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Sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives.

Appropedia is for collaborative solutions
in sustainability, appropriate technology and poverty reduction.

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Announcements — more

Sludgecontest.jpg As part of the Emergency Sanitation Project, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announce a student emergency sanitation design project. Deadline 3 March 2014
Buildlab.jpg Help develop Open-source lab scientific equipment and win cool prizes as part of the Tekla Lab's Build My Lab Contest Deadline: December 16,2013.


There are four basic Hexayurt sizes which cover a variety of needs.
What is it? The Hexayurt is a refugee shelter system based on work done at the Rocky Mountain Institute. It uses an approach based on "autonomous building" to provide not just a shelter, but a comprehensive family support unit which includes drinking water purification, composting toilets, fuel-efficient stoves and solar electric lighting. Other systems can be added in a modular fashion.

Is this for real? Yes. Both the American Red Cross and the US Department of Defense have examined the Hexayurt system in detail and found that it has considerable merit and utility. I hope that we will see it in use by international agencies within two years. The best place to get started is to read the slides from the presentation Vinay Gupta gave at the Pentagon in December 2006: Pentagon Presentation (pdf) - 20 pages, not much text, and the best summary of the system we currently have online.

FBP Nutsy

Nutsy, the modified Universal Nut Sheller for home use.

The only known photograph of Chief Seattle, taken 1864
The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

— Chief SeattleW
Bicycle wheel
Transport. According to the Appropriate transport manual, sustainable transportation is a strategy for the flow of people and goods across the Earth that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Transportation accounted for 32.6% of US green house gas emissions in 2005. In addition to the widely publicized environmental consequences of driving automobiles, it is also socially and economically costly:
  • Land use: Parking and roads use valuable land resources.
  • Transportation equity: Driving, with all of its expenses, costs the average U.S. household $7,000 per year per vehicle.
  • Economics: Most of the money spent on driving leaves a local economy, weakening it.
  • Community: Travelers outside of their cars interact more with their physical environment and each other.
  • Safety: The presence of pedestrians and cyclists make our neighborhoods safer from crime. Conversely, 42,000 Americans are killed in car accidents every year.
  • Health: Increasingly, Americans are suffering from weight-related illnesses. This is partly attributable to the decline in active transportation use and availability.

Building and encouraging alternatives to the single-occupant vehicle, or, for short "alternative transportation," is imperative. Some alternative transportation advocates have taken to using the term, sustainable transportation, instead of the previous, widely-used "alternative transportation" term to avoid sidelining their interest from the mainstream.

Many efficient, practical, and inexpensive sustainable transportation technologies already exist, meaning activism, policy work, and planning research is most often more crucial to developing sustainable transportation than technology development.

edit  watch  Selected service learning Projects gallery (refresh)

ENGR 215 Introduction to Design projects – Spring 2012: Friends of the Dunes: The Spring 2012 semester of Engineering 215 worked with Friends of the Dunes to design and build projects that support the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center at 220 Stamps Lane, Manila, CA.

Spring 2012 ENGR 215 Intro to Design Projects - Humboldt Coastal Nature Center
Solar Powered Trail Lighting System
 Solar trail lighting  
Carbon Footprint Wheel
 Educational carbon footprint display  
Living Green Roof
 Green roof educational model  
Acoustic Panels
 Acoustic panels utilizing re-purposed materials  
Living Green Display
 Interactive display promoting environmental consciousness  
Rapid Composter
 Rapid composting system  
The Stretchbarrow
 Hybrid stretcher/wheelbarrow  
The Sandy Cove
 Amphitheater constructed of urbanite  
Pump Powered Dune Movement Simulator
 Interactive sand dune model  
Beachgrass Baler
 Tool to bale beach grass  

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