Valley Permaculture Alliance

The Valley Permaculture Alliance (VPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.  With a mission to inspire sustainable urban living in the desert southwest , our focus is to help educate and motivate people to live in a sustainable and enjoyable manner. We offer over 100 classes and several major events each year touching thousands of Arizonans monthly.

Here's a sampling of the kinds of events we provide that help inspire more sustainable living:

• Monthly Classes - composting, gardening, raising chickens, aquaponics and more!
  
• Tour de Coops - a self-guided tour of backyard chicken coops and other sustainable backyards.
• Mesquite Tree celebration - mesquite pancake breakfast, mesquite bean collection walk-abouts, and mesquite bean milling to make mesquite flour.
• Native Edible Plant Program - teaching the public about the plants native to the Sonoran desert that are edible.
• Shade Tree Programs - providing free shade trees to qualifying homeowners to help cut down on electricity costs.
• Permaculture Design Course - designed to help anyone learn the principles of permaculture and their applications.

Our newest program is a Seed Lending Library which makes fruit, vegetable, and herb seeds available to anyone free of charge. We request and will teach borrowers how to save seeds generated from those they plant and return them to the VPA, so that we may continue to deliver free seeds to the community and improve the bio-diversity of seed for this region.

Over 7,000 members utilize the forums on our interactive website as a resource and a way to dialogue with others about permaculture, gardening and other needs.

• "Our lives have been enriched since we became more involved with our network of VPA friends. We cannot say enough about how this has improved our quality of life in the Valley!  We love you guys!"
• "The Permaculture Alliance has been a gift and blessing in my life.  The suport and community of this organization is nothing short of wonderful. you all do a fantastic job! I appreicate you!"

 

The VPA has been recognized by others for the work we do in the community:

• Three-time awardee of the Edible Phoenix Local Hero Award for Non-Profits
• Valley Forwards’ 2011 Crescordia Award in Environmental Education
• Phoenix NewTimes 2012 “Best of Award” for the Best Place to Learn About the Science of Composting.

 All donations will be treated as unrestricted; suggested donation amount descriptions are examples of the great things that VPA would be able to do with your contribution.