APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

Improving general living conditions on a low budget with locally available materials is not only possible but necessary. Appropriate technology reduces the amount of hard work and long hours of manual labor needed for life-sustaining tasks. For example, potable water can be pumped to populated areas using low cost solar power; fuel-efficient stoves are promoted, saving precious forestlands; purified water is provided, using simple methods such as sand filtration; compost latrines, safe and useful sanitation units, are successfully introduced into entire communities. As well, Concern America has built community-based radio stations together with communities as they organize to protect the environment in the face of destructive and powerful economic interests such as mining, logging, oil, and industrial farms.