Appropriate Technology Solutions

Technology is the application of ideas, energy and resources to solve problems and create change. Appropriate technology is that which strives to minimize negative consequences to all life, and connects people with each other and the Earth. Appropriate technologies have the potential to enhance community self-sufficiency, build local economies, and draw on traditional and cultural wisdom.

The concept of appropriate technology arose from the work of Dr Fritz Schumacher, a British economist who wrote 'Small is Beautiful - Economics as if people mattered'. Appropriate technology is just that 'appropriate' technology. It is suitable for the circumstances or purposes for which it is designed, and it is sustainable - meaning it is capable of being maintained at a steady level without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage, forever.

appropriate technology

It is the sort of technology that is right for small-scale, grassroots, people-centred economics. Appropriate technology is about being mindful of our actions and the consequences of those actions. It is the foundation of sustainable living and therefore works from the bottom up to meet grassroots economic needs, not from the top down. Fundamentally, appropriate technology is about caring, helping and appreciating and forward-thinking. It is as much a philosophy, a way of seeing things, as it is a technology.

Because appropriate technology is firstly a grassroots technology it is expressed in an extensive array of inventive, creative solutions to problems, that 'outsiders' would be unlikely to consider. The very diversity of appropriate technology means that it changes with each situation - there is infinite variety in real life situations where appropriate technology is used and it must fit each of these situations. Whereas non-appropriate technology often forces life to fit the technology.

Ultimately Sustainable Technology Solutions - 'If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.' -- the Dalai Lama

Water hyacinth used to treat HIV/AIDS

technology for today

For most water management authorities, water hyacinths are a curse and a huge economic threat. In a growing number of places around the world untreated wastewater from cities and nutrient runoff from farms provide ideal conditions for the growth of hyacinths in rivers and lakes. This not only hinders recreation and navigation but also kills aquatic life such as fish, and blocks water pumps. The hyacinths flowers are attractive which lures the home gardener into using them for decorating and gardens, but when they escape, as escape they will, they rapidly increase in numbers and millions of them can kill a freshwater ecosystem. Where hyacinths have taken over waterways there have been some attempts to harvest them for use as compost. They also make an excellent substrate for the Reishi mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum. Reishi, which has been ground and taken as a tonic in Chinese medicine for more than 1000 years, contains powerful immune boosters known as ganoderms. Reishi is now being used in the treatment of AIDS.