In the News
Local Committee Updates
SAUL Local has been working with Saul Agricultural High School for the past few years to teach a series on sustainable development and related appropriate technologies. (For more information, see https://pennewb.org/blog/local/) This year, Local is looking to construct a pipeline to transport large bodies of water collected in rain water barrels to a field of crops. The next step for Local is to dig a trench through the driveway and lay the pipes in. This portion of the project has to be completed in one day to avoid obstructing traffic. GIRARD Local has recently established a relationship with Girard College, visiting weekly to educate students on sustainability. Local,...
Read MoreInnovative Toilets
This article, also discussed at the Cameroon committee meeting last week, goes into more specific detail about what the future of toilets could look like. The toilets discussed here are pretty cutting-edge, separating and drying human excrement, transforming it into natural gas and fertilizer, and even using it as an electricity source. PennEWB is really interested in these developments because they promise more sanitary conditions and more creative recycling in devloping countries around the world! Here is the...
Read MoreGuatemala Commitee Discusses Sustainability Initiatives
Last Tuesday, The Guatemala Committee met to discuss sustainability issues and how feasible the initiatives described in this article were. http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v305/n5/full/scientificamerican1111-60.html The article notes that humans use 4,000 cubic kilometers of water per year, 70% of which is used for irrigation. This causes diminished flows in many large rivers and declining water tables in various areas of the world. Pollution of water by fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides is another problem posed by the expansion of agriculture and increased food production — runoff from farmland causes algal blooms and “dead zones,”...
Read MoreBill Gates to Reinvent the Toilet?
Last week, Penn EWB’s Cameroon committee met and discussed a couple of articles that relate to sustainability and sanitation. This article discusses the sanitation issues associated with human waste elimination in developing countries. Representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are quoted in the article, saying that perhaps the end to the Western-style, flushable toilet is in sight. There are other, more healthful and sustainable ways to utilize and recycle human excrement in developing countries, perhaps as compost or fertilizer for more plentiful agriculture. Check it...
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