Clay for Earth - Sustainable Solutions for Livable Communities

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Current categories: (click underlined item to jump to catagory)
Agriculture, Children, Economic Development, Education,
Energy, Environmental, Environmental Preservation, Forest Preservation,
Health, Human Waste, Innovation, Livable Communities,
Nutrition, Organization, Orphans, Recycling,
Safety, Sanitation, Science, Shelter,
Solar, Supplies, Sustainability, Technology,
Trade, Transportation, Water, Women's Issues

Agriculture

	Chicken Tractor A chicken tractor is a movable floorless chicken coop for the purposes of pest control, lawn care, fertilization, and sheltering the chickens. When compared to traditional chicken coops the chicken tractor is far superior in many ways. The chicken tractor is a large step towards sustainable farming, and solves many of the problems that are presented by traditional coops and buildings used to house chickens. A chicken tractor is a bottomless, portable shelter-pen that fits over your garden beds. The chickens peck and scratch the soil, eat pest bugs and weed seeds, and fertilize the beds with their manure. Best of all, they provide eggs and meat.
	Organic, Zero-till farming GARDENS/ MINI-FARMS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK These are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just, economically viable, humanely managed. On mini-farms the following will double the yields and reduce the labor by half compared to traditional methods. Nothing to buy except seed. Conserves health of soil.
	Tunnel solar food dryer 4 ft x 8 to 16 ft tunnel solar food dryer, adapted from the Hohenheim tunnel solar food dryer design
	Flex-tine Cultivator Convert a spike tooth harrow to a tine cultivator, mechanical weeder
	Cooking Oil Processing Technologies & Business Manually operated oilseed press that is ideally suited for small-scale sunflower cooking oil businesses in East Africa. The press extracts oil from sunflower, sesame, and other oil seeds. The filter produces clear, cold-pressed, nutritious cooking oil ready for sale or consumption. The seedcake by-product is valued as a high protein animal feed supplement. Durable, easy to operate, minimum training, no electric nor fuel energy requirements.
	Mouse Guard A non climb barrier strip against mice using oil coated aluminum foil tape
	KickStart Irrigation System Fights poverty in sub-Saharan Africa by selling low-cost irrigation pumps that dramatically raise farmers’ crop yields and incomes.
	Farm Scale Winnower Make a seed cleaner that uses air flow to separate seeds from chaff
	SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology) SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology) with emphasis on forage and animal production. This method is designed to allow crops to be grown even on steep hillsides with minimal erosion while at the same time increasing soil fertility and providing fodder for livestock. Rather than controlling erosion with rock terraces or ditches, SALT relies on rows of vegetation. Trees and shrubs with the ability to grow very closely together and to resprout when cut back are planted only inches/centimeters apart on the contour of the land. They are never allowed to grow too tall. Pruned branches are either left in the field as mulch or fed to animals, with manure returned to the field. After a heavy rain, the water is slowed down as it passes through the barrier. Many of the soil particles carried by runoff water are dropped, resulting in a gradual buildup of a somewhat flattened area on the uphill side.
	Neem Tree as natural pesticide Neem seeds and leaves contain many compounds which are useful for pest control. Unlike chemical insecticides, Neem compounds work on the insect’s hormonal system, not on the digestive or nervous system so they do not lead to development of resistance in future generations. These compounds belong to a general class of natural products called ‘limonoids’. The presence of the trees themselves are also helpful to repel mosquitoes.
	Above-ground or Rooftop Gardens A successful technique used in areas where gardens may benefit from being out of the ground due to factors like flooding; roaming chickens, iguanas, or goats; extremely poor or acidic or alkaline soil; or simply the ease of working at gardens that are raised to waist or chest height. ECHO have seen above-ground gardening methods used from rural Haiti (where raised tires kept chickens from ruining gardens), to the rocky soils of the Bahamas, to very urban settings like St. Petersburg, Russia, where rooftops may be the only space available for growing.
	Making Bone Meal Fertilizer Bones were used as fertilizer in England as early as 1653. ECHO featured ways to make a quality phosphate fertilizer from bones, called bone meal. An inexpensive low-technology method of making bone meal is called "trench-firing." The meal is equal to the best quality steamed bone meal, which is often imported at high prices.
	Bicimolino Bike Mill A Guatamalan cooperative manufactures farming implements from abandoned and rusting bicycle parts. A bike-powered grain grinder, called a "Bici-molino."
	Mud Dip for Roots When Transplanting ECHO reports: Eddie Visser in Guatemala wrote, "While transplanting citrus and leucaena seedlings into the ground, the soil would sometimes crumble off, leaving the roots of the transplant exposed. When this happened we dipped the roots into a mud solution, so that the mud adhered to the roots. Almost all the transplants we did this to are still living. The ones we did not do this to died." Timothy Volk with MCC in Nigeria later wrote, "I recently was on a study tour in Togo and saw villagers doing the same thing. However, rather than using mud alone, they also mix in some cow manure and sand. We were able to see that the seedlings (leucaena mostly) did not dry out during the day and that seedlings planted earlier were doing very well despite a poor rainy season. In addition the manure provides a small amount of nutrients to promote early root growth."
	Water Mills Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal The Centre for Rural Technology, Nepal (CRT/N), with support from the Government of Nepal and the Netherlands Government, runs a programme to upgrade traditional water mills, so that they work more efficiently, can operate for a longer period of the year, and also be used for other activities apart from grinding. Millers with improved water mills can earn more income and have extra time for other purposes. The flour produced from water mills is of better quality than from diesel mills, because it does not get so hot during grinding.
	Small Scale Agricultural Model A pdf pamplet from the Benson Agriculture and Food Institute that shares step by step reasoning and resources for boosting results from small scale agriculture plots.

Children

	Keeping Children Safe - Child protection toolkit "Keeping Children Safe Toolkits" and resources enable organisations, wherever they are in the world, to develop practical child protection procedures and give staff vital training and support.
	Child Health Foundation Child Health Foundation's mission is "to save the greatest number of children's lives at the lowest possible cost." We accomplish this through our unique network of health professionals and organizations committed to improving health policies and practices. We operate as an independent agent of change, seeking and promoting more effective, easily-delivered and less-expensive methods to prevent illness and death of children, such as oral rehydration therapy to prevent dehydration, immunizations, and breastfeeding.
	Children's House in Cyberspace Children's House is an interactive resource center - a meeting place for the exchange of information that serves the well being of children. Dedicated to supporting the generation and dissemination of knowledge about children´s issues, Children´s House facilitates the translation of the benefits of research and programming into policy and practice. The most important criteria for placing information in the House are the needs and concerns of children. Any specific institutional interests or promotion are generally more appropriately placed within individual web sites.

Economic Development

	Bamboo Bike Project The bike is an inexpensive and effective option for impoverished regions made from Bamboo that has been smoked and heat treated to prevent splitting. Lugs are available in carbon fiber or hemp fiber, for the all-natural look. The chainstays are available in carbon fiber for extra stiffness in the drivetrain. Award-winning effectiveness.
	Neem Oil Production Neem seeds contain up to 45% of a brown and bitter oil, which is also known as Oil of Margosa. It has many therapeutic uses but can also serve as fuel for lamps or for soap production. Neem seed cake (residues of oil extraction) can be used as fertilizer. Many medicinal properties
	Jamii Bora Kenyan Microfinance Jamii Bora Trust targets the very poor living in urban and rural Kenya; their dozens of branches serve clients in virtually all major Kenyan cities.
	Unitus Microfinance Services Unitus, an international nonprofit organization, works to reduce global poverty by increasing access to life-changing microfinance services.

Education

Barefoot College
Training that addresses problems of drinking water, girl's education, health and sanitation, rural unemployment, as well as social awareness and the conservation of the organizations that already exist in the villages whose wisdom, knowledge and skills are neither identified, mobilized nor applied just because they do not have an educational qualification.The Barefoot College is a place of learning and unlearning. It's a place where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher. Founded in 1972

Energy

	Solar Oven This efficient solar oven sets up quickly and cooks efficiently without the use of cooking fuels. Includes water sterilization indicator device.
	Jiko Sawdust Stove In countries where forests are depleted, wood becomes scarce and expensive, raising the cost of both wood and charcoal. These sawdust Jikos use less expensive fuel, sawdust and other biomass, such as husks. According to one orphanage, "The jikos are helping us a great deal. We use much less money on sawdust than we use on firewood. We spend about 400 shillings worth of sawdust in a day compared to 2,300 we used to spend" They are working well enough that the school is looking into buying two more.
	Solar Oven for larger group: Parabolic Oven One popular type of solar oven is the parabolic solar oven, used over others for many reasons. There are several large parabolic ovens on the market for large groups, but they are quite expensive.
	Do-it Yourself Solar Cookers Plans for building your own solar cookers, or purchasing, training as well.
	Berkley-Darfur Stoves Project The Berkeley-Darfur Stove is more than a stove. It equates to safety, improved nutrition, the opportunity to earn an income and the chance the environment needs to recover. It's an awful lot for a small stove to promise but the Berkeley-Darfur Stove delivers. Because of the efficiency of the stove – four times more efficient than traditional 3-stone fires and two times more efficient than clay stoves. This stove fully encloses the open flames, and thus substantially reduces the danger of the dense straw-and-stick shelters burning down because of open fire cooking. The stove produces much less smoke and thus reduces smoke inhalation in the cramped shelters during indoor cooking.
	Cell Phone Chargers DIY Solar Electricity A DIY SOLAR TORCH/CHARGER This small simple solar unit can be made by anyone using parts we send out across the world. If mounted on ply you have a simple torch or cell battery recharger! It costs about $5 (ignoring postage) and will power a small radio as well as the WLED. A similar pv panel can charge a mobile phone.
	DIY Solar and Economic Development Solutions A simple technique using low cost pv modules to power radios, lamps, charge batteries, etc in developing countries. This technique can be employed by semi-skilled people to create income.
	Building Solar cookers and training that works A step-by-step case-study of successful methods for achieving community buy-in for solar cooking as well as training for building them. Shared by Mary Simonson and Nancy Bailey. Outstanding link
	Efficient Low Cost Rocket Stove After much searching, a wood stove concept has been discovered that gives efficient burning but can usually be made from locally-available materials! No steel containers/tubes required. This stove requires only vermiculite, cement and cardboard, plus a small can, to construct. The cardboard forms the tube mold for the stove. See links for the complete instructions and photos.
	Small Scale Hydroelectric Power AIDG (Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group) presents a Micro-hydroelectric power, whose installations are commonly known as "run of the river," have a few big differences when compared to the giant installations found throughout the developed world.
	The "Salchica" Biodigester Biodigesters are an excellent technological solution for families and farmers that want a combined sanitation and energy solution, who can manage the daily feeding required to produce adequate biogas, and who have use for lots of fertilizer. The polyethylene tube biodigester or "salchicha" type digester has become increasing popular in developing countries, due to its low cost and ease of manufacture and installation. AIDG's basic polyethylene plug-flow digester is a small-scale system aimed at low-income rural families. The salchicha biodigester consists of a sealed flexible plastic tube about one meter in diameter and between five and ten meters in length with PVC pipes in both ends. One pipe serves as the waste entrance; the other is the fertilizer exit. At the highest point of the tube, in the center, a flexible hose is connected which pipes the gas to the kitchen or wherever it will be consumed. The digester is empty of technology inside; everything that happens is a natural process which the biodigester simply takes advantage of.
	Axial Flux Windmill The primary design utilized by the AIDG is a wood blade, automobile brake drum rotor spindle windmill, that can produce as much as 1,200 watts in high winds and starts producing in a slight 5mph breeze. This is an extremely rugged simple design adapted from those of Hugh Piggott and Otherpower.com. The primary rotor comes from an automobile wheel spindle and thus is well suited for spinning at high revolutions under heavy strain for years on end. The coils are wound and connected in star formation for 110 volt AC output which is then rectified for battery charging. The blades are carved out of 2X10s and are easily replaceable in case of damage.
	Biodigester Design & Construction The biodigester design that the Santa Fe Women's Group used is a fairly simple and inexpensive one. A few of the tasks, like digging the hole, may be quite labor-intensive, and some of the tasks require certain skills, like creating cement walls and laying cement block, but the cost of the materials is relatively modest at around $300 US in Costa Rica, and the construction time is fairly short at about one week. Below is a list of the most essential materials that the Santa Fe Women's Group used for its biodigesters. In order to facilitate a good understanding of the instructions later on, all of the materials in the list include a brief description of their roles in a functioning biodigester. Some of the materials not included in the list are not as essential and can be replaced by other parts that are more convenient for your particular situation. These options will be explained as we go along. Website has photos and detailed instructions
	Kisangani Smith Group - Home sawdust stoves KSG has developed two types of ‘Rafiki wa mazingira’ (environmentally friendly) cooking stoves, which can be made by blacksmiths using hand tools. Since 2005, over 3,500 stoves have been made and sold by KSG and its trainees. The first is an innovative stove made by hand from sheet metal. This stove burns sawdust, which is readily available as waste from the timber and furniture industry in Njombe. Elsewhere in Tanzania it is also used with rice husks and other agricultural residues. When filled with packed sawdust, the stove can burn steadily for up to six hours. Users like the stove because it cooks quickly and cleanly, needs little attention, and above all saves money. A stove costing 35,000 TSh (£16) can save a family over 10,000 TSh (£4.50) per month from purchasing charcoal. Thus the stove pays for itself in three or four months.
	SKG Sangha - Biogas for cooking plus vermiculture In 1993, moved by his own experience of watching his mother cook on an open fire and suffer from itchy eyes and a bad cough, Mr D. Vidya Sagar set up SKG Sangha with the express aim of providing rural women in Karnataka with an alternative energy source to firewood for cooking. After researching available options, Vidya Sagar chose the 'Deenbandu' cow dung based biogas plant as the most reliable and cheapest alternative and, with the help of a bank loan, began building and supplying these plants to rural households. Since 1993 SKG Sangha has installed over 43,000 of these biogas plants, which is the highest number of plants installed by a single organisation, certainly in India and probably in most other parts of the world as well.
	Biotech, India Turning food waste into gas In order to have a real impact on the waste problem in Kerala, India and to produce significant amounts of clean energy, BIOTECH has developed biogas digesters that are not only suitable for domestic use but also for schools and hostels and larger municipal sites. To date BIOTECH has built and installed 12,000 domestic plants, 220 institutional plants and 17 municipal plants that uses waste from the municipal fish markets to produce biogas which is then used in a 3kW engine to generate electricity for lighting the market. Around 160 of the domestic plants installed also use waste from 'eco-friendly' toilets. Using excreta in the digesters helps manage human waste at source and avoids ground water contamination. BIOTECH'S use of latrines is considered to be a major breakthrough in combating water and air-pollution. Mrs Anna Benedict from Kumbalangi island panchayat, comments: "Before we had the plant, all the waste went into the sea. Now we have a latrine and biogas plant, the waste is treated properly."
	Biogas Appro. Rural Technology Institute, India The Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) in Pune has developed a biogas plant which uses food waste rather than manure as feedstock and supplies biogas for cooking. The plant is sufficiently compact to be used by urban households, and over 700 are currently in use.
	DAXU Stoves designed to burn crop waste - China The Daxu stove model has proved so efficient that it was singled out for achieving the highest efficiency of any entrant in a stove competition organised by the China Association for Rural Energy Industries and the Shell Foundation. To date, 25,000 Daxu stoves have been sold with 10,000 having been sold in the first three months of 2007. These sales are due in part to subsidies provided by the Yangqing County authorities in a drive to combat deforestation and indoor air pollution in a region with an abundant source of crop waste. The Daxu stove is specifically designed to use either loose or compressed crop waste as well as wood. The stove is over 40% efficient and produces hardly any smoke. This is achieved by burning the fuel using a controlled supply of air that produces gas which then rises to meet 'secondary' air causing the fuel to burn more thoroughly. This ensures that the fuel burns more efficiently and that heat is transferred to the pots more quickly which allows a meal to be cooked in 15 -20 minutes with minimal smoke pollution.
	Ecotricity, UK Windpower Ecotricity, a fast-growing installer of wind turbines in the UK, has played a significant part in boosting the wind sector here as well as helping the UK meet its targets for electricity generation from renewable energy. By the end of 2006 Ecotricity had 11 wind farms of 27 MW, which is about one in ten of all onshore wind projects in the UK. The company's turbines are delivering 46 GWh/year of renewable electricity and avoiding around 46,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. The installed capacity is expected to double by the end of 2007.
	Nottinghamshire County Council, UK Wood fuel heat Schools across the UK are getting a big carbon-cutting boost by converting their old boilers from coal to wood - a cleaner, more sustainable source of fuel. The Nottinghamshire County Council scheme is saving around 2,400 tonnes of CO2 a year and catalysing a local wood pellet industry. Already 17 schools have benefited, with 27 more schools to be converted by the end of 2008.
	Technology Biogas Region India Year 2006 VK-Nard Vivekananda Kendra - Natural Resources Development Project (VK- NARDEP) has sold and installed 2,000 biogas plants in southern Tamil Nadu, India, to provide clean biogas for household cooking and fertiliser from the biogas residue.
	District heating from local tree waste, UK Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) has installed nearly 1 MW of wood-chip boilers in council flats and buildings. A further 800 kW is currently being commissioned and more planned, and it has set up a supply chain to produce wood-chip from council tree-waste.
	Rocket Stove for Institutional Cooking The Aprovecho Research Centre has assisted the Programme for Biomass Energy Conservation in Southern Africa (ProBEC) in designing biomass stoves for institutional cooking in Lesotho, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Over 1,500 institutional stoves have been produced and sold by entrepreneurs.
	Large Rocket Stove Here is a superefficient wood fired heater you can build for yourself in a weekend for less than a hundred dollars. This video by Robert Hughes shows in detail exactly how to build one. Their available book shows more (link below), including how to use it in a range of applications.
	Empower Playgrounds, Inc Energy from Play Empower Playgrounds, Inc. is focused on improving rural education opportunities in Africa by by providing playground equipment that generates electricity from children at play, and portable LED lanterns used in dark classrooms and night-time study groups.

Environmental

Practical Energy SavingWoodheys Primary School, UK
Woodheys Primary School in Sale, Cheshire has an excellent programme of practical energy saving across the school and is proud to have achieved the Eco School green flag status. Working closely with expert organisations such as WWF it has created a high-quality curriculum for its pupils which has been widely praised and replicated. An energy audit in 1999 prompted energy efficiency actions which reduced gas consumption by 30% and a solar PV array was installed on the school roof in 2005 with an electronic display that allows pupils to easily monitor its electricity generation. Other measures include 'Eco Monitors' to encourage good energy saving and a Travel Plan encouraging cycling and walking to school. There is a strong emphasis on carrying behavioural change through to the pupils' homes and local community.

Environmental Preservation

	Natural Resources Defense Council- Action Links NRDC's Action Center provides tools, tips and information you need to help protect the earth's extraordinary wealth of natural treasures. Sign up for free bi-weekly email alerts on urgent issues needing your immediate action, join our Activist Network. Allows users to send correspondence to government representatives.
	The Greenbelt Movement The Green Belt Movement is one of the most prominent women’s civil society organizations, based in Kenya, advocating for human rights and supporting good governance and peaceful democratic change through the protection of the environment. Its mission is to empower communities worldwide to protect the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace. By protecting the environment, these women are also becoming powerful champions for sustainable management of scarce resources such as water, equitable economic development, good political governance, and ultimately….. peace. Our Achievements Today, more than 40 million trees have been planted across Africa. The result: soil erosion has been reduced in critical watersheds, thousands of acres of biodiversity-rich indigenous forest have been restored and protected, and hundreds of thousands of women and their families are standing up for their rights and those of their communities and so are living healthier, more productive lives.
	ENWORKS partnership, UK Energy efficiency advice ENWORKS has succeeded in bringing together a partnership of business support organisations to provide a consistent approach to helping companies in the North West of England reduce their use of resources (energy, water and materials), reduce their production of waste, and save significant amounts of money at the same time. Through this co-ordinated, regional Resource Efficiency Programme, ENWORKS is demonstrating that good environmental practice is both practical and profitable. The ENWORKS Online Toolkit is a key part of the Resource Efficiency Programme. The Toolkit is a database, developed by ENWORKS, which is used by the partners and their business clients to record opportunities for saving resources and money, and to choose which have the highest priority. This allows the businesses, with support from their ENWORKS advisors, to carry out a rational programme of reducing resource use, and to monitor their progress in terms of environmental and financial savings.
	Cumbria Energy Efficiency Advice Centre,UK Advice A ground-breaking programme in Cumbria is literally rolling out insulation across the county, despite the challenges of working in a large and sparsely populated area. In just two years it has insulated over 9,000 homes with cavity walls and put loft insulation into over 5,000 homes, saving around 12,500 tonnes of CO2 a year and reducing fuel bills by over £1.6 million a year.

Forest Preservation

Stop Junk Mail
Tired of all those credit card applications and catalogs clogging your mailbox? Now you can do something to help stop junk mail--and fight deforestation and global warming. ForestEthics is making a difference. Learn more here.

Health

	Child and Family Wellness (CFW) Shops The HealthStore model is a network of micro pharmacies and clinics whose mission is to provide access to essential medicines to marginalized populations in the developing world. Based on a unique collaboration of microfinance and franchise models to keep costs down and provide consistent quality healthcare while providing income for a professional healthcare worker. The HealthStore outlets target the most common killer diseases including malaria, respiratory infections, and dysentery among others. This proven model also provides health education and prevention services.
	Jaipur Foot Artificial limb Effective, lightweight, versatile and realistic artificial lower limb. The Jaipur foot costs only $35 or less in India , though it would cost thousands in Western countries.
	Humanitarian Products Humanitarians Products is a specialty import company that provides low-cost humanitarian supplies. See website or contact them for range of supplies and resources.
	Hygiene Sanitation and Water in Schools Toolkit Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water in Schools projects can create an enabling learning environment that contributes to children's improved health, welfare, and learning performance. This Toolkit makes available information, resources, and tools that provide support to the preparation and implementation of Hygiene, Sanitation, and Water in Schools policies and projects.
	Neem Tree as Natural Mosquitoe Repellant The Neem Tree's presence discourages mosquitoes while it's leaves and seeds have many scientifically proven medicinal properties. An effective and inexpensive deterrent for mosquitoes Today, rural Indians (from India) call this tree their "village pharmacy" because it is said to "cure" diseases and disorders ranging from bad teeth and bedbugs to ulcers and malaria. The seeds, bark and leaves contain compounds called limonoids with proven antiseptic, antiviral, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer and antifungal uses. it has an ability to grow in hostile sites and produce desirable shade. Native to the dry forest areas of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, neem thrives in the dry areas of the tropics and subtropics. Mosquitoes avoid areas it is planted in.
	Oral Rehydration Solutions: Made at Home The most effective, least expensive way to manage diarrhoeal dehydration The "simple solution" Do-It-Yourself .... Encouraging self-reliance The most effective, least expensive way to manage diarrhoeal dehydration * Recipe for home-made salt and sugar solutions * Questions on Solutions made at home * 10 Things you should know about Rehydrating a child To prevent too much liquid being lost from the child's body, an effective oral rehydration solution can be made using ingredients found in almost every household. One of these drinks should be given to the child every time a watery stool is passed.

Human Waste

Composting Latrines
Composting latrines benefit local agriculture by creating a safe, renewable source of fertile compost from human waste. In their simplest form a tree is planted on a filled latrine pit - however a twin pit latrine offers a more permanent solution. One pit is used at a time, and after each use soil and ash is added to dry the contents out. Once it is full a further layer of soil and ash is placed on top and the pit is covered. The second pit is then used until it too is full. At this time the first pit is dug out and its contents used for compost or, if not enough time has passed, it is moved to a secondary compost point.

Ecotact Toilet Innovation
Ecotact - Innovating Sanitation, Kenya: Iko-Toilet Thinking Beyond a Toilet: Ecotact is implementing an innovative model for installing and operating pay-for-use toilets in urban areas of Kenya by leveraging recent innovations in environmental sanitation.

Innovation

Livable Communities

MoneyMaker Block Press
The press makes strong and durable building blocks from soil mixed with a small percentage of cement, compressed at high pressure and cured for ten days. Five to eight workers can produce 400 to 800 blocks a day using the press.

Nutrition

Pot-in-Pot Cooler
The Pot-in-Pot system consists of two pots, a smaller earthenware pot nestled within another pot, with the space in between filled with sand and water. When that water evaporates, it pulls heat from the interior of the smaller pot, in which vegetables and fruits can be kept. In rural Nigeria, many farmers lack transportation, water, and electricity, but one of their biggest problems is the inability to preserve their crops. With the Pot-in-Pot, tomatoes last for twenty-one days, rather than two or three days without this technology. Fresher produce can be sold at the market, generating more income for the farmers.

Heifer International
Heifer envisions… A world of communities living together in peace and equitably sharing the resources of a healthy planet. Heifer’s mission is… To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. Heifer's strategy is… To “pass on the gift.” As people share their animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe. Heifer’s History This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Today, millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.

Organization

	Focus the Nation Clif Mojo and Focus the Nation are propelling creative global warming solutions into action with Project Slingshot. Three winners received $10,000 to slingshot their ideas into reality.
	ActionAid Organization We are an international anti-poverty agency which takes sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. Formed in 1972, for over 30 years we have been growing and expanding to where we are today - helping over 13 million of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people in 42 countries worldwide. In all of our country programmes we work with local partners to make the most of their knowledge and experience.
	The Hunger Project The Hunger Project is a strategic organization and global movement committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, they empower local people to create lasting society-wide progress in health, education, nutrition and family incomes. They apply a two-prong strategy: mobilizing grassroots self-reliant action, and mobilizing local leadership to clear away obstacles to enable grassroots action to succeed. Their highest priority is the empowerment of women. Women bear primary responsibility for family health, education and nutrition – yet, by tradition, culture and law they are denied the means, information and freedom of action to fulfill their responsibility. The Hunger Project is committed to transforming this condition.
	Child Rights Information Network CRIN (Child Rights Information Network) is a global network of children's rights organisations striving to improve the lives of children by - : exchanging information about children's rights; promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; developing networking tools and capacity building.
	Water Aid Organization WaterAid's vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation. We work with local communities and use a mixture of low cost technologies to deliver lasting solutions. WaterAid and its partners use practical solutions to provide safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. We also seek to influence policy at national and international levels.

Orphans

	Project Thrive Sustainable Orphanage Model Project Thrive provides self-sustaining programs and resources to empower organizations serving vulnerable children to leverage resources to help kids thrive and become more self-sustaining themselves. Their Self-sustaining model was created in an forum with representatives from orphanages and schools serving 6 nations. It is a living document that welcomes your input and can be found at the link below.
	Orphans Hope Ophan's Hope is 100% dedicated to the compelling needs of Orphans in poverty and transforming their lives. While we provide relief for urgent needs, Orphan's Hope is committed to bringing lasting solutions that care for the children's physical, educational, and spiritual needs, in a way that gives them hope and a future.
	SOS Orphans programs SOS Children... giving children a family for life. SOS sponsors and donors help children whose parents are not there for them. They may be AIDS orphans, street children, child soldiers or children orphaned by war, poverty or natural disasters. We give these children a mother and a family in a home within an SOS Children's Village. Donations pay to build the Villages and run them until child sponsors cover the running costs. Where family life is at risk (for example where parents in Africa have AIDS), we run programmes to help strengthen them and keep them together.

Recycling

	Katrina Furniture Furniture made from wood recycled from Hurricane Katrina debris.
	www.earth911.com Easy to use resources for searching locations for various recycling in the US and Canada. Earth 911 seeks to empower the public with community-specific resources to improve their quality of life.
	E-Stewards - Reducing High-Tech Toxic Export This site provides contacts for vendors providing appropriate high-tech recycling. Using appropriate recycling of high-tech disposal is the only way to avoid exporting escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers.

Safety

Sanitation

	Humanure Toilet Compost toilet that works for $25.
	Laundry Detergent Formula Proper sanitation can prevent disease and illness. This detergent is biodegradeable and only a few cents per load of laundry.
	Community Toilet Linked Biogas Plant Recycling and reuse of human excreta for biogas generation is an important way to handle the health hazards from human excreta, while leveraging beneficial byproducts. Sulabh is the pioneering organization in the field of biogas generation from public toilet complexes. After a series of experiments, the organisation developed a more efficient design of biogas plant that has been approved by the Ministry of Non-conventional.
	Sulabh Effluent Treatment System Sulabh developed a new and convenient technology by which the effluent of human excreta based biogas plant turns into a colourless, odourless and pathogen-free liquid manure. The technology is based on filtration of effluent through activated charcoal followed by ultraviolet rays. The filtration unit makes it colourless, odourless and free from organic particles and the UV eliminates the bacteria. It reduces BOD and COD of the waste water drastically. Since such wastewater is from human wastes, its BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) which is around 200 mg/l, comes down to <10 mg/l after treatment – safe for aquaculture, agriculture gardening or discharge into any water body. It can also be used for floor cleaning of public toilets in drought prone areas.
	Sulabh International Social Service Organisation Sulabh technologies for on-site sanitation provide cost-effective, eco-friendly sanitation solutions with complete recycling for human waste disposal and prevent open-defecation. They provide access to sanitation facilities to millions of people in India. They can be replicated anywhere in urban or rural areas, towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal on Water and Sanitation.
	Biodegradable Waste Composter The Sulabh International Academy of Environmental Sanitation has developed a new technology – Sulabh Thermophilic Aerobic Composter (STAC) which requires only 8 to 10 days to make compost from any biodegradable waste, without any manual handling during composting. It is based on the thermophilic aerobic method. The technology does not require recurring expenditure. The plant is fabricated from G.I. sheets having double walls filled with glass wool, and partitioned with perforated sheets into three chambers. After biodegradation, the liquid is collected in the bottom chamber and can be removed and used for agricultural / horticultural purposes. Manure which contains 30- 35% moisture, can be directly used for agriculture / land filling purposes or dried, granulated and stored until further use

Science

Shelter

Solar

	Zara Solar Ltd Affordable solar energy for the rural poor in Tanzania.
	SEEDS, Sri Lanka Micro-finance for solar lighting Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS) has financed the installation of around 52,000 solar home systems (SHSs) in rural areas of Sri Lanka.
	SELCO, India Affordable solar power SELCO is a private business, based in Bangalore, which provides solar-home-systems (SHS) and other solar services to low-income households and institutions. Its network of local sales and service centres are set up where micro-finance organisations can provide loans to customers. All systems are sold on a commercial basis, but SELCO is committed to providing the highest quality services to poor people on financial terms they can afford.
	Solarcentury, UK Solar power for homes and busine Solar photovoltaics (PV) generate electricity directly from daylight, and can be used on buildings to meet part of their electricity demand. Solarcentury has worked alongside building developers, local authorities, engineers and architects to develop a number of different solutions for installing PV on buildings in the UK, suitable for different types of buildings and locations. Products include low-cost framing systems for standard PV modules, which allow rapid installation of large areas of PV on commercial roofs, and smaller standardised systems for individual homes. PV roof tiles have been developed using custom-built PV modules, to integrate simply with standard tiles used in the UK. These have been developed for installation by traditional roofers. New homes that use these tiles have proved popular with purchasers. Other products include louvres, cladding and glazing, all of which are designed to be simple to install and to integrate with standard building materials. Solarcentury also provides solar thermal systems for hot water supply.

Sustainability

Manna Energy Foundation
Manna Energy Foundation, Rwanda: Developing Another World in Rural Rwanda: With funding through carbon credits, the Manna Energy Foundation is installing close to 500 water treatment systems and biogas generators for secondary schools in Rwanda. The project will reach a population of 236,000 students, which amounts to three percent of the Rwandan population. The water treatment plants will use gravity and photovoltaic filtration systems, and the biogas generators will take human and kitchen waste and capture the waste methane, which can be used in high efficiency cook stoves.

Sustainable School - Seaton Primary School, UK
Seaton Primary School in Devon lives out its school motto of 'Caring now for the Future', and is one of a few UK schools to install a range of renewable technologies. A 2.5 kW wind turbine and a 4.7 kW PV array on the roof of the school hall supply electricity directly to the school and have helped reduce CO2 emissions by about 2 tonnes a year. In addition, 48 m2 of solar water heating panels heat the school's outdoor swimming pool. Other green initiatives include class 'Energy Agents' to help reduce energy waste; the after-school 'Eco Club' to monitor energy use; a 2006 Energy Audit resulting in a host of energy efficiency measures; an orchard to provide fruit for pupils and save food miles; and a grey water collection system to supply the school wildlife pond and demonstrate small-scale water power.

Technology

Low -Cost Internet Kiosks for Developing Countries
Low-Cost Internet access and employment. These kiosks provide valuable services to communities while providing profitable employment options to the entrepreneurs who open them.

High efficiency low-maintenance lighting
LED-based lighting is high efficiency and low-maintenance, costing about 60 times less than the kerosene light sources used in many homes globally. LED-based solid state lighting is longer lasting and cheaper over the long run than other light sources. Lack of lighting limits use of evening hours for education, family, and other activities all over the world.

Trade

Transportation

Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle
The Big Boda is able to carry hundreds of pounds of cargo or two additional passengers easily, at a substantially lower cost than other forms of human-powered utility vehicles. It was designed to transport goods to and from market for entrepreneurs and consumers in developing countries. Based off the Longtail design that was produced in partnership with Kickstart International in 2003, the Big Boda is made to fit the most common, lowest-cost biccle available in the developing world-- the "Black Mamba"

Water

	Play Pump Water Pump The PlayPump systems are innovative, sustainable, patented water pumps powered by children at play. Installed near schools, the PlayPump system doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round for children.
	Biosand Water Filters In rural W. Kenya we have successfully set up workshops to make Biosand Water Filters which are able to filter the local river water, making it fit to drink even for us! Lab tests have confirmed that the water is rid of all harmful bacteria. The workshops then run as small businesses selling the filters.
	Water NGOs The Mmanze and Moroto Village have collected information about NGO working on Water Sanitation.
	Solar Water Purifiers The AquaPak solar pasteurizes four to five liters of water at a time, up to 15 liters per day. Simply fill with water and lay it on a flat surface in the sun. A built-in WAPI indicates when water is pasteurized, in as little as 2 hours. Weighs 6 ounces when empty.
	Lifestraw Water Purifiers LifeStraw® Personal and LifeStraw® Family are complimentary point-of-use water filters - truly unique offerings from Vestergaard Frandsen that will help people easily obtain safe drinking water at home and outside.
	Shallow Well Rope Pump Complete plans for creating a shallow well rope pump. Training documents on this web site, this one is based upon the principle that communities can best be strengthened (empowered) by doing things for themselves rather than waiting for outside charity. The technical or engineering aspects are meant to be used as an illustration of that principle. Link includes details, illustrations and pros and cons.
	Bali - Managing Limited Fresh Water Supplies The Indonesian island Bali has a limited freshwater supply, which flows to the fields through natural and constructed irrigation channels and has been controlled by small water temples at individual farms through local water associations called "subak" for centuries. A communal sharing of water requires that farmers stagger their crops such that both upstream and downstream farms receive enough water and the closely clustered farms receive water at the same time.
	Water Cone A Product that enables anyone, in a most simple fashion, an independent, cheap and mobile solar Potable Water generation from sea water or brackish water on the base of condensation by solar still.
	Solar Water Pump 120 Meter pump would provide 1900 gallons per day, paired with a solar pump made by Lorance. Ships from Europe. Distributor recommends using the piping from handpumps and buy wiring in the country of installation. The installation manual comes with the quotation.
	Rainwater Harvesting Falling rainwater is some of the cleanest naturally occurring water available and where it falls regularly there is scope to collect it, before evaporation takes place and before it becomes contaminated. This is called rainwater harvesting. Water is generally collected from pre-cleaned roofs, where it runs via guttering into a storage tank.
	Ram Water Pump amp pumps are affordable, durable and reliable The ram pumps used by the AIDG are manufactured using supplies available at any plumbing store, which makes them far more economical for rural families and also ensures ease of replication wherever the pumps are needed. Because ramp pumps have few moving parts, they are easy to maintain, very reliable and have a long operation life. The capacity exists to manufacture large custom pumps for installations with big flows or big elevation changes in which the standard pumps can't do the job. A ram pump installation consists of four typical components: 1. A water source uphill of the ram pump, 2. A pipe, which carries the water from this source to the pump 3. The ram pump itself, and 4. Another pipe which carries the water to its point of use. As the water runs downhill from the source to the ram pump, it gains force and velocity. When this velocity reaches a determined point, the water closes a valve in the ram pump known as the "impulse" or "waste" valve. The force of the water against the now closed impulse valve causes pressure to build inside the pump. The water sends high-pressure shock waves in all directions (the "water hammer," or "ariete" in Spanish, from which the pump gets its Spanish name, "Bomba de Ariete"). These shock waves open another valve, the delivery check valve, and water squirts through reaching altitudes of up to ten times greater than the vertical distance from the water's source to the pump. An air vessel installed in the pump acts as a kind of regulator which keeps the flow at the top steady, instead of delivered in bursts, as the pump internally functions.
	Slow Sand Filtration Slow sand filtration is an inexpensive chemical-free method of water purification. For communities with access to sand, this filtration technique is one of the most cost effective and environmentally friendly forms of water treatment available.

Women's Issues

	Days for Girls Washable Feminine Pad Pattern A pattern to make washable feminine pads that are effective, absorbent, and attractive. Give girls back days of their lives that they would otherwise spend in isolation... provide sustainable sanitary solutions.
	AfricaCotton affordable disposable sanitary pads Affordable disposable sanitary products. NOT sustainable, but a good interim solution while some of the other solutions listed here are being sought out. www.AfricaCotton.com provide very affordable sanitary pads, amongst other products, at very low prices and will even do their best to deliver them to rural areas for free. They quote (Aug 2008) a mere Ksh30 per pack of 10 (for 100+ packs). That's a ridiculous 2 pence or just over 4 cents per pad. Contact AVIF.org.uk if you can help with a donation allowing the girls & women within Kenya to stay productive, stay in school or continue to earn a living, the whole month. [AVIF are currently only able to help within Kenya.]
	Goods For Girls Donates new hand-sewn menstrual pads to agencies who could provide the means to identify areas of need as well as provide the distribution to the women and girls needing the pads. In many areas of the world, access to adequate menstrual supplies is difficult to come by. Many women and girls rely on rags, newspaper, camel skin or nothing at all for their menstrual needs. A lack of sanitary pads can be a big barrier to a girl's education.
	Boxgirls International Boxgirls International links innovative projects around the world using boxing as a catalyst for social change for women and girls. Boxing improves girls' strength and resilience and allows them to better negotiate the urban environment. Boxgirls train as a team to face individual challenges alone. The skills they learn in the ring bring them further in their schooling, family and career. Boxgirls International links innovative projects around the world using boxing as a catalyst for social change for women and girls.

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