Regenerative Living and Homes
By Caroline Grindrod
Paradigm of Regeneration
You may have heard of regenerative agriculture and how it empowers farmers to become part of the solution to some of the planet’s most complex and pressing challenges.
But you may not know that this form of agriculture emerged from a paradigm of regeneration that applies to a range of other disciplines such as leadership, economics, business, design and, most importantly, how we live and behave as empowered citizens – regenerative living.
In all these disciplines, the regenerative paradigm allows us to move beyond the limitations of the mechanistic paradigm with its command and control hierarchical and siloed, competitive methods to a systems approach where we use nature and living systems as the metaphor for how we do things.
In biology, regeneration is the process of renewal, restoration, and tissue growth that makes genomes, cells, organisms, and ecosystems resilient to natural fluctuations or events that cause disturbance or damage. Every species is capable of regeneration, from bacteria to humans.
For something to be regenerative, it’s not good enough to simply ‘sustain.’ We are often dealing with a degraded situation, whether it is our landscapes or our health, so we must build back and restore functions that allow for thriving and resilience.
Humans are not thriving – far from it – and we are lacking resilience. The reasons are multifaceted and complex. The food we eat comes from degraded soils. We need a sense of community, our support networks and the guidance of true elders. Our homes are full of toxic chemicals, EMFs, and light frequencies that negatively impact hormones. Our work is often meaningless, contributes to the planet’s destruction, and involves sitting for hours in front of a digital screen. We have become disconnected from nature, and deep down, we know that the promise that technology has all of the answers to making us healthier and happier is simply a lie.
Many people are questioning this insatiable need for progress and technological advances. We know deep down that there must be a better way to live.
It feels like humanity is on a train being driven by single-minded corporations who want to be the first to market with their new technology – the ticket collectors are the government ministers and advisors whose policies promote economic growth at the cost of human and planetary wellbeing.
As passengers on this crazy train ride, we don’t seem to have a say in where we are going, even though Earth is our shared home and habitat.
I don’t remember agreeing to the rights of companies to use and sell Earth’s living systems as resources to be plundered for profit. I didn’t get to vote on the introduction of millions of satellites circumnavigating the earth, 4G in the aether and 5G towers in our neighbourhoods with unknown effects on our health, or fluoride and chlorine in our water. I didn’t consent to be experimented on with new and novel medical interventions or agree to the use of toxic chemicals on our foods that kill our birds, insects and fish. And I absolutely do not agree with the crackpot money-making schemes of billionaires that could negatively impact entire planetary functions, such as the one to block out the sun in the name of reversing climate change!
I want to get off this train! But how?
Everything in our society, from our homes, towns, governments, food systems, economic systems and health care systems, was once designed before it was built. Unfortunately, these designs came from minds that reflected the age’s dominant rational, linear and mechanistic paradigm. We now recognise the limitations of applying mechanistic thinking to living systems such as communities, ecosystems and humans.
If we want to live in a resilient and healthy society in harmony with nature, we must re-design every aspect of our lives. Instead of designing with the metaphor of the machine in mind, we must use regenerative design principles to create ways of being and doing that can work in harmony with nature and repair the damage that has been done.
This process starts with us and radiates out. How do we design our lives to be in balance with nature and create the conditions for restoring and regenerating our health?
I like to think of this as the elemental conditions. When we optimise the elemental conditions for how we live, we create a flow of regeneration and healing.
In our Primal Living series, we explore how to optimise these elements;
Earth: how do we choose foods grown in organic systems on healthy living soils and ensure we ground our energy to benefit from the Earth’s healing magnetic field?
Air: how can we optimise our energy by breathing correctly through our nose and in nature in the smells and microbes of a healthy natural environment to build a functional and healing microbiome?
Fire: How can we ensure we get adequate sunlight and that artificial light is kept to a minimum and is synced with the time of day to support our circadian rhythm?
Water: How can we drink pure, un-chlorinated/fluorinated spring water structured to optimise cell function and detoxification processes?
We can increase our resilience by building tight-knit networks of supportive family and friends and working on our personal growth through reading and learning from wise elders in person or through books and courses.
But it doesn’t stop there; we must recognise that we are a living system embedded in a series of nested systems. We are both autonomous and part of other systems such as our homes, families, community, landscape, and planet. What we do affects the other systems, and what happens to these other systems impacts our well-being.
To design regenerative lives, we need to consider all of these systems and enhance the elemental conditions at every level.
To be happy and healthy and contribute to our planet’s regeneration, we must design our homes and lives to benefit the whole.
What if we designed our homes to support a regenerative and primal way of living?
Homes would be designed to be a part of a vibrant community where resources and spaces can be shared to reduce environmental impact and promote collaboration and the development of a supportive social network.
The homes would be embedded in a healthy ecosystem – even if it’s a small garden – that is managed using regenerative principles and provides some nourishing food and the opportunity to get our hands in healthy soil. Additional nutrient-dense food would be sourced from a growing network of regenerative farmers.
A regenerative building would produce its energy from renewable sources, release zero greenhouse gas emissions, might sequester carbon and generate a surplus of power that neighbours can utilise. It functions with the water that falls upon the site, capturing rainwater for interior and exterior uses, and treats all wastewater and sewerage on-site. It creates zero net waste, turning it into compost or recycling and reusing. The building can function autonomously from power grids and municipal water and sewerage systems.
The building would include biodiverse living elements in and around the curtilage and be made of sustainable materials such as stone, wood, earth or lime that could melt back into the landscape if the building was ever abandoned.
Regenerative design upgrades the old mantra of “recycle, reduce and reuse” to “restore, renew and replenish.” Imagine a building that actively contributes back to the ecosystem.
Caroline Grindrod
Regenerative buildings are also designed, operated, and managed with a positive effect on their occupants. They would include earthing floors, minimal wiring and appliances and reduced EMFs. Low-impact natural building materials that breathe and don’t give off nasty chemicals would be used. The home would be lit with full spectrum lighting that changes in line with the phases of the sun during the day and into the evening. Drinking water would run through structured water devices in the taps, and the living space would include a ‘campfire’ style sitting arrangement with no TV and candelabras for the evenings.
It will take generations to shift society towards a genuinely regenerative future. Still, if we can reach a tipping point of 25% of society, studies show that we can create the necessary momentum to get us there.
We can all take small steps towards this regenerative future. Each action creates ripples through the system and inspires others to become part of the change.
Here are some inspiring and hopeful films and resources to get you thinking about what small change you could make in your lives to create a ripple today.
- https://theregenerators.org/2040/?ref=footer
- https://youtu.be/XUwLAvfBCzw?si=oKn-sZBrSLgLd1FI
- https://youtu.be/gq9sg397ee8?si=mXPzmBQVt5_xxIo0
My work – through Primal Meats, Wilderculture and Roots of Nature – is designed to be socially, ecologically and economically balanced in ways that support the regeneration of people and place.
When it comes to the regeneration of our food systems, you can support farmers to make a regenerative transition by signing up to our Primal Stakes Club.
Find out more and join, click the button below:
Join our New Primal Stakes Club
Benefit from wholesome nutrition and help us support a transition towards more regenerative farming!
Be the first to hear about cow shares, offal boxes, half lambs, pigs or mutton boxes produced by farmers up and down the UK. Receive progress reports on their journey to low input regenerative agriculture. Get involved in open days, farm tours and events!
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