I was in Munich, Germany, settling into my new temporary digs when my Couchsurfing host flung open the living room windows. “Lüften!” he exclaimed ardently.

The breeze felt nice, if not a bit chilly, on that late winter afternoon. But in a land where the people love cold plunging, I made like a local and embraced the briskness.

Although it was March 2020, finding fresh air had nothing to do with the impending Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, as my host explained, lüften is a German cultural tradition practiced multiple times daily.

Simply the practice of opening windows for natural ventilation, it is considered essential for well-being and doesn’t cost a dime. Even a short burst of air has a powerful impact, with the typical session lasting from five to thirty minutes.

In the modern era, Germans have emerged as trailblazers in health and social care, but they have been practicing lüften for centuries to rid living spaces of stale air, odors, and even mold by regulating humidity. For these benefits, many landlords write lüften into their rental contracts.

Related: Improving the air quality of your home starting with your AC unit

Physically, lüften is a tried and true remedy for improving respiratory function, energy levels, and mood. We refresh our spaces with plants with much of the same motivation; lüften makes greenification a more immersive experience.

Lüften must invigorate a primal understanding that we are connected to the elements. When, for whatever modern reasons, we are stuck inside, we can swiftly invite in the great outdoors. Easy, breezy, beautiful.

See also: Eco-friendly upgrades every homeowner can make

I’ve never been a big fan of air conditioning, much preferring air that hasn’t been tampered with. It has always been a no-brainer for me to let fresh air flow inside during warmer weather, but now I happily crack the windows during the colder months too, actively recalling my old friend and the wisdom of his ancestors.

I brought lüften back with me from Germany, an unseen souvenir — often the best kind of memento.

The post Let the lüften in — and be healthier for it appeared first on Green Prophet.

If you run an air conditioner, you have a source of water, as a result of dehumidification in the AC. Considered grey water, the condensation dripping from the a/c drain hose is free of chlorine, fluoride, salt and chemicals found in tap or pool water.  This condensate is a hidden boon that has many household uses. It’s not good to drink though.

Condensate from air conditioners or A/C is essentially distilled water, and is low in mineral content, but it may contain bacteria. Air conditioning cwater can amplify Legionella bacteria and other airborne bacteria, and it has been shown to be the source of outbreaks in hospitals, motels, and cruise ships. So think twice about drinking it. But it doesn’t mean it should go to waste.

In hot, humid areas, an air conditioner can produce 18 gallons (68 liters) of water a day – although in arid areas the gain is much more modest, maybe only one liter daily.  But most often it goes to waste, dripping down the side of buildings and evaporating away. 

A/C drip water isn’t safe for drinking, as you can’t determine how pure it is when it leaves the A/C unit. Being basically distilled water, it lacks the essential calcium, magnesium, and potassium obtained from ordinary water sources. If filtered and sterilized, it could theoretically serve for emergencies, but wouldn’t supply the minerals humans need. But you can still use it. Why not?

Gather the condensate in a bucket or even a barrel, if you have one.

Air conditioner water can be used for:

1. Washing windows and tiled floors. A/C condensate is also the logical choice for outdoor chores like washing patio floors and garden paving, your car, and garden furniture. 
2. Flushing toilets.
3. Washing clothes, especially delicate hand-washables.
4. Steam ironing. No need to buy distilled water for your iron; you can get it free.
5. And plants like it.  Whether you have a few potted plants on a sunny windowsill or an entire vegetable garden, go ahead and water your plants with a/c condensate. We have several of our units dripping right into the garden. 

Sort of like getting water out of thin air.

Using A/C condensate, you’ll save money on your water bills and conserve earth’s dwindling water resources. Pretty green of you, I’d say. Want more tips for a healthy, sustainable home? Read these 5 reasons why you need to air our your house.

More sources for creating fresh water:

Drone Aircraft Takes Water from Atmosphere for Irrigation

Abu Dhabi’s Costly Desalination Plants Prompt Waste Water Treatment Plans

The post 5 Ways To Use Air-Conditioner Water appeared first on Green Prophet.

Take some guys interested in cutting edge technology and add a dash of old-fashioned capitalism and sometimes amazing alchemy results: That teamwork just happened in Lima, where collaboration between Peru’s University of Engineering and Technology and advertising agency Mayo DraftFCB resulted in the world’s first billboard that converts air into drinking water.

The brilliant billboard was erected in Peru’s rain-starved desert capital city.  (Parched Jordan, the world’s fourth most water-starved nation, would be wise to replicate the project along our miles of highways for a gentle alternative to desalination.)

Green Prophet’s brought you news of domestic devices like the atmospheric water generators (AWGs) that produce drinking water via humidity extraction.  And we’ve talked about creating fresh water from the condensation created by air conditioners. This billboard takes that technology to a grander scale, essentially milking the local atmosphere and turning polluted desert air into drinkable water.

Located in a coastal desert, Lima gets less than an inch of annual rainfall, but the city’s humidity hovers around 98 percent.  The billboard converts harvested humidity into purified water by processing it through filters and a condenser, all integral to the sign structure.  The purified water collects in 20-liter tanks located at ground level for easy collection. Locals are attracted to base taps by a neon display that reads “Agua aqui”.

The structure is expected to generate upwards of 25 gallons (96 liters) of water per day for the neighboring community.  In the past three months it’s produced 9,450 liters of drinking water, capacity to sustain hundreds of families each month. Green Prophet raises a glass (of cool, clean water) to the clever folks behind the Aqua Billboard, hopefully coming to a roadside near you.

The post Aqua Billboard Milks the Sky for Drinking Water appeared first on Green Prophet.

No water in my house last week in Amman, Jordan and I’m mildly freaked: I’d just taken delivery on some giant bottles for our water cooler, and I was up to speed on laundry. But no water means no cleaning. Not much cooking happening either.  And let’s not talk on the toilet issue.

Residential cut-offs are commonplace in Amman, but for me it’s a first.  I’m unnerved.  Not so much by the apartment’s micro-drought (I’d cope for a few days, no 127 Days crisis looms).  I’m edgy because my First-World-Barbie belief that tells me when I turn a knob, clear water will pour forth –– is seriously flawed.

I’ve never experienced an instance when household water failed to act on my command.  I make it cold or hot,  get it flowing in forceful jets or delicate sprays. Seems I have a bit of a Moses complex when it comes to controlling water, but when it comes to accessing clean stuff when needed, shouldn’t we all?

Set aside that divining rod.  Unlace your rain dance shoes.  Purified drinking water can now be directly produced from the humidity in the atmosphere.  This isn’t pipe dream,  Rube Goldberg contraptions not required. Unlimited, pure drinking water can be pulled from the air for an investment of less than $2,000 bucks.

An eight-mile swath of free floating moisture encases the globe; an untapped resource for us to stick a straw into. Atmospheric water trumps the amount of liquid in the oceans.  Compared to ground sources, water extracted directly from the air is relatively clean.

EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) are now available in Jordan. The device produces unlimited drinking water by extracting humidity out of the air, then condensing it to water.  The sky-water is stored in the system’s main storage tank, where it runs through an hourly 12-step filtration process to remove chemicals and particulates.

When water’s consumed from the machine, it refills itself automatically. It comes in three versions (one makes sparkling water) that work with any power source, including solar, wind and gas powered generators, rendering the hydration system both sustainable and portable.

They’re also being marketed as an antidote to plastic water bottles (eliminating demand for both grab-and-go mini bottles and the larger refills for water coolers) and as a safe alternative for everyone tethered to dodgy municipal water lines. AWGs can be easily “plugged in” to existing plumbing, allowing its filtration system to clean tap water of harmful chemicals, and common pollutants such as arsenic, trace prescription drugs, bacteria and human hormones.

Gizmos like this can cut demand on municipal water usage by 90 percent.

Water harvesting systems that are self-sustaining, energy efficient and eliminate plastic bottles are a marvelous reality, but they don’t let us off the ethical hook of unsustainable consumption patterns.

Water shortfalls are rampant in the Middle East.  The 2011 Green Economy in a Changing Arab World Report released by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development states, “An annual per capita water share below 1,000 cubic meters poses a significant constraint to economic development, health and well-being; below 500 cubic meters, and water scarcity becomes a threat to life.”

Green Prophet reported that the Jordan-Arab region could face severe water crisis in the next three years, when annual per capita water share may fall to less than 500 cubic meters, leaving us with less than one tenth of the average world citizen’s share of the wet stuff:. Over 45 million people in Arab nations lack access to clean water.  It’s unlikely they’ll be rushing to buy AWGs, unless, as with clean cookstoves, prices to produce and deliver the units becomes economically sensible.

Let’s get active on water use reduction; it’s easy to do.

Look at your water consumption.  See your patterns of usage: don’t judge, just view them. Become aware of your daily waltz through the wet stuff. Next, pick a few low-hanging opportunities for conservation.  The behavioral ones are simple and free.

Cut back your showers by a minute or two. Create your own grey-water recycling program: rinse veggies and fruits in a pot of water instead of a running tap, then recycle the liquid to water your plants. Sweep dusty paths and stairways instead of hosing them down.  Only run clothes- and dish-washers when they’re full.

Stay out of the bathtub. Reuse your towels. Keep taps open only to as needed: don’t run faucets awaiting the perfect temperature or to create background music to your teeth brushing.  And, Amman car owners: could you relax on the thrice-weekly car washes? Drop a few bucks on water conserving shower heads.  Lay down some drip-irrigation tubing to keep your gardens green.

It takes 1500 liters of water to produce 1 kg of wheat, but it takes 15,000 liters to produce 1kg of beef.  So skip the steak, add a few meat-free menus to your diet. Poke around the Green Prophet archives to find excellent tips on choosing food with positive water impact.

My water-scare is a wake-up call I’ll happily share with you.   So what are you doing to save water?

Image of via 3336

The post Pulling Water from the Air appeared first on Green Prophet.

AeroFarms, a company whose vertical skyscraper farming idea we have covered before, is now beginning to introduce a new way of farming to the Middle East that could have as radical an effect on the future of our food supply, as when we switched to farming from hunting and gathering. This will be a very major change.This week AeroFarm’s first unit has just been installed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under the support and partnership of Saudi Arabia’s Sheikh Saleh Boqshan, who is spearheading the project.

Instead of soil, and sunshine, AeroFarms employs aeroponic farming technology, that can work inside buildings in cities. Because of the rise of mega cities in the 21st century, with 80% of us expected to be living in large cities by 2050, this alone makes for a sustainable farming technology.

Seeds are sown into a light weight porous support that is open to air so that the plants can be sprayed with a mist of water and nutrients. The structural growing medium cloth can be reused again and again. The mist itself is recycled too, so there is no run-off, like in traditional farming.

Because aeroponic farms can be sited literally anywhere at all – inside buildings: even multistory buildings without any sunlight at all – it dramatically cuts the carbon costs of transporting food from distant farmlands to city dwellers.

AeroFarms grows food under LED lights, which require only a tenth of the energy to run as that needed by incandescent lights, and far less energy than traditional farming.

Because the food is grown indoors in speeded-up 18-20 day cycles (shorter than typical 21 day pest cycles), there is no need for pesticides. This, in turn, means pesticide-free seeds can be used.

Even water, a long term problem already for this water-stressed region, and one that will only get worse – will be addressed by this installation in Jeddah.

AeroFarms will incorporate a water vapor harvester from AWG. It literally squeezes water from air. So AeroFarm’s 21st century farming technique will be highly sustainable in water-stressed desert cities, such as Jeddah. Aeroponics already uses much less water than traditional farming. Combine AeroFarms and the AWG water vapor harvester, and you have a sustainable way to supply food well into the future.

The return on investment is a staggering 20-33%. The advantages over traditional farming are astounding.  At a time when Arab states are desperately buying up foreign farmland to feed their growing populations, this technology might be a lifsaver. And the harvest is fresh, pesticide-free, local, longer-lasting, safer, and clean and dry.

Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, meaning “the ancestor of women”, is supposed to be the home of what is believed to be the tomb of Eve, the first human on record to pick a fruit.

Most likely, it was “the descendants of Eve” who invented farming, by noting how vegetable and fruit waste discarded near paleolithic settlement sites magically sprouted new plants in their compost.

So it is fitting that the next really major advance in farming comes to the city of Jeddah.

::AeroFarms
::AWG

More on sustainable farming in the Middle East:
Drip Irrigation Gives Hope to Drought Plagued Farmers in Syria …
A Growing Gulf Dependent on Imported Food
Organic Farms Growing in Dubai
Hungry Persian Gulf States Look to Mycorrhiza Fungus to Grow Crops …

The post First AeroFarms Unit Installed This Week in Jeddah appeared first on Green Prophet.