Ending World Hunger

Heifer International

What if We Ended World Hunger?For any of us who still wonder if ending world hunger is possible, Heifer’s compelling new multimedia campaign will convince us once and for all that there really is a solution – and that we can be part of it. Take a look at the initiative’s inspiring video, which launched in major cities nationwide. Watch it Now.

Homemade Batteries

This web page explains how a homemade battery works. http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae314.cfm?CFID=995968&CFTOKEN=22339656

"When a rod made of a transition metal, such as copper, is dipped into a solution of its own ions, such as copper sulfate, an equilibrium is set up between the metal in its solid state and the metal as aqueous ions. (A certain proportion of the metal atoms exist in the rod as solid atoms and a certain proportion exist in the solution as aqueous copper 2+ ions). When some of the metal on the rod dissolves to become aqueous ions, electrons are given up by the atom (A copper 2+ ion has loses 2 electrons) and build up on the rod giving a negative electrical charge. This is called a half cell. The size of the negative charge depends on how good a reducing agent the metal is. (Reducing agents donate electrons in reactions). So if we take two half cells made of two different metals and join them together, as one will have a greater negative potential than the other, a potential difference is set up between the two metal rods. As a potential difference cause electrons to flow (from the rod with a greater negative charge to the rod with a smaller negative charge), a cell will have been created. When a copper half cell and a zinc half cell are joined together, they can generate enough current to light a bulb and it is the basis of a cell called the Daniell Cell. "

Here is another web page that shows how to make a simple battery that is strong enough to generate 1 Volt or 100 mA, which can power a light or a small motor-- http://www.exo.net/~jyu/activities/Al-air.pdf

New Organization about Sustainable Energy

When I was logging onto my Yahoo mail account, an interesting Pop-Up (one of the few) came up that was for FUSE (Faiths United for Sustainable Energy). It sounds really good. Here's the site: http://www.fusenow.org/index.html

Making Paper at Home

Obviously, it's hard to do much in the modern world without a ready supply of paper. However, if our goal is "zero waste," then we have to learn to reuse and recycle paper. I found quite a lot of information on home-made paper, by doing a Google search. I found it fascinating that paper can easily be made with simple household materials, like corn starch (or white glue), paper scraps (or plant fibers, such as flower petals and onions), and a wood and wire mesh screen. Although an electric blender saves time in the preparation process, there is no reason why scissors and "elbow grease" wouldn't work just as well. Here are three of the most helpful resources that I found:
http://www.tutorials.com/06/0697/0697.asp
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/makingpaper.html
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_moneysaving_recycle/article/0,,HGTV_3131_2981623,00.html
Paper drying on screen

Finished paper products

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(Photo credits: Home and Garden TV--see third link above)