Appropriate Technology

Appropriate Technology encompasses technological applications that are small scale, energy efficient, environmentally sound, locally controlled, and people centered. Mahatma Gandhi is often cited as the “mother” of the movement because he advocated for small, local and predominantly village-based technology to promote self reliance in Indian communities. He believed that technology should benefit a minority of people and not be supplied for the profit of the majority. Village Volunteers believes this too.

Village Volunteers is committed to the conscientious use of resources.
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• Drip Irrigation Bucket System
  Learn how to set up an irrigation system for a garden and find online resources for troubleshooting and monitoring.
• Solar Food Dehydrator
  Using the sun and a solar collector, you can build a functional food preservation system for little work and even less money.
• Solar Cooking and Water Purification
  Solar cookers are an easy and affordable method to cook food and purify water without requiring the use of wood, coal, or dung. This reduces deforestation, CO2 emissions, and does not cause respiratory health problems.
• Fuel Briquettes Training Guide
  Sustainable sources of wood fuel have diminished and deforestation has become a worldwide epidemic, therefore, success in fuel briquetting depends on understanding its benefits for the community. Successful training takes 6-8 weeks in order to be able to produce a smokeless fuel briquette. Learn how.
• Hand Powered Water Pumps
  The bush pump has become the world’s most robust and widely used locally made hand pump. It can be made locally with ease. Parts can be modified to what can be found locally and any one can use it.
• Bamboo House Building Manual
  Learn how to construct low-rise, earthquake-resistant housing. The design plans produced by the Engineering Structures Research Centre at City University require only basic construction skills and tools. The materials are sustainable, durable, and can often be locally obtained in most regions in the global south.

The Sustainable Village Library is a collection of projects, research, curriculum and guides submitted by and for volunteers and villagers. These documents are designed to be shared and to enhance sustainable development efforts. If you have information to share with people across the world, please send submissions to Village Volunteers.