The nature of nature on this planet is such that no one region can establish complete resource independence whilst sustaining contemporary human settlements. Nevertheless, some geographical regions are extremely favourable, while some are not, for sustaining such modern day societies. With the advent of science and technology, we have proven ourselves to be capable of adapting to even the harshest of circumstances, but unfortunately these developments have not benefited all of humankind. Millions of people living in regions in Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania, which are often resource- rich in terms of resource availability, live without appropriate access to water, food, shelter and energy. We are interested in these underprivileged regions.

It was particularly important to me to ensure that the solutions which we develop, are not only environmentally sustainable, but are also a catalyst for initiating and sustaining local ecologies and economies. We believe sustainable solutions imply a fair distribution and consumption of resources, rather than the enforcing of a green agenda. Sustained, then, implies a perpetual process of development and evolution, factoring in local ecologies and economies.

To ensure a fairness on all levels, the quality of design and the experience it delivers cannot be compromised for the sake of affordability. Unbiased implies a maintaining of a universal standard in the quality of the design and the experience it provides, thereby dignifying the use of the product, by one and all.

Product proposal

Cooking stove

This product concept is a cooking stove assembly utilising alternative fuel, beeswax in this case, to cook food. The key focus while designing this concept was on computer aided design, engineering and manufacturing, to create a highly functional, durable and aesthetically acceptable product. The underlying desire to do so was to drastically improve the lives of the young girls and women in underprivileged regions, by reducing their workload gathering firewood, thereby also keeping a check on deforestation in these regions; to provide commercially viable opportunities for locals to indulge in, and to bring about a dignified and uncondescending product experience to these peoples.

The design tries to keep the part count to minimum, promotes symmetry for ease of manufacturing and maintenance, and provides room for employing other alternative fuels such as paraffin wax, vegetable oil, clarified butter, animal lard, etc., in place of beeswax. The construction and assembly tries to ensure a constant, steady draft of air to fuel the flames, and to minimise the formation of soot. Along with the design of the stove, the design of the fuel pellets (beeswax candles) too, will require careful attention. The wick height and thickness needs to fit within the given tolerances to ensure a laminar flame, thereby maximising the heat transfer and minimising the soot.

Product proposal

Composting toilet

Simplest of all the three product proposals, the composting toilet is a modest improvement over the current designs. The key focus areas were enforcing sanitation through behavioural abstraction, improving the portability of the unit, and hence enhancing its role in permaculture, and overcoming the logistical fallacies observed in an underprivileged region.

I envisioned two possible scenarios to integrate sanitary measures into the unit - antibacterial surfaces and ultraviolet irradiation. Neither are particularly complex. Although ultraviolet irradiation is more effective than the other, it presents severe health risks if implemented without rigorous precision. Finding the best alternative then, is still a matter of debate for me, as it would require a thoughtful insight of more than a designer. Also, just by increasing the number of composting toilet units available to a community can significantly reduce the spread of contagious diseases.

Ease of fabrication, assembly and maintenance was the next important issue. With this particular solution, I wanted to push for in-situ resource utilisation for production and maintenance. I soon realised that, due to mediocre raw materials and manufacturing infrastructure, I would need to compromise this constraint to standardise the quality of design. To strike a balance, care was taken to keep the prefabricated parts to a minimum. At the same time, I wanted to add a western feel to the whole experience, as it was something actively desired by the locals. Having finely produced prefabricated parts could perhaps incite this feel. To make the unit portable, the entire unit was built upon a stable and sturdy tripodal frame structure. The choice of materials was governed by the available in-situ resources to overcome the logistical shortcomings.

Product proposal

Water pump and purifier

The premise of this concept lies in utilising solar energy to pump turbid water from natural or man-made reservoirs, and then distilling it to provide potable water to the people. Standalone solar water pumps and solar water distillers already exist. But an efficient combination of the two is yet to be developed. Rather than employing electrical energy to drive the pump, I opted to utilise the incident solar energy, to convert available water into superheated steam, which in turn drives the steam engine that powers the pump to draw out more water from a reservoir - natural or man-made.

To improve the effectiveness of the system as a water purifier, filters will be deployed at three stages to counter impurities of various dimensions and types. The distilled water in then pumped into overhead or inflatable water tanks for distribution to the local populace. It is empirical that the design of these storage systems and other distribution channels synthesise with the solar water pump and purifier, to maintain a standard in water purity. As a means for distributing the water, a portable storage unit made of earthenware or clay, with support braces can be developed. Earthenware vessels act as natural coolants and maintain the water temperature at a level not conducive to bacterial growth. These vessels will provide a better alternative for water storage as compared to the plastic cans used by the locals today.

Unlike the majority of standalone solutions developed for making potable water accessible to the people in underprivileged regions today, the proposed solution takes a step in the direction of infrastructural system-design.