Is GIY the New DIY?

(A version of this appeared in March '10, Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest)

For me, the one phrase that best sums up the ongoing shift in household economic behavior is this: less is more. For anyone who pays attention to the history of this industry, it's a familiar story that comes about with every recession. Folks are doing more projects on their own and the trades are hurting. Mark Twain once said, "history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme," and this time around the return to DIY might be different in some important ways that just might stick.

Most people I know aren't simply doing without, but are discovering new ways to create the lifestyle they want, spending less money and doing more themselves. More households are growing their own food, taking steps to "decarbonize" their homes, and generally looking for simpler, healthier "green it yourself" projects they can take on inexpensively. In fact, the terms "GIY" and "green it yourself" are catching on, appearing frequently in the blogosphere and other media to describe everything from caulking windows with a solvent-free sealant to rigging your own greywater system. In some neighborhoods, if you want to keep up with the Jones, it's not the size and expense of your solar panels, but how little you spent building your own wind generator from an alternator salvaged from Grandpa's old Buick, spare bicycle parts and a plastic milk jug.

On the leading edge of this resurgence of self-reliance and handiness is the rapidly growing permaculture movement. In short, permaculture is a holistic approach to creating household and community-scale sustainability based on modeling and enhancing natural systems. It's deeply green and aimed at creating abundance with fewer inputs - in other words, doing more with less. Typical permaculture projects include intensive food gardens, rainwater harvesting, greywater systems, passive solar, natural building and lots of creative re-use of salvaged resources.

At the community level, this kind of approach, and similar kinds of inexpensive projects, can contribute to greater community resilience, especially in hard times. There are a growing number of non-profit permaculture-based groups, such as City Repair (www.cityrepair.org) in Portland, OR, who are doing just that, rejuvenating the fabric of life in urban neighborhoods. Many of these groups are getting serious funding and are participating in local retrofit programs.

While permaculture is catching on among early adopters, community activists, and even government agencies, it's not mainstream yet. And even though permaculture and GIY projects tend to utilize salvaged, free or otherwise inexpensive resources, there are some good reasons for dealers to pay attention. Becoming knowledgeable about the kinds of permaculture projects happening in your area will likely inspire new thinking around merchandise and promotion. In areas where greywater systems are now legal, for example, stocking non-PVC pipes and fittings might be a good thing. Building close relationships with local permaculture groups and practitioners is even better, and with a little cross promotion can bolster your green reputation. And if permaculture can really help your community become greener and more resilient, you might find that this new kind of DIY is good for you, too.