Stacking Functions

One of the principles of Permaculture is the idea of stacking functions—making one object do more than one thing in a design. For example, the fig tree in front of our house provides shade in the heat of summer, a privacy hedge between close-set houses, and way more figs than we can eat every fall.  When we are designing gardens, living spaces, or curriculum we want to ask ourselves—does this idea have more than one use? Does it meet several needs?  If the answer is no, we should go back to the planning stages.

In the garden, stacking functions looks like adding mulch to the garden beds when the plants are big enough to peer over the straw. Mulch  keeps the water from the soaker hoses close to the plants, reduces evaporation, cools roots in the middle of heat waves, and breaks down to add organic matter to the soil.

In the house, we may use one big table for food preparation and eating, doing housework, and as a desk. Or water may wash the clothes and then irrigate the front yard ornamentals.  

When I ask students to write a paper, I am looking for several skills. Can they write a thesis statement and follow through on the promise? Can they support their ideas with examples? Do they show a fundamental understanding of the book we have just (in theory) read? Does this book, and the lessons learned, help them become better students and citizens?

How does this relate to Climate Change? If we want our planet to survive, we are going to have to learn how to do more with far less. We have to design our living  spaces and cities to stack functions, to be flexible in use, and to reduce energy consumption. Stacking functions is an excellent place to start.