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Moringa Seeds
Moringa Seeds can be used to clean muddy water, as they act as a very effective flocculent. Click here for information leaflet on using Moringa Trees[/tx_column]
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Tyres
Tyres can be reused to make shoes, feeding troughs, childrens swings. Click here for more uses for tyres.
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Plastic Bags
Plastic bags can be
- Plaited or rolled to make Plastic ropes for goats, cows, washing lines or other uses.
- Crocheted to make baskets, handbags, hats and other useful and saleable items.
- Stuffing for mattresses and cushions. Orongo widow’s started cutting the bags into small pieces and stuffing cushions with the pieces. They then realised that the orphans that they care for often wet their beds. With the common rural mattress stuffed with cotton, if the mattress is washed it becomes hard and lumpy. However a mattress stuffed with cut up plastic bags is easy to wash and can be hung up to dry in one day without any problems. This idea has spread to enabling care of People with AIDS, who often have serious diarrhoea. A washable mattress enables practical care. The idea has further been developed by using the readily available plastic strips used for packing material for machinery etc. Click here to see photos of different uses of Plastic Bags.
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Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles have many uses:
- Watering Plants – Cut of the bottom of the bottle and ‘plant’ it beside a tree to enable bottle watering.
- Pesticide Spray – Make small holes in the lid of a bottle to make a simple Pesticide spray. This is very practical when using home made pesticides such as we teach made from Neem Powder.
- Livestock spray – Use a larger bottle for an effective spray for spraying livestock.
- Fly Trap – Two plastic bottles can be used to make a simple Fly Trap (Click here for the Leaflet on how to make a Fly Trap) and one bottle is needed for a simple Fruit Fly Trap (Click here for the Leaflet on how to make a Fruit Fly Trap).
- Hand washing – A small hole in the bottom of a plastic bottle enables it to be used for hand washing. This simple technology can be significant in maintaining health. It can be hung outside a latrine, and also reduces the amount of water needed for occasions such as funerals or church celebrations.
- Tippy Tap – A 3 litre jerry can in which oil is sold can be made into a “Tippy Tap”. By stepping on the piece of wood the Tippy tap is made to tip so that water trickles out for washing hands. This enables practical hygiene as a bucket or other container left near a latrine is soon emptied, but 3 litres in a tippy tap lasts an appreciable time. Click here for more information to make a Tippy Tap in English and here for a leaflet in Swahili.
- Click here for more uses for plastic bottles.
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Bottle Tops
Other simple technologies may need some co-operation between men and women, as few women are skilled as carpenters. Two simple technologies that we teach, based on a small paddle of wood are:
- Fish Scaler – nail 5 bottle tops to the paddle for faster and easier removing of scales from fish Click here for a leaflet on how to make a Fish Scaler
- Maize Sheller – drill 4 holes in the paddle in the right places to make a simple tool for removing the grains from maize cobs Click here for a leaflet on how to make a Maize Sheller
Another idea that uses bottle tops is the tough door mat. When the bottle tops are nailed to a piece of wood it helps remove mud from shoes and thus helps keep the home clean.
Many other things can be made from bottle tops including attractive small boxes, and percussion instruments for use in church. Click here for more examples of bottle tops[/tx_column]
