Appropriate Technology projects

Appropedia is a wiki for brainstorming and reporting on efforts to advance ideas in appropriate technology, tech that makes use of native and available materials to fill needs of local users. The Appropedia* wiki hopes to be an overflow repository for articles deemed “inappropriate” for Wikipedia. In additional to the project work, there is also a category for theses. Projects thus far include:

• Greywater — Greywater is the term for the used water produced at a particular site (except toilet water, which is known as blackwater … and now gives a new connotation to my favorite Doobie Brothers song). A greywater system segratates grey from black, filtering the grey so it can be reused.
• Solar Charged Lawnmower — Convert an old, broken (engine) gas mower into an electric-powered mower by installing an electric motor powered by a 12-volt battery, itself charge from photovoltaic panels. Materials can be utilized to prevent them from ending up in a landfill.
• Cobb Bench — From the Old English word meaning “lump,” cobb construction uses earth, “the world’s most prevalent building material.” A cob house uses no forms, bricks or wooden structures, mixing clay with other materials by hand. This project built a bench for an elementary school.
• Parabolic Solar Cooker — A paraboloid focuses rays to a central point. Used for centuries by the Greeks, Aztecs, Incas, Romans and Chinese, a parabolic cooker concentrates light using curved mirrors or cobb structures with reflective glass or metal items. This project started with an old satellite dish.
• Living Roof — A living roof include as part of the design both vegetation and soil (or some other suitable medium). The roof has to contain the resulting root system and handle the water needs.
• Vermicomposting Bin — This composting design is pentagon-shaped (aesthetically pleasing, but also less likely to have compost stuck in corners) and is layered (for ease-of-use and aeration).

The solar mower is of most interest, although it has a $700 pricetag once all is said and done (well, $694, since we’ve got the $5 broken gas mower already). Most of that cost is the electric motor and the solor panel. When we first got to Bloomington, we bought an electric mower, but it was tethered by a long extension cord and didn’t survive the high grass when we missed a week mowing. Maybe the 3/4HP motor listed on the how-to page (the equivalent of a 3HP gas motor) would need to be upgraded.

* BTW, I think more attention should be given to naming wiki spaces. I’m guilty of this myself (ahem, PoliticWiki), but it would be nice to see names of communities and not the medium. Let’s have a moratorium on all things -apedia or -wiki and instead start identifying the people using the tools.