Lumia’s personal Digital Permaculture design

Ethics

Earth care: In 2020, the energy needed to provide access to the internet accounted for approximately 1.7% of the total global energy consumption (source: ourfuture.energy). The average annual carbon footprint of a single smartphone is 63 kg CO2e (source: tier1.com). There was a study made that suggested that Americans on average now spend 44 years of their lives in front of screens (source: visiondirect.co.uk). 

The digital world has a huge impact on the Earth both directly, and the way it impacts our ability and willingness to take care of it. Looking at the digital is essential to holistically take Earth care into consideration.

People care: Did you read that part of the 44 years a few rows up? The digital realm is one of the biggest elephants in the room in the permaculture community. It affects us daily, everyone takes part in it but we pretend it’s somehow outside of permaculture. It’s not, and it’s high time we open our eyes and look at our digital lives like we do all other systems in our lives. It affects us personally and all our connections to family, friends, community – and it completely changes how and how much we interact with strangers. Digital and social are in big parts the same, and digital design will have a huge impact in all of the social zones.

Fair share: There are systems and tools in the digital realm that have fair share in their hearts. We should strive to use those instead. The digital life should have only its fair share of our lives – not over half of it. 

Before we get into the design...

What is Digital Permaculture?

I’ll just quote the Summary/Foreword from the book: ” The increasing integration of technology into our daily lives presents a unique challenge to those concerned with creating a sustainable and equitable future. While technology has undeniably brought about numerous advancements and conveniences, it is imperative that we critically examine the impact of our digital lives on both the virtual and physical environments. In this context, the concept of “Digital Permaculture” becomes particularly relevant.

(...) In “Digital Permaculture,” Dominik Jais presents a thought-provoking perspective on the intersection of technology and nature, exploring ways to cultivate sustainable digital systems and communities that promote connection, creativity, and a deep sense of purpose. (...) “Digital Permaculture” invites us to step back and critically assess the impact of our digital lives, encouraging us to make informed choices that contribute to a better future for all.”

Dominik also says in ”About the book”: “ In my observations within the permaculture community, I've noticed that there is often a reluctance to embrace or learn about digital tools. However, when we are required to use digital tools, I've observed that we sometimes make uninformed choices that lead to less than optimal outcomes. It is clear to me that there is need for greater awareness, education, and informed decision-making when integrating digital tools into our framework or when developers develop digital tools. By addressing this knowledge gap and understanding the potential benefits and drawbacks of digital technologies and their implications regarding sustainability, we can make more informed choices aligned with our values and contribute to sustainable practices.”

The boldings are mine.

Zones & Layers tool

The Digital Permaculture book presents a new tool, an addition to Zones, so that the different aspects of our digital landscape can be mapped. To do this design, I must learn to use this tool called Layers.

Zones are used in two ways in Digital Permaculture. First, as a function of time. In the digital realm the frequency of usage of soft- and hardware. This is relative to each person’s habits. The book gives an example of Zone 0 being usage several times a day to Zone 5, which is digital tools we use on a rare occasion.

Second, as the physical dimension. Where are we, and where is the hard- or software physically located (in relation to ourselves).

Layers extend on these Zones. Digital Permaculture presents 3 layers:

• the physical layer (the original Zones)

• the hardware layer – the device used & how often it’s used

• the software layer – how we organize our digtal devices (how “close” is the app or tool we want to use)

As an example a messenger app is given:

• Software layer – the app is on our home screen on our phones – SL 0

• Hardware layer – main phone – HL 0

• Physical layer – phone is always with us – Zone 0

That means Z0 – HL0 – SL0, so very very close.

Sectors

The sectors used in the book are

• the manufacturer

• other users

• peers

• decision makers

• culture

• legislation and policies

• economic conditions

• technological innovations

We need to ask ourselves

• am I making a decision under the influence of a Sector?

• if there is an influence, what is its nature and how does it affect my decision?

Ok, with this information we can get on with the design process.

Survey

Hardware inventory

The book guides us to start with our hardware inventory in this manner (page 82):

For hardware the questions we should ask ourselves are similar to those for software.

• What hardware do I own?
• When have I bought that hardware?
• Was it a conscious decision?
• Which operating software is it running?
  • Licensing model?
• Am I locked in? (“The prevalence of technology designed to keep us tethered to a single manufacturer, rendering products obsolete before their time. This practice, known as vendor lock-in, contributes to an ever-growing mountain of e-waste, as devices are cast aside in pursuit of the latest, seemingly indispensable gadget.”, Digital Permaculture, page 77) (“In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs.” Wikipedia.org, “vendor lock-in”, referenced 27.4.2024)
• Am I using leased hardware or hardware given to me by e.g. the company I work for?

Table 1: Lumia's Hardware inventory, March 2024

All the hardware I own is used in the house/on me. I don’t have much hardware I use only occationally – almost everything is in constant use (except the Kobo reader).

I count hardware that I wear or have on me constantly in HW0, and hardware that I use daily in HW1. The Zone is 0, as they are all located in the house.

The book guides us on: Once we have our list we could check for energy efficiency, expected lifespan and its repairability, especially of HW layer 0 to 2 devices. (Page 83)

Table 2: Table of hardware – energy consumption, lifespan and repairability, March 2024

”The term “End-Of-Life” (EOL) marks a critical juncture for electronic devices, indicating the cessation of software updates. While EOL may not significantly impact devices like cameras, it poses considerable risks for network-connected devices such as smartphones and tablets. The absence of updates for these devices, especially for essential applications like web browsers, can expose them to security vulnerabilities.” Quote from ”Digital Permaculture”, page 84.
 

Software inventory

Let’s continue with our survey. For software in particular we have to ask ourselves the following questions (findable on page 86):

• What software are we currently using?
• What is the license model? Proprietary or Open-source?
• Why are we using that software?
• Was it a conscious decision to use that software?
• Who is developing that software?
  • If a company → What is their revenue?
• What alternatives are there? Are there any?
• Are we in a locked-in system or can we install software freely from different sources?
• What sectors influenced my decision?
• Does it need an internet connection?

Let’s open our computers, tablets and smartphones and check for the software we are continuously using. 

Software Zones & Layers

Below is a list of software I use on my Laptop (Hardware Layer 1) categorized into the Software Layers. 

Table 3: Software Layers 0 to 5 according to the frequency of usage and the duration, Software used on Laptop, March 2024

Below is a list of software I use on my Phone (Hardware Layer 0) categorized into the Software Layers. 

Table 4: Software Layers 0 to 5 according to the frequency of usage and the duration, Software used on Phone, April 2024

My phone is all over the place. The organization to the different screens is in mostly based on what I have downloaded last, and only partly a conscious decision. 

Moving on to answering the questions about the software I use:

What is the license model? Proprietary or Open-source?

• Most of it is proprietary or I don’t even know. Some exceptions like Signal messenger, Libre Office, browser on the laptop (Firefox) and email (Thunderbird) which are open source softwares.

Why am I using that software?

• Need it for work
• Need it to get other things done
• Need it for communication
• Use it for fun and recreation
• Use it for learning
• Use it for brain-numbing
• It’s required by some system I need or want to use (online banking etc)

Was it a conscious decision to use that software?

• Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some have been ”forced” on me, some I have chosen, some I installed to take a look, never used them but somehow didn’t get round to deinstalling them.

What alternatives are there? Are there any?

• I’ll look into that later.

Am I in a locked-in system or can we install software freely from different sources?

• Phone: locked-in, must use the Android Play Store (this statement is false as I learn later on – see Evaluation)
• On the laptop I can install whatever I want.

What sectors influenced my decisions of software?

• I’ll look into that later.

Does it need an internet connection?

• Pretty much everything on the phone does.
• On the computer, perhaps half.

Combined list of used software and services listed per category

Table 5: Combined list of used software listed per category, April 2024

Zones of communication

There is one more application of Zones that is used in Digital Permaculture – the Zones of Communication, similar like presented in People & Permaculture as ”social zones”. With whom are we communicating? Ourselves (thinking, feelings) in Zone 0 or strangers in Zone 5. The point to make in Digital Permaculture is that with social media especially, we have strangers on our fingertips. The spatial and temporal distinction between Zones collapses. This is major and needs to be paid attention to!

Surveying my communication quantity (in the private realm):

Table 6: Communication zones

Surveying my communication quality (in the private realm, based on an example day):

Table 7: Surveying my communication quality (in the private realm, based on an example day in June 2024)

Zones of time used

I looked at how much I use my digital tools time-wise separately, to get an even clearer view of my actual software use.

I work on my computer daily, and also use it for regeneration and hobbies. Generally I would say my computer is not the problem.

My phone on the other hand is another thing. I have a time tracking app on my phone, and it shows really tough numbers. It’s not unusual for me to use my phone for over 25 hours a week. That’s over a half of a work week. Most of it is on social media, games and news sites. How is this healthy?

Let’s take a week in June 2024 for example:

I used

• TikTok for 8,5 hours
• Internet (news & other websites) 4,5 hours
• Facebook 4 hours
• Online games 5 hours
• Instagram 1,5 hours
• Few minutes of other apps each.

I do not count any of this use into real communication. It can be creating, learning and observing, but often it’s just brain-numbing ”doom scrolling” and watching other people’s lives – something I would never do through the TV or in real life. Time to apply some self regulation and accept feedback!

General notes and observations so far

I use many more internet-connected tools and apps than I do local ones. This has really been a big change in the last years/decade, since we’ve had fast internet.

I use a big number of software, services and apps! It’s absolutely crazy to see them in a list like this, all the while knowing I am missing many many more that I use occationally that just don’t come to mind or pop up in my programs, tools and booksmarks lists right now.

Permaculture ethics or environmental concerns have played absolutely no role in my hardware and software choices in terms of what I use, really. It might have kept me from buying some appliances and software that is now not listed here, but what I chose, I didn’t think about the environment, human rights, fairness or cradle to cradle processes at all. Like none. That shocks me truly.

Generally it’s really interesting and even surprising how little time I really use on personal communication except with my husband. Most is really done in the professional realm; mailing clients etc. What do I do all day?

Must I use all this hard- and software?

My first gut feeling is that ”I can’t change any of these, I must use these, what else would I use”? I am feeling very overwhelmed and like I am looking at a huge mountain that I need to climb. I can understand how many people, especially those who see themselves ”not technically inclined” or ”not interested in tech stuff” might feel looking at their digital landscape, or even thinking about looking at their digital landscape! It feels really big and I have no idea really where to start. It’s a scary feeling. I am trying to see the end result, but it’s still covered in thick fog and there are so many steps to go in between here and there. I’m glad I have the book here to guide me. I choose to trust the process and see where the journey takes me. I mean, isn’t that the purpose of permaculture design – to come up with sustainable solutions? After all, permaculture is information and imagination intensive, so I say push past the fears and let’s go.

Conclusion after Survey

For this design, I now make the decision not to look at my business tools. Many of my software choices there are so heavily influenced by our clients that I feel it’s best to concentrate on the choices I can make myself. That can be the subject of another design. This includes also software that I use to do voluntary work at two associations with set infrastructures. I will leave these out, as I cannot change them.

I will also leave out all hard- and software that Dominik has implemented in our home and digital lives and I am only the ”other user”, meaning if I stop or continue using a system, it’s irrelevant as the system will remain in our ”joined realm” and Dominik will continue to use it nonetheless. Again, a question of influence and a topic for another discussion.

Also I cut out questioning any current hardware I have. Replacing any functioning hardware with a new, ”greener” or ”more sustainable” hardware is just creating waste. Whenever anything breaks or must be replaced due to end-of-life concerns, I will analyse my choices then, but not while everything I have is still functional. My EOL phone is next in line for that.

This means I will concentrate on my personal software choices in this specific design. This feels still big, but perhaps manageable, plus it’s in my control. I will learn to use the Digital Permaculture framework and hopefully make some changes in this big area of my life.

Analysis

PMI of my current software landscape

Table 8: PMI of my current software landscape, June 2024

Zones & Layers and Sectors analysis

This is my final list of personal software, including Zones & Layers and Sectors

Table 9: Final list of personal software, including Zones & Layers and Sectors, July 2024

Open source analysis

In ”Digital Permaculture”, Dominik has analyzed types of software lisencing models and come to the conclusion that generally Open Source, and specifically Free and Open Source (FOSS) software is the best choice when thinking about aligning our software choices with permaculture (pages 257-259).

Of the apps listed above, FOSS are

• Firefox
• Protonmail
• Signal
• Telegram
• Some of the niche apps

Use open data, but are not open source themselves

• Tuntihinta
• Sähkönhinta

That’s a pretty dismal view, really.

Let’s come back to Survey a while and look for Open Source alternatives to my most used applications.

Table 10: OSS and FOSS alternatives to my most used software, July 2024

My tech skills are not enough to use most of these ”just like that”, as most are not just something you can download at PlayStore (except Mastodon and Puzzles) or just log in without self-hosting or using ”someone else’s” server (except Proton). It’s a different world to the proprietary way of doing things.

This is something the book talks about as ”Level of commitment” (page 274 → ) Do I already have the skills I need (no) and if not, how much am I willing to do and learn to use a specific software? We really need to remember that permaculture is information and imagination intensive while doing this work. I need to learn many new things when making these changes.

Permaculture ethics

Let’s look at the situation through the ethics’ lense to find out what to concentrate on.

Earth care

• Software uses different amounts of energy (their servers and the Internet). The time I use these applications has an effect on that, and also on the energy use of my computer/phone.
• If I use too much time in the digital realm, it is missing from my Earth Care work.
• Some software companies do good for the Earth, some harm it actively (by promoting and normalizing a consumption-based lifestyle).

People care

• The time I use in the digital realm is not healthy. It’s addictive mentally and even hurts my eyes if I overdo it. Plus it makes me sedentary.
• Much of the software I use is made by huge global corporations, for whom the product is the user. The data protection problems are well-known. They do not respect people. How about their employees? I don’t even know.
• FOSS definitely has a healthier attitude, of accessibility, collaboration, sharing and even empowerment, and they are most often run by smaller, human-sized companies.

Fair shares

• Is 25 hours a week for brain-numbing a fair share of my time? Why do I feel so exhausted that I need to ”relax” that much on my phone?
• FOSS helps users with financial barriers and it encourages sharing and collaboration in the communitues. The only-for-profit-corporations have a completely different approach.

Digital Permaculture principles

There are new principles in the book. These are partly for software developers, but you can use them for personal design choices too.

Design for privacy and transparency

”...prioritize transparency, privacy and user empowerment”

Looking at this principle I should choose apps that do just that: they don’t collect my data for their own purposes, have clear consent mechanisms and privacy policies, and generally are transparent in what they do – put the user first really.

Consider the connected whole

”Aqknowledge the interconnections and interdependencies within the digital realm and broader systems.”

The digital realm is no island. I need to think about my peers and groups when making choices.

Innovation only with regeneration

”Encouraging innovation that reduces resource consumption and promotes regeneration aligns with ethical decision-making in the digital space.”

In the user realm it’s important to reduce resource consumption and promote regeneration, too. Resources here being electric energy, plus the users’ own life energy and it’s regeneration.

Involve the users

”Unity is strength”

Involve my peers. Ask them to use more sustainable choices, too. People care!

Use and value FOSS

”Many hands make light work”

Prioritize the use of Free and Open Source Software.

Design

Two approaches crystallize after this analysis:

1. I want to reduce the time I spend in the digital realm, the phone in particular.
   1. My phone use time-wise should go down to under 10 hours a week – this is still calculating in the work I do on it (I use the net and the social medias for work and projects too, so it’s not all consumption → usage can’t and won’t be zero)
2. I want to swap some of my most-used proprietary apps to FOSS apps, and use my existing FOSS apps more.

On a pattern level I want learn to be more mindful in my hardware and software choices and make sure I take environmental and social sustainability and justice in consideration when making choices affecting the digital realm. These two more concrete approaches will give some experience in that and empower me to do more changes in the future.

My decisions per software

Table 11: Decisions per software, July 2024

Personal notes

I should aim to cut down the proprietary social media use to the absolute minimum (business use) as an end goal. Right now it doesn’t feel possible, but I can take steps towards it – small and slow solutions and slowly applying more self-regulation.

Involving my peers, friends and family feels difficult too. It’s easier to make decisions that only affect me. Many of my peers use the most popular communication software, which is always a commercial one. This is still important and I cannot skip it just because it feels uncomfortable.
 

Implementation

The book gives advice on how to move forward and how to switch behaviour (page 329):

• Educate yourself – working on it
• Evaluate your current software usage – done
• Prioritize changes - done
• Seek out resources and support – working on it
• Be patient and persistent – working on it
• Share your experiences - todo
• Advocate for change – todo
• Stay informed - todo
• plus Embrace the offline mode – working on it!

Let’s concentrate on the changes pertaining to my software use first, and create an Action Plan for it:

Table 12: Action plan for changes regarding my software use, July 2024

Maintenance

I will come back to my Action plan weekly until the end of this design write-up, to have a good Evaluation to start with.

After that, I will review my Action plan monthly until the end of year, to see how I am doing.

There is now reminder in my calendar in the first Friday of the month, that during my Weekly Realignment, I will check my digital stats:

• phone use time and app wise
• what apps am I using and has there been any changes in the last month. Have I installed or de-installed anything new, and why? Have I done at least some rudimentary analysis on them re: sustainability?
• are there any changes planned, and have I done at least some rudimentary analysis on them re: sustainability?

From Jan 2025 I will either continue these monthly checks (if I’m still learning or struggling with these changes) or change them to quarterly checks, if I am doing well. I just feel it’s important to stay on top of this, as these are new habits and ways of doing things and I cannot expect to learn and take them to heart after one try or one week.

I will Tweak this design if needed starting from Jan 2025, when I’ve had more time to make these changes and new habits stick.

Evaluate

 PMI

Table 13: Evaluation PMI as per August 2024

Tweak

As per my Maintenance plan, I will Tweak this design if needed starting from Jan 2025, when I’ve had more time to make these changes and new habits stick.

Evaluation of the design as whole

Reading the Digital Permaculture book has been a big learning experience. I feel privileged and humbled to be one of the first people to learn about this new implementation field of permaculture and being able to use its knowledge, tools and principles to design this part of my life to be more sustainable and socially just. I can say I’ve learned a lot!

My starting aim/dream was to create a Digital Permaculture design for myself. I only set more concrete aims in Design, as it wasn’t clear from the beginning where the journey would take me. This worked wonderfully and I was able to start working on my two approaches towards more FOSS and less phone use after finishing the Design stage. That work is going mostly well, as seen in the PMI of the Evaluation included in the SADIMET.

What didn’t work was trying to do it all at once. I’m glad I realised in Analysis I need to limit the scope of this design to make it doable. That worked and I was able to finish a usable design!

The design work has resulted in changes in my digital life. I need to make more, but it’s a good start what I’ve reached with this design. It has also taught me how to do it again for the next decisions I need to make regarding my digital life and infrastructure – the next decision being a new phone.

I evaluate the design as a success in terms of meeting my aims and its effectiveness.

Ps. As for my statement on page 10 that Androids are a locked-in system, this is indeed false. I asked Dominik to read my design and he told me that Androids are indeed not locked-in systems, but there are ways and places to get software outside the Play Store. You just need to know what you’re doing. This was news to me. Like said, information intensive! I decided to leave the error in to demonstrate this point, as I felt it was spot on.

Reflection

 Roses, thorns, buds

Roses

Process: What worked well was listening to the book’s advice especially in the Survey and Analysis sections. It gives clear instructions on where to look and what to take into consideration. In this realm that is so new to many of us, it’s helpful to have some of the first steps to take written down for you, and you only need to concentrate on the subject matter. 

I also find my decision to use well-known, basic tools alongside the new applications from the book and this new field of permaculture very successful. Combining old and new, known and unknown worked well.

Framework: SADIMet works well in making this topic, which can feel intimidating and like a shapeless blob, manageable and enables learning as you go.

Principles: Permaculture truly is information and imagination intensive! I think this whole subject of Digital Permaculture is testament to that. I’ve been working hard to take in new information, use it to make informed decisions and imagine new ways of working.

Inventory: you couldn’t do this design without making a good old inventory of what you have & what you use first. Simple lists do the job. It’s a lot of work but everything else is based on it so no way around it.

Zones & Layers: even though they might seem confusing at first (as everything new does), they really help give a deep insight into the actual way we use hard- and software in our lives. This new tool could be used for all kinds of multidimensional designs as well. The communication zones were an interesting and insightful concept.

Sectors: the sector application in the digital realm is inspired and concrete. They really made you think why you are using something and also helped to narrow down the scope into my circle of influence.

PMI: works so well here! It’s easy to use in different areas of this design; many things ”fit” in there!

Thorns

Ethics: as this is such a different implementation field, I feel I couldn’t bring the ethics to the design to the front in such an obvious way. I did have them in my mind throughout, but I’m not sure if it shows in this documentation. I did use the Ethics as a tool in Analysis, which was helpful to see if I am on the right track.

Principles: I could have used the ”traditional” principles more/better.

 Buds

Zones of time: I used Zones to scope the time used on using apps. I could have used a DAFOR too. Next time!

Energy use chart: it was interesting to do, and even though it didn’t make it out of the Survey stage, I can use it in the future when looking at my hardware.

Digital Permaculture principles: these are more aimed at software developers and designers, but I think I did a reasonable job adjusting them to my use. I am looking forward to playing with them a bit more.

Thanks

Dominik: Thank you for this world-changing, amazing work that you have brought to life. I’m really honored to have been able to support you throughout this creation process and learn from you. You’re truly the best.