Frank van Dien of the Dutch company ECOFYT took part in the Dutch Green Building Award 2012 with his remarkable project "Constructed Green Roof at Berkel-Enschott" - treating domestic wastewater on the roof of the building. http://www.greenbuildingaward.nl/award1.asp?id=231 He writes about the...
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Winners of “Reinventing the toilet” challenge
In a move to promote new and affordable dry toilets, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation issued a challenge to universities one year ago. 22 universities took part. The aim was to design toilets that can "capture and process human waste without piped water, sewer or electrical connections, and...
Mukura Forest – an almost lost treasure
Battle against many oddities by an IEES-related organisation. The Mukura Forest is located within the Albertine Rift Region in Rwanda's Western Province, within the Congo-Nile crest. It used to be part of a continuous mountain forest from Nyungwe to the Volcanos Park. Today, this ancient forest...
Room for Urban Agriculture in Rotterdam
Since 2007 a group of citizens in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) has been active under the name Eetbaar Rotterdam (Edible Rotterdam). Coming from different disciplines this expert group has been stimulating and initiating urban agriculture in Rotterdam, because they believe urban agriculture can...
Interesting TEDx Talk on Aquaponics
In a TEDx talk on Aquaponics of March 2011, Charlie Price of Aquaponics UK explores the role aquaponics can play in the future of our collective food supply. His nice, clear and interesting presentation is available on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nIL9hWW3-Q
Cool design: The Phyto-Purification Bathroom
Jun Yasumotos Phyto-Purification Bathroom is a nice design draft of a very small, very local, very closed-cycle, ecologically engineered private bathroom system. The aim of it was, to "bring to public knowledge this kind of water recycling process and eventually start a debate over the possibility...
Comment on: Can nuclear power be part of the solution?
In its recent edition, The Solutions Journal asks this question in the context of the Fukushima disaster (Vol. 2, Issue 3, Apr 05, 2011 ). The authors R. Costanza, C. Cleveland, B. Cooperstein and I. Kubiszewski argue that the external costs of the nuclear need to be reflected in the prices for...
Fish production in the “city of the future”?
The potential of urban farming to help feed future generations is more and more recognized today. Rooftop- or backyard gardening, small and medium-scale aquaponic facilities run near waste heat sources, urban community gardening or even multi-stories farming in urban areas are going mainstream...
Vertical Farming – an update in “The Economist”
"The Economist" of Dec. 9, 2010, critically analyzes the Vertical Farm concept, as it is being promoted by Dr. Dickson Despommier. The authors highlight the claims and difficulties of this daring vision and point ways how parts of it could be realized in our inner cities. Full article:...
CÉRRON GRANDE – EL SALVADOR’S RESERVOIR OF QUESTIONABLE FAME
A WETLAND OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE AND THE MOST CONTAMINATED BODY OF FRESH WATER IN CENTRAL AMERICA By Maeggi Hieber , El-Salvador Cérron Grande is El Salvador's largest body of fresh water and the biggest of its Ramsar Sites, wetlands of international importance. At the same time, the...