'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
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
Merging traditional with innovative building methods African architect uses smart design to build with clay and community
The architect Diebedo Francis Kere from Burkina Faso who studied in Berlin, Germany, went back to his home village to build a school and other buildings with the community. He explains the methodology. By involving the entire community in the building process, he simultaneously created community cohesion and pride, and gives locals the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge they can use for creating economic opportunities. … 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
Seed sovereignty in agriculture Seed sovereignty for food sovereignty
Indigenous seed are endangered and are getting lost due to emergence of industrialized seeds i.e. Hybridization, GMOs and the Terminator seeds. It is evident that a majority of our farmers in Kenya have no access to affordable seeds. The presence of multinational companies in Kenya have led to disappearance of indigenous seeds because they have been forced to believe that hybrids and GMOs are the best and that they are able to produce more food and save them from hunger. Our seeds is our … Read more
Sustainable food Wild fruits
Wild Fruits like baobab are used to make natural juices. Women are mostly involved in making these juices and they get substantial incomes from their sales. It is said that they are a good source of vitamin C and they are very tasty. HONEY honey is not a fruit, but bees make it from the flowers of trees, and mostly wild flowers which eventually become fruits. Some of these fruits are not directly consumed by human beings, but are indirectly consumed when we take honey. Perhaps that is why honey … Read more
Seed Bank Saving Seed
Seed Banks are cooperative constructs where local seeds are stored, saved and borrowed out. Our seeds is our heritage. They are used to local climates and they are thus adapted to locally harsh conditions. We need to empower our communities to go back to their roots and restore the culture of the use of indigenous seeds. Farmers can be empowered to come together and share seeds in different forums, but the most sustainable one is where farmer groups establish operational seed security systems … Read more
Lack of water in desert Wise use of water for agriculture
La fougara est un systeme d'irrigation de l'eau invente pour permettre de quantifier l'eau necessaire pour les differentes plantations dans le desert. C'est un systeme complexe et tres ingenieux qui remonte quelques centaines d'annees. C'est un systeme unique dans le Sahara que l'on trouve dans les Oasis du Gourara pres de Timumoun. Ce systeme d'irrigation est inspire des Qanats en Iran. … Read more
