PINE RIVER - Geoff Lawton, an expert on permaculture, will speak from noon-1 p.m. at the Hunt Utilities Group campus in Pine River on Monday, Aug. 18.
Lawton is director of the Permaculture Research Institute in North Whales, Australia. The institute's goal is to transform the ability of the earth to provide local foods for communities. He has helped transform barren landscapes in Australia, the Middle East, and Africa into thriving farms with vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, and livestock.
Hunt Utilities Group is one of a handful of sites chosen as part of Lawton's world video tour. He will tour the two-acre campus garden, learn about campus research into homes that mostly heat and cool themselves, and providing a lunchtime presentation about his work.
Directions to Hunt Utilities Group campus (Also home to Happy Dancing Turtle, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental awareness and sustainable living): Follow County 2 West off Highway 371 on the north edge of Pine River. Go half a mile. The campus is on the right. Look for the big wind generator.
