|
Here you will find
links to 6 articles: Get Sorted - Denmark, Maasai
Housing - Kenya, Mirte Stoves - Ethiopia, Safety
Caps - South Africa, Spice Processing - Uruguay,
The Oxford Solar House - England
Get
Sorted - Denmark
The Danish government aims to downsize the rubbish
tips in Denmark by ensuring that all the municipalities
recycle at least 50% of their refuse. The object
is to send as little as possible to the tip, only
using it as the last resort. The reason for reducing
the refuse dumped on the tip to an absolute minimum
is that nearly all of the waste can be used as a
resource and therefore, should not be dumped in nature.
Maasai
Housing - Kenya
The Maasai have traditionally been pastoralists
leading a nomadic life, moving from place to place
with their cattle in search of better grazing land
and good sources of water.
In the last two decades, however, the Maasai have been
forced to lead more settled lives. It is impossible
for them to keep on moving because of land subdivision
and their traditional nomadic lifestyle is changing
to a more sedentary one. The Maasai women have always
been responsible for constructing, maintaining and
managing their homes and now more durable and permanent
houses are required.
Mirte
Stoves - Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, one of the most popular staple foods
is injera (household bread) which is a large flat
pancake eaten by the majority of Ethiopians at least
once a day. Injera baking is the most energy-intensive
activity in Ethiopia. It accounts for over 50% of
all primary energy consumption in the country and
over 75% of the total energy consumed in households.
The food is so popular that the average family burns
around 20 kilogrammes of wood a week just making
injera.
Safety
Caps - South Africa
Paraffin is the major source of energy for the majority
of the population in South Africa and is relied upon
as the primary fuel by millions of South Africans
for cooking, heating and lighting. An estimated 685
million litres of paraffin are used every year for
domestic energy in South Africa. Even where people
have access to electricity they often use paraffin
stoves and lamps as electrical appliances are expensive.
Spice
Processing - Uruguay
Ten years ago, the living conditions in the North
East Canelones area were poor - the roads were bad
and there was no electricity, running water or communications.
Although only a hundred or so kilometres from Montevideo,
the region had been neglected and was inhabited by
poor, rural families with small plots of land. Sugar
beet had been the main income producing activity
until the local sugar factory shut down.
A group of women farmers, experienced in producing
fresh crops, desperately needed to find an alternative
income in order to survive. The setting up of the
Cal Manana cooperative was an attempt to alleviate
the acute economic crisis they were facing and it
was also to help the women improve their self-esteem
and gain control over their lives.
The
Oxford Solar House - England
The Oxford Solar House is the first low energy house
in the United Kingdom with a fully integrated photovoltaic
roof. It was designed to function as an ordinary
standard family home which requires only a minimum
amount of energy for heating, cooling and lighting.
In order to optimise the value of the electricity
generated by the photovoltaic system, the energy
demand in the house was reduced by using all available
energy saving technologies but without impairing
the comfort of the occupants.
|
