Build to be more sustainable

Four picks judged on what it took to make them, not only on what they save once running. Each one uses very little material, and three of them turn something you currently throw away into something you use.

• Vermicomposting (worm bin): Earthworms (typically Eisenia fetida, 'red wigglers') digest organic waste in a ventilated bin at ambient temperature, producing both finished compost and a sep — Why this one: Turns kitchen waste into soil in a box under the sink. No garden, no smell, and the worms do the work.
• DIY shade-sail window screen: Exterior shade cloth (voile d'ombrage) cut and hemmed to size, hung on hooks over windows/skylights/glazed doors, removable, reusable, far cheaper and structura — Why this one: The least material of anything here: a piece of fabric that stops the heat before it arrives, so no machine has to remove it.
• Pedal / hand-crank generator: Very low output, but a genuinely zero-fuel, zero-sun/wind-dependent backup for small emergency loads. — Why this one: Human power, built from a bicycle you already own. Honest about its scale: it charges things, it does not run a house.
• Urine-diverting dry toilet (UDDT): A dry toilet variant: still no water use and no blackwater stream, with urine separated from solids at the source to reduce odor and moisture and let each strea — Why this one: Separates urine from solids at the source, which is what makes the nutrients recoverable and the composting quick.

This is a short list, not the whole catalogue

These are a handful of picks to get started. The full set of options for every need is in the catalogue, compared on the same axes and filterable.

Browse every need