The Mukombe is a hand washing device – a “tippy tap” as it is commonly known within the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) scene – as it just requires a little tip to provide the user with just enough water to wash the hands. In water-arid areas, such a simple device can be essential to hygiene. … Read more
The Humanure Toilet Build your own compost toilet
This is a quick description of how to build your own compost toilet using little materials, the manure can afterwards also be used very well for gardening (once composted properly). … Read more
Corn Cob Charcoal Crusher Turning agricultural waste into smokeless fuels
Burning carbonized cobs produces less smoke than regular biomass fuels, but the carbonized cobs produce a hazardous level of carbon monoxide. MIT's D-lab developed a device to turn charcoal powder into a dense compact briquette that burns safely, but it is difficult to crush the carbonized cobs into a charcoal powder without inhaling dangerous amounts of charcoal dust. The MIT team's charcoal crushing device addresses the gap in this alternative fuel process. … Read more
Earth Oven Building an oven of local soil
Earth Ovens have been used for thousands of years by cultures all over the world and they are still built today by people all over. Earth ovens are made up of just that, EARTH! Sand, clay and straw are used in building these versatile ovens. It takes only 10 to 12 hours to build in total, with some intermediate periods for drying layers, and the oven will last for many years without loosing its capacity or quality. An earthen oven can be used to cook the same things cooked in a normal … Read more
Welding wood with tin cans Strengthening constructions using tin cans
'Welding wood' is a simple strategy to strengthen connections of wood beams in constructions, using tin cans and scrap tin metals. It has the double benefit of being very low-cost as well as recycling waste materials. The link directs you to a simple manual on how to create such connections. … Read more
Vermicomposting bin Make your own efficient composting bin
This is a low-cost design for making your own composting bin. It is designed in such a way that it composts efficiently, letting air through, water out, and worms in. Apart from efficiency, one of the benefits is cleanliness in small spaced areas, as well as enabling to have the composting process happening inside. … Read more
Make your own Solar Cooker Solar Cooker from tin cans
Parabolic solar cookers are devices for preparing food that do not require fuel. They concentrate the sun’s rays to one focal point where a dark pot or pan can be used to cook with. The link will direct you to a manual on how to make such a solar cooker yourself with local material and waste material, using bottoms of tin cans as reflective mirrors. This is a very low-cost/no-cost do-it-yourself way of making a functioning solar cooker. It works with good sunlight. However, do read the bottom … Read more
Plastics to oil Experimental technique to convert plastic back into oil
One of the Gaia University graduates who was a co-founder of Surfers Without Borders began exploring this pyrolytic thermal depolymerization process as a potential solution for the Pacific plastics gyre. The desktop unit he explored uses 1 kilowatt of electricity to convert 1 kilogram of plastic into 1 liter of oil, at a cost of around US $0.25 (see first link). Working under the auspices of Global Village Technology, they looked into starting a pilot depolymerization project as part of their … Read more
DryBath: hygiene without water An inspiring example of african ingenuity
One day Ludwick Marishane and his best friend were sunbathing in the sweltering heat in their native Limpopo. Marishane's friend turned to him and said, 'Man, why doesn't somebody invent something that you can just put on your skin and then you don't have to bathe?' Marishane, 17 at the time, thought: Yeah, why not? With some research in an internet cafe figuring out a formula for the lotion, and writing his business plan on his mobile phone, it took six months to develop a lotion that … Read more
Building house with waste plastic bottles Recycling plastics into solid structures
The links show two videos with examples of bottle houses, and how to construct them. The method is simple, and the structure that results is strong. … Read more
