Sustainable Village Mexico
Sustainable Solutions
Evolution of Irrigation
Our Work
The projects on this page include ones we worked on a long time ago as well as current and ongoing versions. We like to “invest” in projects like these instead of only donating. The investment could be a small irrigation system that creates a small microenterprise—if the watering system enables the person or group to grow a cash crop, they can make enough to expand their system and often dramatically increase their income. If any of these projects inspire your support, we can put you in direct touch with the people involved and/or arrange delivery for the goods or services.
Tibetan Orphanage Irrigation Project
Food was often scarce for the children living in this Tibetan orphanage. We designed and donated a gravity fed drip irrigation system for their greenhouse, to ensure that food was always provided and plentiful, even during periods of drought.
Nigeria Solar Well Pump Project
For Fr. Madu’s community, in the Utonkon villages in Nigeria, water was hard to come by. We assisted Fr. Madu in securing funding for one of our solar well pumps in a joint project with the Claretian Missionaries of Nigeria and St. Thomas Aquina University Parish in Boulder. This pump provides safe drinking water and irrigation for almost 15,000 Nigerians living near the Ugenge River.
The Ethnomedicine Preservation Project
This organization is working to preserve medicinal plant knowledge of indigenous cultures. Its first project was in Peru, working in the Amazon basic and high Andes. Dera St. Claire, M.H., leads ecological expeditions to their 6000 acre botanical preserve in northeastern Peru. Sustainable Village provided the Project with tools and solar panels.
Green World Campaign
Sustainable Village started supporting this organization by donating solar lanterns. We have recently connected Green World with Boulder-based herbal remedy company, WishGarden Herbs, with hopes that they will become their primary moringa supplier. Since 2010, the Green World Campaign has planted 4 million biodiverse native trees, provided eco-education to over 20,000 students and farmers, started a youth-led ‘Trees for Peace’ movement, and established the Eco-Pesa—a voucher system that promotes trade and creates new sources of income from ecologically and socially beneficial enterprises.
Haiti Gravity Water Project
We supplied gravity watering systems for 500 small farmers in Haiti. Women and children were spending most of their day hauling water, and inefficiently irrigating by dumping it onto the soil. With our inexpensive systems, they only had to make one trip and the water would last several days. The reservoirs irrigate through lengths of BluSoak drip tape, which release water very slowly. This slow drip enables the moisture to penetrate deeper to the root-level as opposed to being wasted due to runoff.
Boulder Rooted Irrigation Project
This goji berry farm in Boulder, CO, serves as an educational site for students of the American Institute of Integrative Herbalism. It also became a basecamp for community outreach and conservation center for medicinal plant seed. We donated, designed and installed a highly efficient Growstream irrigation system. Growstream is an innovative drip tape technology that responds to the plant’s roots, and only gives water when the plant asks for it.
New York Hall of Science Display
A group of artists, scientists, agroecologists, gardeners and educators created Carbon Sponge, a project that researches the potential for urban soils to sequester carbon, decrease greenhouse gases and build healthy soil. We designed an automatic Blumat irrigation system for their exhibit/experiment at the New York Hall of Science.