Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share: The Heart of Everything We Do

When I talk about permaculture, I often start with three words: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. These aren’t just slogans or nice-to-haves. They are the heartbeat of everything we do at South Shore Permaculture. Every decision we make, whether it’s planting a garden, hosting a workshop, or planning a PDC, comes back to these guiding ethics.

But here’s the thing: at SSP, we take those three steps two steps further. First, we bring in Spirit-Aware, and then we fold in Self-Care. One can’t truly exist without the other. Embracing awareness of spirit in and through everything we do naturally leads to self-care. And self-care? That’s the pièce de résistance, because when I work on myself, I become a better person, and the better I am, the better I interact with the world, with the land, and with others in all three core ethics.

Earth Care: The Soil Beneath Our Feet

I grew up loving the outdoors; scouting and camping were a huge part of my younger years, as many of you know. Some of you also know about the GT BMX bike, which led me to landscaping, edging lawns with a pair of hand clippers when I was ten, but my first real lesson in caring for the Earth from a permaculture lens came not from a textbook, or hiking, biking, or earning money tending lawns, but from my neighbors.

One fall, I was raking leaves in my suburban yard when my neighbor waved over from across the street. “Want these leaves for your garden?” he asked. My eyes probably lit up like a kid in a candy store. That pile of leaves became mulch for my vegetable beds, enriching the soil and helping me grow better food. Seeing that “waste” as fertility stirred something in me. It tied me to my garden and to its cycles. It opened bigger questions: How does the forest use its leaves? Why aren’t there piles and piles of them? How do they break down so quickly? Why is Northeast forest soil so thin instead of deep and rich?

Earth Care is about more than compost and mulch, though. It’s about seeing the land as a partner, not a resource. Every plant we choose, every swale we dig, and every compost pile we turn is a conversation with the soil, the water, the sun, the wind, and all the living creatures that call our patches of land home.

Spirit-Aware Earth Care takes it further: when we work with the land, we recognize its living energy. We pay attention, we honor it, and we allow its rhythms to guide our actions. This is where observation and humility come in, not just techniques but connection.

People Care: Community Is Everything

Gardening alone is lonely. You can grow the most beautiful vegetables, build the most elegant compost systems, and still feel isolated if you’re not connected to people. That’s where People Care comes in.

When we build community around permaculture, amazing things happen. Neighbors share leaves, wood chips, or compost. Experienced gardeners lend advice. Kids learn from older hands, and adults learn humility and patience from younger folks. We exchange seeds, tools, and sometimes even stories over potluck, kombucha, or pizza at a permablitz.

Spirit-aware people care, adds depth: Noticing the human energy around us, listening to stories, celebrating successes, and respecting struggles. When we connect with empathy and attention, relationships flourish, and community resilience grows stronger.

Fair Share: More Than Just Generosity

Fair Share is about redistributing time, energy, and resources responsibly so abundance circulates rather than stagnates. The guy down the street with a punky pile of logs he doesn’t want, or bags and bags of leaves he’s hauling to the curb. Or the neighbor with chickens who could use extra vegetable scraps for feed…Sharing and collaborating benefits the land, the people, and the ecosystem as a whole.

Spirit-Aware Fair Share encourages us to notice how abundance flows, to be conscious of the impact of our giving, and to cultivate gratitude in the process. When we give mindfully, generosity becomes a practice of presence, not just a transaction.

Self-care is also tied to fair share. Giving endlessly without tending to ourselves leads to burnout. But when we pause, recharge, and nurture our own needs, we return to the community with more energy, patience, and clarity.

Putting It All Together

These five ethics—Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, Spirit-Aware, and Self-Care—aren't separate; they feed into each other. Caring for the Earth nurtures our communities. Caring for people encourages a culture of sharing. Sharing fairly strengthens both land stewardship and human connection. Spirit awareness deepens our attention, our respect, and our learning. And self-care ensures we can sustain this practice for the long haul.

Even in the suburbs, even with tiny yards, these principles are powerful. They remind us that resilience is a collective effort, and no one can do it alone. That’s the beauty of permaculture: it’s a framework, a philosophy, and a practice that scales from a single balcony pot to a neighborhood of interconnected gardens.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’re curious about permaculture, let these five ethics guide you. Start small: mulch your garden, help a neighbor, share what you grow, notice the spirit in what you do, and take care of yourself along the way.

At South Shore Permaculture, we bring Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, Spirit-Awareness, and Self-Care to life in workshops, PDCs, and community events. Together, we learn, experiment, and support each other, always with a deep respect for the land, each other, and the wisdom embedded in both.

Join us. Stay curious. And remember: the heart of permaculture isn’t just what we grow in the soil; it's what we grow in ourselves and our community.