Appropedia Blog - Official blog of Appropedia.org, the sustainability wiki
Can local groups and communities could use the wiki as their own way of connecting and sharing knowledge? Absolutely!
Appropedia is not only a living library, but:
A collaborative workspace, both to grow the library and for plotting real-world action.
A networking tool. While our platform (MediaWiki) is not designed as a social networking tool, this is a community full of hardcore sustainability buffs and problem-solvers worldwide and from all walks of life.
A “shell” within which communities can operate, serving their members and connecting with partners both local and distant. A community of communities, if you will.
A way of increasing profile & findability.
A way of increasing synergy. Why work on a greywater treatment page on a locally focused site with a small number of contributors and readers when you can work with a global community on making an awesome page?
You can have your own pages on your own projects, too, as part of a collection of designs from around the world. Be like the developer of the Home biogas system (Philippine BioDigesters), who received emails of thanks, along with design improvements, from around the world.
This was prompted by a question from Steven Walling during a presentation on Appropedia. It made us realize how far ahead Appropedia is when we envisage it, compared to what a visitor to the site sees today (e.g., the greywater treatment page is one-twentieth or one-hundredth as good as we’d like to see it). People already say how great the site is, but we foresee something much, much greater.
October 7, 2020 January 25, 2021 Chris Watkins Tagged about appropedia, Appropedia community, community, online communities, synergy, wikis Leave a comment
This is why solar hot water is worth it
There’s a big need for low cost, effective solar hot water designs. This is not just a matter of saving money (and, of course, all the other benefits of saving energy, like saving the planet). Many people worldwide do not have hot water on tap and would benefit from easier washing clothes and dishes.
We have some work detailed about solar hot water on Appropedia, built-in Parras, Mexico. These are largely sunny places – even a black pipe lying in the sun will create hot water. But what are the hottest water and the most straightforward, reliable product that someone can get for the money they spend?
One challenge that faces such countries is that they often have fossil fuel subsidies, especially those countries that are traditional oil-producers. Solar loses much of its economic advantage when fuel gets a subsidy.
Changing someone’s thinking to save a tiny amount of money is hard. But with other angles to complement the economic incentives, there is hope. Get kids involved, explain why solar hot water is better, get the ideas taught in the schools. Emphasize the green side of things, children’s benefits, and make the designs freely available in people’s own language.
By Solarkent.
June 1, 2019 February 3, 2021 Chris Watkins Tagged international development, solar hot water 3 Comments