For your next project, start with a baseline of tasks on your property that you don't need a specialist to do. Working on your time gives you room to make gradual changes, so you don't overdevelop your site. This will save you money and needless hassles. And once you've finished your baseline design, professionals can come in to put the final touches on the larger projects. To ensure you never create a design that's too big, make sure you can manage your yard within an afternoon. Too many tasks to juggle can become quickly unsustainable, exhausting yourself and your wallet.

But does small and slow actually work? The short answer is yes. Think about local buildings that have endured the test of time, or the diversity of national parks. How were they made or how do they function? The buildings were carefully constructed to withstand very specific climate conditions in comparison to more recently built cookie-cutter homes. The protected forests grew and evolved over millions of years, creating a perfect balance of diverse species. Slow solutions tend to have the lowest impact on the surrounding ecosystem because they are often more forgiving. This is because of the gradual adaptation through these changes allows us to see issues early and gives us the time needed to fix the problem.

Small and slow solutions can even be considered at a larger scale. A giant dam blocking a watershed is a big energy solution with a big problem if something goes wrong. But thousands of small check dams can reduce erosion and power homes at a micro-scale with a lower risk of environmental degradation. Even in your own community, local businesses could adopt this principle by valuing community and ecology over quick financial returns. Supporting local businesses that revalue profit can help local communities thrive.

So for your next household project, try to design a plan using small steps. Take some time today to look around your property and see where changes can occur. What energies are flowing through your backyard and at what location could you benefit from a small and slow solution to capture them?

The journey through the permaculture principles is almost complete! Stay tuned to see how the final principles will teach you how to creatively respond to a changing world.