same stuff, but not everyone lives in a natural home. I would like to see a place where we could discuss how to transition your conventionally built home to a naturally built home.

That sounds good Bill, have you listened to podcast 252 with Rob Roy?

At the moment we have loads of types of construction but nothing on how a building is designed from a Permaculture perspective. So, a general design forum within buildings would be good ie a place where we can discuss fundamentals like solar orientation, temperate design, tropical design, drylands design, optimal size of rooms, window sizes etc.

It would be great if we could then sticky some of the best designs such as Bill Mollinsons examples in Chapter 4 of the Introduction to Permaculture (especially diagrams 4.5, 4.12 and 4.16), or the various sections on structure design in chapters 10-12 in the Designers manual. Hopefully, this will drive a whole new form of discussion on general design principals of structures.

Is like to see a forum on tropical permaculture.

Didn't read the whooooooole thread but I think this isn't redundant:

I'd like some kind of organization by urban AND cold climate or rural AND cold climate or rural AND tropical, etc.; maybe this is a search thing rather than needing a new forum. (Often I find a great book or idea but then 'not in my back yard' because my back yard is 9 million degrees colder in winter than the one where that would work.

Also, I wish that there were a thinking forum. I think it's good to practice thinking. I like de Bono's thinking tools, and permaculturists seem open-minded enough on the whole to be willing to take time to think about thinking and practice thinking. You can do this on your own, but it's more fun in community. Thinking tools, thinking habits.

I think the thinking on this forum tends to be some of the best I've encountered, but we can always continue to improve and broaden perspectives. There's no upper limit to how focused we can be in thinking.

About the "teen" forum. Aren't "teens" newcomers to the discussion, strategies, vocabulary, all that? It might be a good idea to have a newbie starting place, but I don't see what is gained by separating teens out as if they were a different creature. Newbies are newbies. We're all humanity, just plenty of diversity in our community. I'd rather foster inclusiveness than divisiveness. The integration of the generations is something I appreciate about the permaculture model. Just MHO.



On another tack completely, I 've been thinking about seed libraries, and thinking what forum would be a place for the seed library thread, and that's what I came on here to talk about.

But we don't need a whole forum on seed libraries. The larger topic would be something about inroads of influence beyond the permaculture enthusiasts and practitioners.

There is a problem with the associations some folks have with "permaculture". And the negative associations others hold can be a deterrent to reaching people with whom we share the world, people whose apathy or misunderstanding or ignorance affects every aspect of life on earth.

Every so often I teach a class at the local library, so far it has been make and take herbal preparations, bath salts, herbal vinegar. I introduce the idea of recycling the glass bottles we get with our groceries... growing our own herbs, efficacy of herbs, cosmetics from the grocery store shelves, etc.

I keep trying to figure out how to begin to spread knowledge about the connection between climate change, atmospheric CO2 and tilling the soil. Living in a conservative community where most of the farmers both burn the fields and till them, I just can't see many people showing up for what would be seen as a controversial topic. And the few who did show up would be people who really already know. The small start is what I struggle with. "Capillarity in your garden's soil" at the library? A worm in a jar project I take to a primary classroom? A seed library?

Aren't there others who want to make these little in roads into disinformation and conventional belief systems? Is there a forum I don't know about?
I guess what I am asking about is a discussion about small beginnings. How to create opportunities to introduce topics we now accept and have proof of to the folks outside our bubble, folks with whom we are obligated to share the world. Folks whose misinformation affects every aspect of life on earth.

Do we need a forum where we explore and consider ways to broaden our circle of influence into the conventional community?

thanks

Thekla