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Environment

Delivering Wind Power to Produce Water

Posted: 11/1/2011

Maryknoll's Father Ohmann brings water to Tanzania. Photo: S. Sprague.

(NewsUSA) - Open a faucet, and fresh water will quench thirst. Turn a handle, and a shower will invigorate a person. But what if the tap was dry, and bringing water home were your job?

Almost one billion people around the world live this way. One in eight people does not have immediate access to clean water, or "blue gold," and lugging it home for miles often is the only option.

Within the next 10-20 years, worldwide demand for fresh water could outstrip supply by 20 percent. It soon could cost more than oil.

Growing up in Greenwald, Minnesota, Daniel Ohmann was acquainted with pumping water. Windmills were found on most farms. His father installed many windmills to pump water before electricity reached the area.

Years later, as a Maryknoll priest in Tanzania, Father Ohmann thought about the windmills as women carried five-gallon water buckets on their heads six miles from a river. Drought is common in Africa. Villagers often can be seen scooping murky water from makeshift wells in scorched riverbeds.

"You don't need to be here long to see that water is the number-one need in this part of Africa," said Father Ohmann. The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers is the overseas mission society of the U.S. Catholic Church founded during 1911.

When Minnesota farmers converted to electricity, many donated their windmills to Father Ohmann. Others were purchased from Nebraska, Australia and South Africa to support Tanzania's initiative to ensure all homes had access to water. Government inefficiencies, though, eventually closed the windmills for 15 years.

Father Ohmann was committed to get them pumping again, and more were installed. Twenty windmills now provide water to 18 villages. Each fills a 2,000-gallon tank, and water can be used to irrigate gardens and orchards. A fully installed system today costs about $20,000.

"People enjoy better health in the villages served by clean water," said Father Ohmann. "Diarrhea and cholera, once common, are now rare."

For more information about the work of Maryknoll missioners such as Father Ohmann, visit http://www.maryknollsociety.org. Follow Maryknoll on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MaryknollNews) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/maryknollsociety).

Environment

Junk Removal Company Targets Greener Techniques

Posted: 11/1/2011

1-800-GOT-JUNK? is taking the initiative for more environmentally friendly junk removal.

(NewsUSA) - Stuff happens. We all have it. Too much of it in fact, if you believe the late George Carlin.

It starts slowly (at first), but over time seems to manifest into unmanageable (and sometimes unfathomable) piles to the point that you need more than good friends, a pick-up truck and a free weekend.

Enter 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. The Vancouver-based franchise success story has built its 22-year reputation on not only giving people their space back, but doing so in such a way that the carbon footprint left on Mother Earth is light -- an important point for folks who need the room but not the guilt.

"At 1-800-GOT-JUNK? we've found that many customers assume their junk will wind up in the landfill, which is not always the case at all," said Brian Scudamore, founder and chief executive officer.

In fact, Scudamore prides himself on the fact that more than 60 percent of customers' junk doesn't see the light of the local dump, but rather gets diverted to recycling centers, second-hand stores and charitable organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity that will hand-sort the junk for resell. There are even some places where the junk is converted into renewable energy sources. Scudamore hopes to raise this percentage to 75 percent by 2014.

"We've really stepped up our focus on environmental sustainability in response to the demands of our customers," said Scudamore. "For every job we do, we have the tracking and reporting tools to share with customers exactly what we collect and how we dispose of it," he added.

To make people feel good about where their "stuff" is going, Scudamore uses an in-field Environmental Tracking System that allows franchise partners to educate the customer about what happens to their junk once it's taken away.

"Junk removal is a competitive business, and in order to maintain our advantage, we have to implement environmental best practices, then continue to raise the bar," he said.

For more information about 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and its franchise opportunities, visit www.1800gotjunk.com/ca_en/franchise/franchise_stage_1.aspx.

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