72. Mitigating Climate Change Through Home Agroecology: From Lawns to Ecosystems with Justin West

You can begin healing the planet, improving your health and mitigating climate change right outside your door! On today’s episode of The Good Dirt we sit down with Justin West, the creative entrepreneur behind Thrive Lot – a marketplace platform on a mission to create food abundance by combining agroecology, landscape design and technology. Thrive Lot seeks to reimagine the lawn care industry by scaling permaculture and installing ecosystems into our very own yards. But to do so requires a shift in our collective idea of what we consider lawn care. We can create habitats for wildlife, regenerate the soil, reduce our carbon footprint and mitigate climate change by reimagining our lawns as a place where we grow our own food, produce medicinal herbs, fruit trees and vibrant ecosystems.

With over 40 million acres of lawn in the United States - the largest single irrigated crop - it’s a concept ripe with potential, which is why we’re so excited to share our conversation with Justin as he dreams of a future where home agroecology is the norm, and where “good dirt” heals the world. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, Simplecast, Podtail, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Topics Covered:

• Agroecology--is the application of ecological concepts and principals in farming, combined to create a type of farming that is sustainable and in cooperation with nature. 
• Permaculture--the development of agricultural ecosystems that are self-sufficient and sustainable, drawing from an observation and imitation of systems in nature and resulting in crop diversity, resilience, increased natural productivity, less human intervention and more sustainability.  
• Carbon sequestration is "...the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change."
• Perennials vs Annuals 

Resources Mentioned: 

• Thrive Lot
• Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)
• Food Forest at Brown Mills 
• The Museum of Discovery and Science 

Guest Info

Visit the Thrive Lot website

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Original music by John Kingsley @jkingsley1026