Report 4 (of 5): Magic Carpet

Introduction

Erosion and desertification are major problems in many parts of the globe. Erosion is caused when the organic binding matter, such as the plants and organisms, in the soil are destroyed by the elements. Ground matter can be removed by water, ice or the wind and the top soil is the first layer to disappear.

There are many countries, landowners and farmers who would like to be able to utilise desert lands for crop growing and other practical applications that would help to improve the livelihoods of the indigenous people. However, even if there is potential to regenerate desert land, the problem, in addition to the organisation of effective irrigation systems, is that the binding root system of the plants does not grow fast enough to permit the vegetation to keep the surface soil in place or for the soil to retain its moisture.

Anti Erosion Matting

Anti erosion matting - also called the Magic Carpet - has been developed as a prototype to provide a growing medium for plants which should help counter the problems of top soil erosion. The matting is made from harvesting residue, waste wood, waste paper, plant fibre pulp and peat. Composted biowaste is also suitable to use as a raw material.

Manufacturing the Magic Carpet

The raw materials are crushed and then they are mixed together. Various kinds of pulp that assist plant growth, such as plant starch and proteins from the wood and food processing industries, can be added to the mixture. In this way, the matting provides sufficient nutrients for the plants that will bind the soil. During the manufacturing process, long fibres can be added to the matting in a binding criss cross pattern or the matting can be overlayed with a large mesh fastening net or a biodegradable surface to help secure the soil.

The Magic Carpet is manufactured in rolls between 50 centimetres and 2 metres wide and then it is compressed to a thin layer measuring between 5 and 10 millimetres thick.

The selected seeds and seed assortments are added between the layers of the matting during the final stages of manufacturing. The seeds only begin to germinate when the matting is laid in place on the soil and watered. Using this method, it is possible to choose the kinds of plants best suited to the area where the carpet is being laid. Particular consideration should be given to plants that will bind the soil suffering from erosion most effectively.

Securing the Magic Carpet

The rolls of matting are transported to the selected site and pegged down using a machine specifically designed for the purpose. In smaller areas, the matting can be attached manually. The pegs are made from wooden stakes between 20 and 30 centimetres in length. Pegging with these stakes ensures that the matting stays in place while the seeds it contains have a chance to germinate and the root systems become strong enough to bind the matting to the soil. In some circumstances, for example, in areas with favourable weather conditions and little wind, the use of wooden stakes is not necessary.

In time, both the matting and the stakes will rot in the soil and they will become a useful part of the growing medium of the soil.

Advantages of the Magic Carpet

• The carpet is extremely easy to manufacture and does not require complicated production equipment.

• The raw materials needed to manufacture the anti erosion matting are readily available worldwide.

• Waste materials from other processes can be used for manufacturing the matting rather than being discarded. These include harvesting residue, waste wood, waste paper, waste pulp, residual peat, recycled textiles, straw and grass fibre, recyclable organic waste produced by local communities and waste materials from cellulose manufacturing.

• The use of recyclable organic matter is encouraged.

• The matting is ecologically sound because it prevents desertification; the carpet and stakes decay in time, naturally becoming part of the soil; and the manufacturing process uses low grade materials or materials that would have otherwise been thrown away.

• The matting is easy to handle and to store.

• The matting is relatively easy to transport compared with topsoil which is much heavier. The carpet is produced as either rolls or slabs which are covered with a decomposable packing paper for transportation and packing.

• The matting can be laid either by machine or manually.

• Once the carpet is attached to the soil, it evens out the climatic temperature extremes. It protects the soil against the hot sun during the daytime and at night, it prevents the release of heat. The carpet absorbs moisture so effectively that dew soaking into it during the night is retained because it is unable to evaporate during the course of the day.

• The carpet can be cut, for example, into narrow strips, to ensure that it is useful for all applications and that it can fit into a particular space.

• When laid down and pegged, the matting flattens the existing soil and moulds itself round the terrain it is being laid on. It binds the ground beneath it and comfortably fits over protuberances on the surface.

For further information, please contact:
 

Intermediate Technology would like to thank Juha Sarviaho for providing the original material on the Magic Carpet.

Further reading from ITDG Development Bookshop

Don't Throw It All Away
This new edition of Friends of the Earth's popular recycling guide examines the 'throwaway society' and offers positive solutions to its waste problem. It explains what is thrown away, why so much of it is produced, and the environmental problems this causes. And it offers practical suggestions for how to help the planet by reducing the amount of waste you and your family produce.
£4.99 1998 46pp pb (Friends of the Earth) ISBN 1857502000

Green Home: How to make your world a better place
Karen Christensen
A comprehensive, accessible and lively introduction to all aspects of green home-making.
£9.99 1995 326pp (Piatkus Books) ISBN 0749914602

Plastic Waste: Options for small-scale resource recovery
Inge Lardinois
Plastic Waste documents recycling activities in cities in economically less developed countries. The publication describes how plastic waste is reprocessed in informal small-scale enterprises and turned into end products or semi-manufactured products ready for use by formal industries. Attention is paid to the various technologies used in plastic recycling. Financial aspects, marketability of products, environmental problems occupational health and government policies are also dealt with.
£11.50 1995 112pp (TOOL) ISBN 9070857340

Reuse, Repair, Recycle: A mine of creative ideas for thrifty living
Jan McHarry
An up-to-date source book on how to reduce and recycle, how to create new from old, and how to help fights the Great Waste Problem of the present age.
£7.99 1993 288pp (Gaia Books) ISBN 1856750450
 

TVE/ Practical Action gratefully acknowledge support for the HANDS ON programmes from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), the UN Foundation and UNDP/The Equator Initiative in collaboration with the Government of Canada, IDRC, IUCN, BrasilConnects and the Nature Conservancy.