Since Practical Sustainability began, it has been completely powered by volunteer efforts. Because selling products or accepting corporate sponsorship for this website would taint this project beyond repair – I’ve started a sister company that will sell products under it’s own power. If successful – Solid Sustainability will donate 30% of profits towards Practical Sustainability…
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Aquaponic Test System (2014 – 2017) Design Review
This is the full overview of the Gravity-driven Aquaponic unit prototyping system that ran from 2014-2017 in Sydney, Australia. The system was designed to have zero high pressure plumbing joints or complex fittings, and only use very low flow rate feeds to multiple grow bed prototypes for testing. Every part of the system was modular,…
Gravity Header Manifold prototype #2 tutorial
This article covers the creation of the 2nd prototype Gravity Header Manifold – designed to route water for Aquaponics or Hydroponics, at low pressures. This will only be a brief tutorial, as Prototype #3 is better in many ways. It’s been a while since I’ve posted something, so here’s and old project! Prototype #3…
$8 DIY Compost bin prototype using recycled pallets
Here’s the tutorial on creating a cool looking, sustainable compost bin! Don’t be scared by the sloped sides and sweet angle, you won’t need to measure or cut any diagonals, this is quite easy to build. Check this YouTube video to see the results: A note on composting. There are two main types of composting,…
DIY basics tips
This article covers common DIY basics, so I don’t have to explain them in every tutorial! If you have questions about any steps shown in any tutorial on this site, leave a comment so I can explain further. Getting things square. Don’t own a large builders square? You’ll need to square up your timber using a measuring tape….
Simple Aquaponic biofilter prototype #1 & #2
This article covers our ultra-simple Biofilter design, D.I.Y instructions, plus a little bit of science to help you understand what Biofilters do, and why you need one. Biofilters are not essential for every Aquaponic system, as certain types of designs, or systems with a huge excess of grow media may not need them, even if they…
‘Bottle top’ your pipes! Sustainable pipe caps.
Pipe caps are common in Aquaponic and Hydroponics systems, and are used in almost every Practical Sustainability project that involves water. This article will cover our methods for crafting the cheapest practical pipe caps. Commercial pipe-caps Basically, your commercial cap options are either; A simple cheap cap that is glued on – but cannot be removed for cleaning…
New website!
We’re finally upgrading the website! The old website was functional, but it’s time to bring Practical Sustainability to mobile users and integrate social media functionality. Migrating the old content will take a while, but it’s high time for an upgrade. Stay tuned! -Chris