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Rethinking Agriculture

Rethinking Agriculture
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Alternative Technology Centre From food forests to healthy soil. 5 Incredible permaculture videos. When I posted 7 no-cost ways to grow more food from your veggie garden, one commenter argued that mulching was not a good strategy—suggesting that gardeners should plant polycultures instead, following the principles of permaculture. While I'd dispute the idea that there is one "right" way of gardening, or that mulching and polycultures, or mulching and permaculture for that matter, are mutually exclusive, I do agree on one matter. Understanding permaculture design—which can loosely be described as a design discipline informed by principles observed in nature—can definitely make you a better gardener. We've posted a fair few videos on permaculture and permaculture-inspired gardening over the years. Campus lawn becomes permaculture food forest. Lawns are rubbish. 2000 year old food forest feeds 800 farmers Permaculture is often thought of as a new-fangled, hippy thing. A tour of a modern permaculture food forest An incredible permaculture allotment A permaculture approach to healthy soils

the cube projectThe Cube Project – University of Hertfordshire Permaculture Magazine - practical solutions for self-reliance | Permaculture Magazine Community Energy Initiatives Information has been collected as consistently as possible for projects funded or supported by the following community-orientated Government Programmes and other community energy programmes or networks: Government community energy programmes: Clear Skies Community Renewables Initiative (CRI)* Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) PV Grant Programme Community Energy EST Innovation Programme Other community energy programmes/networks: Baywind Energy Co-operative Baywind Energy4All Solar Clubs† Community Power (Powergen) Ecodyfi Awel Aman Tawe (AAT) Ashden Awards Community Fund (part of the Big Lottery Fund) For more information on these programmes/networks and links to their web sites see our LINKS page. * For the CRI, information on community involvement is represented by a framework of archetypes. † The database includes all the solar clubs for which there was information available.

Biblioteca online completa sobre permacultura, bioconstrucción, agricultura ecológica y más Apreciados lectores, Parece un contrasentido, crear un método en la Apicultura del “no hacer” (Wu Wei, como lo denominó su creador), cuando precisamente esta “cultura” estudia a las abejas, que conforman uno de los modelos asociativos más complejos, organizadas y trabajadoras que se conocen de los seres vivos. Sin embargo, si juntamos las técnicas… En "CSA ENTRANSICIÓN 2.0" Qué es la permacultura y cómo podemos aplicarla La permacultura es una respuesta que entrega herramientas factibles a nivel individual y colectivo, a la inquietud interna de cada ser humano, por querer conectarnos con la tierra. Por vivir una vida mas ecológica y consciente con nuestro entorno. En "Permacultura"

What is sustainable development · Sustainable Development Commission "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The concept of sustainable development can be interpreted in many different ways, but at its core is an approach to development that looks to balance different, and often competing, needs against an awareness of the environmental, social and economic limitations we face as a society. All too often, development is driven by one particular need, without fully considering the wider or future impacts. We are already seeing the damage this kind of approach can cause, from large-scale financial crises caused by irresponsible banking, to changes in global climate resulting from our dependence on fossil fuel-based energy sources. The longer we pursue unsustainable development, the more frequent and severe its consequences are likely to become, which is why we need to take action now. So is it all just about the environment? Not necessarily.

SOLAR POWERED VERTICAL AQUAPONICS SYSTEM SOLAR POWERED VERTICAL AQUAPONICS SYSTEM: This is an original design I made to maximize the yield of a 12′x12′ foot space and use gravity to minimize the energy used for irrigation and nutrient delivery. The system is a vertical spiral aquaponics growing system powered by a single 250 watt solar panel and a small DC water pump/filter system. A single DC pump makes the whole thing work. The tower is 15′ tall at the top of the solar panel and approximately 13′ at the top spiral. There is 6 foot wide plastic fish growing tank at the base. The water from the tank is pumped up through a small PVC pipe to flow slowly down through the plant crops growing in the spiral growing tray. Upon harvest, water flow is increased, the harvest gate at the bottom end of the spiral is removed and the crops flow down the spiral making harvesting easy. The growing bed tray is approximately 360′ feet long by 3 feet wide, creating a grow area of approx. 1080 square feet. Comments comments

Dialing Back On Cell Phone Waste | September 1, 2014 Issue - Vol. 92 Issue 35 | Chemical & Engineering News [+]Enlarge CLEVER’S prototype modular design would enable failed components to be replaced, extending the useful life of the phone. Credit: Loughborough University More than 1.8 billion new cell phones will be bought in 2014, but within just a few years, 44% of them will end up “hibernating” in drawers. About the same share will be resold and passed on, and 4% will end up in landfills. Only 3% will be recycled. Those dispiriting statistics come from Hywel Jones, a materials scientist at En­gland’s Sheffield Hallam University who sees major environmental and resource implications in the lack of phone recycling. Of the 40 elements in a phone, only 17 are ever recovered to a maximum rate of 95%, even in the most sophisticated electronics recycling plants such as the huge smelting and electrolysis facility run by Umicore in Antwerp, Belgium. In a bid to head off this growing problem, private technology firms are developing systems to make phone recycling easier, cheaper, and less hazardous.

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