Viable Alternatives Knowledge Hub
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Feature Articles
Explore key sustainability concepts, technologies and initiatives.
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Africa’s First Waste to Energy – Reppie, Ethiopia
The Reppie Waste to Energy plant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is the first Waste to Energy plant in Africa, completed in February 2018. Reppie Waste-to-Energy Facility. Image: Stuartkribki | CC BY-SA 4.0. | Wikimedia. Reppie is locally known as Koshe (Amharic for dirty). The Koshe dump site in the southeastern part of Addis Ababa and is…
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Hair for Oil Spills
Hair, fur and fleece clippings donated to matteroftrust.org are used to soak up major oil spills. Also, help keep storm drains and waterways clean.
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10 Things to do during COVID-19 Lockdown
The United Kingdom is currently under a Coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2) COVID-19 lockdown. The majority of the population will be spending all hours at home. A fortunate few may be able to work from home. However, many people have been furloughed or have lost their main source of income. Below is a list of 10…
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Reuse N95 Respirators Safely?
Is it possible to reuse N95 masks without a reduction of the respirator’s effectiveness? Terminology In this article when I mention reuse, I am using European waste processing terminology. As described in the EU Waste Framework Directive waste management hierarchy. Reuse is the second option after prevention and before recycling. Prevention is the streamlining of the…
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Ecology | Farming | Reduce waste | Water
Aquaponics Farming in Water Scarce Regions
Aquaponics symbiotically combines hydroponics and aquaculture. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in nutrient-rich water without soil. Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic animals such as fish, prawns and snails in tanks. Aquaponics is an alternative farming method for areas where protein-rich foods such as fish are scarce or poor soil quality is a problem….
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Ecology | Marine | Sustainable | Water
Flood Control – Pop Up Dam
The Water-Gate Barrier acts like a pop up dam. It can be used for flood control and toxic spills with very minimal infrastructure.
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Microgrids – Aardehuizen, The Netherlands
In The Netherlands microgrid communities are pioneering a new approach to generating and sharing energy. This would mean neighbourhoods of the near future could produce their own renewable power.
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Floating Island of Plastic Waste
Plastic Waste at Sea Marine debris caused by household garbage travels from rivers into seas and oceans. Across the globe, there are five oceanic gyres. It’s estimated that the largest oceanic garbage patch, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1.6 million square kilometres, three times the size of France or twice the size of Texas….
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Ecology | Farming | Reduce waste | Social Awareness | Sustainable | Water | Zero Waste
Edible Cutlery
Edible Cutlery Made From 100% Natural Flours. In 2010, Narayana Peesapathy and Pradnya Keskar founded the company Bakeys in Hyderabad, India. Bakeys was the first company to produce edible cutlery. The baked utensils shaped like spoons, forks and chopsticks made of millet, rice, wheat and water. They come in various flavours varying from plain, savoury and…
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