mteb/BrightProSustainableLivingRetrieval huggingface dataset:
How to protect road damage from rain?
Asked 10 years, 6 months ago
Modified 9 years, 7 months ago
Viewed 2k times
6

Here where I am living in the rainy season the roads are damaged due to the large amount of rainfall. I know the quality of the roads is low, they are made of Damara. I want to protect my road and reduce the damage. Could you suggest some easy way to protect it and suggest a cheap way to rebuild it?
Water heating / electricity production by using earth's warmth?

I'm very curious, why hasn't anyone done this?

In most places on earth, the temperature gets 25 degrees higher (celsius) for every kilometer in depth. How hard would it be to drill 4-5km, put a U-shaped pipe, and push cold water at one end, and get hot water at the other? It would definitely be cheaper in the long term than all of the other solutions that are in use right now.
Composting teabags?

I have a problem during waste segregation with a small, but often used product, namely teabags.

It's a bit of organic matter wrapped in paper, with a thread and staple. The organic part is easy - it belongs in compost. Paper is a bit more difficult, but compost bags in Germany are made of paper anyway.

But what with thread? It should compost as well; it's organic matter, too. But the staple makes things problematic. Should I simply remove them and throw the rest into composting matter, or can I simply ignore it because it will corrode anyway?
Instructions for making, and comparisons of, *small* solar thermal collectors

The web has probably thousands of pages with instructions on how to build solar devices for heating air, water, and probably things I've never even thought of.

Wikipedia describes different types of thermal solar collectors, but really has a commercial focus.

However, when it comes to choosing an affordable design that might be useful for a DIY project at home (or for a small business), it's unclear exactly where to start looking and how to compare designs.

Are there any websites that act like a hub for this information and index or categorise the different techniques and devices?

For this question I'd like to focus, if possible, on finding a site that compares and rates different designs, as well as possibly providing instructions on building them.
Efficiency of car-sized vehicles running on train tracks

New Zealand doesn't have particularly advanced technology for its railroads, but I have seen pickup trucks that have wheels that can run on railroad tracks as well as a separate set of wheels with tyres for driving on the road. I think they are used for light maintenance, and probably for quick access to hard-to-reach places.

What is the fuel efficiency of a vehicle that size when it operates on the railroad tracks?

If there are similarly sized vehicles that only operate on tracks, then they would obviously be lighter and thus more efficient (and cheaper!), so some data on that kind of vehicle would be of interest too (if it exists!).
What are useful uses for orange peel?

Lately, I'm getting more or less addicted to oranges and I'm collection way too much orange peel compared to what my starting compost heap can handle.. Is there something I do with it, other than throwing it in the garbage can? I read about using an dehydrator to dry the peel and use it for air freshening (orange smell), but then you apparently need a dehydrator, what I don't have. Another thing I found was using it against mosquitos, by rubbing it over your skin.. But there are still no mosquito's and the peel will be green before there are.

I'm not looking for pure decorational usages.
How to recognize products with neonicotinoid pesticides in them?

Recently, the EU has temporarily banned neonicotinoid pesticides because there are strong indications that these pesticides are responsible for the decline in bee populations. I've heard that this pesticide is not only used in bug sprays, but also in seemingly innocent products like flower bulbs, plant plugs and certain types of compost.

Is this true? If so, how do I make sure I don’t already have this stuff at home? How can I recognise products or brands that contain/use these pesticides?
In-place composting around flower pots and allelopathy

Because of limited space for gardening, we have a fairly large number of trees and plants in flower pots. In particular I have found that citrus trees seem to demand a lot of mulch around them and so I am doing sheet mulch and in place composting in the pots. There is usually a 2-4 inch layer of leaf fall mulch covering a thin layer of kitchen waste in these pots. The leaf fall is currently mostly mango and papaya leaves. The mango leaves are usually green when put in, the papaya leaves may be harvested when the show that they are about to fade. I would assume most of this would be considered a "green" for composting purposes and that the soil and plant acts as the main nitrogen sink. Sometimes I add mango twigs as a brown, however.

I would also like to add that most pots contain between one and three different plant species. Examples include lemon and ginseng, eggplant and ginseng, some sort of sour starfruit relative, celery, and ginseng, eggplant, lime, and durian, and the so forth (yes I am growing a lot of ginseng-- I have almost 20 ginseng plants and counting, most of which are only a few months old).

My question is this. When composting above-ground parts of plants in an area where there is not much topsoil, such as a flower pot, to what extent do I need to worry about allelopathy between plant species? Is this a serious issue I need to keep a close eye on? Or is it less of an issue since typically I am not dealing with a lot of roots?
Aquaponics without water pumps: Is it possible?

We have a big sort of pond which is aerated by a largish aquarium pump (air pump only). We have carp and two turtles in the pond. My guess is the capacity is in the 1000 to 1500 gallon range.

I was wondering about the possibility of incorporating aquaponics into the structure as it currently exists. Ideas included adding styrofoam deep water floats with some light plants on them or trying to grow aquatic plants for food (lotus being a possible example). Given that the water does maintain ample aeration, what sorts of problems am I likely to face?
Are there projects that use renewable energy sources to create renewable energy sources?

I recently fantasized about a project that starts from a small solar furnace (small, but can melt steel), and a small solar farm (that control the electronics).

Then all the energy is used to build more mirrors and solar cells to extend the power plant's capacity. This way it's capacity can slowly but exponentially grow on free energy. When it grew large enough it could be connected to the power grid and become useful.

So are there such projects?
Most sustainable way to freshen air?

Looking for some alternatives for air fresheners. I have been looking at various alternatives such as coffee grounds (possibly in a muslin bag), and the like. What works here? I would rather get away from the current mass-produced air freshioners that are currently used in cars and homes.

The issue here is that I am in a situation where I have inlaws complaining about odors in cars etc and they are used to air fresheners in these cases.
What are the environmental effects of discarding radioactive smoke detectors?

I called Kidde about mailing back their radioactive smoke detector now that it has exceeded its usable life. It is labeled that it contains 0.9 micro curies of Americium 241. They claimed over the telephone that the device is safe to discard in the trash.

I was hoping to learn exactly what are the environmental impacts of doing so? I am under the impression that the device will be compressed during the trip to the landfill, destroying the protective casing for the material.
Sustainable methods of mosquito control

Right now I am in Jakarta (planning on returning to the US sooner or later) and of course mosquitos are a problem over here.

The common method over here to control mosquitos is to spray airborne insecticides frequently to kill mosquitos in the house. We do what we can, with a single small fan-driven indoor bugzapper but given that all electricity here is coal-fired would like to try to minimize this as well. I have tried using dried zodia leaves which seem to be mildly effective, and we keep fish and turtles in a pond out back. Is there anything more we can do to reduce the chemical and electrical load of this?
Non toxic insect(ant) repellent for use in the kitchen

I have an ant problem in my house, specially in the kitchen, where they seem to have taken over. Just found out that they have cut through the plastic packaging of some food items and gotten inside. Is there a non-toxic pesticide or repellent I could use to drive them away? I have used turmeric powder before, and it is kinda effective, specially if you make a paste and stick it where the ants enter from. But I'd prefer not getting turmeric everywhere, and since I can't exactly find out where the ants are coming from, it wouldn't be as effective anyways.
Forcing water circulation in solar hot water installation

I'm planning an installation for heating water using solar "exchanger" panels (solar used to heat water directly, not through electricity). I don't want to bind the reservoir, panel and tap locations to the natural circulation cycle though (hot water traveling up etc).

So, in order for this to work, I'd have to force some very slow water circulation between the reservoir and the panels; a pump that takes very little power and provides very small but constant throughput: something with power requirements low enough to make this economically viable, maintenance-proof and preferably silent. On the other hand, the throughput can be very low (the water in the panel must be given enough time to heat up, so I guess even something like 10cc/min is satisfactory) and it will work only with clean, drinking quality water and very low pressures (just enough to have the water moving through pipes, no resistances or height pressure to overcome).

Do you have any idea what pumping mechanism could I use for that?
Which is more sustainable: aluminium can, plastic bottle or glass bottle?

I was wondering which drink container is the most sustainable one, when looking at the big picture (complete life cycle analysis).

So far, I can see the few following points:

Transport: plastic and aluminium are lighter than glass, and they can be crushed on their way to recycling, which means less transport-related use of energy.
Raw material: I think glass is probably the most sustainable in terms of resource availability and number of recycling cycles - is that right?
Pollution: again, glass would be the best at not disrupting the environment.
What about the energy needed for recycling each of those products?
I reckon this should be assessed on a contained liquid volume base.
More sustainably growing Asparagus?

One of the basic points of permacultural design and water usage is that bare soil is the single greatest source of loss of water in growing food. The principle of layering plants in space and time helps reduce the overall water consumption of a garden and also increase its productivity, as much as this goes against conventional (non-sustainable) gardening approaches. The overall goals are to prevent soil from being exposed, and ensure that plants mutually support eachother, and so forth.

I have been looking into applying this with asparagus, to reduce water usage involved in growing this food, but have been unable to find recommendations for plants to plant alongside (and given the spacing between plants, this leads to a lot of exposed soil). I would like to grow asparagus with as little external water input as possible. What can I plant next to asparagus to help cut down on the water loss, weeding requirements, and fertilizer requirements? I.e. how can I grow asparagus sustainably?
Is there a deodorant with minimal packaging waste?

I have been trying to look around me to find ways to minimize non-organic wastage...and one of the everyday things is Deodorant.

I read somewhere that solid deodorants are way much greener than spray ones...hence I switched over to solid ones. I also made sure that the brands I use are made of organic constituents (Tom's of Maine.. available at Trader Joe's etc.)

If you might have noticed.. actual deodorant cake is only about 50% of plastic container. I feel its a great wastage.

Is there any alternative so that packaging waste from containers can be minimized?
How to determine whether hybrid cars are really more sustainable than traditional cars?

I purchased a Prius many years ago, but many of my friends have put forth claims that the batteries are very toxic and thus I may in fact be creating more harm than good in using a hybrid and that hybrid's are a less sustainable solution than non-hybrids?

How can one objectively measure the total footprint of a hybrid vehicle to determine whether the use of a hybrid over a traditional non-hybrid gasoline powered vehicle is lesser or greater? Has much research gone into the entire picture? For example, when the car reaches the end of its useful life, what happens to the batteries, can they be recycled or are they thrown away? What about the manufacture of the batteries, what negative effects come into play during manufacture? Are there other externalities that I've missed?
How to utilize a boreal forest for animal husbandry?

Forests are the great producers of oxygen, and sustainable living is hardly imaginable with meadows and farmlands only.

But how to best utilize a forest for animal husbandry, in the way that hopefully interferes with wild nature as little as possible? I know from history, that our ancestors (in Eastern Europe) have used forests for pasturing pigs. But is the best way to use a forest to 'produce' meat? What about insects, for example?

My question is about boreal forests, such as those in Canada or Scandinavia.