Our Projects
Eco-Friendly Cooking Briquettes
One of our most exciting and important environmental projects is teaching local and rural villagers to produce an extremely economical and highly efficient alternative fuel source for cooking that replaces expensive charcoal and the rampant deforestation resulting from its production. Our innovative method involves providing a cheap, simple, hand-operated compression molding device that produces hundreds of briquettes in a day from agricultural vegetation waste. The solid briquettes can be used communally and/or sold for profit as an affordable price well below that of wood charcoal. We also provide instructions for making inexpensive, fuel-efficient briquette burners from cement or local clays for communal use or sale.
Eco-Friendly Designer Papers
Paper-making has traditionally contributed to the process of worldwide deforestation. A fundamental part of WHAT’s philosophy is to create papers that do not do this. Our environmentally sound naturalistic solution avoids the use of caustic chemical bleaches or dyes and, instead utilizes recycled paper and cloth, natural fibers from common plants that are in abundant supply, and the strength of the blazing tropical sun. Our traditional ingredients include: wild fig, baobob and mulberry bark (also known as African Kozo), banana (abaca), sisal, water hyacinth, river reeds (cattail and papyrus), and savanna grasses.
The end-products are our unique line of papers that is exciting artists, designers, and decorators everywhere. They make exceptional decorative elements, collages, decoupage pieces, and fabulous gift wrappings.
The various recycled papers, cloth, and plant ingredients are transported to the mill in Arusha where they are sorted into the proper combinations for the paper-making process. Once selected, the papers and natural fibers are placed into a huge beater and water is added. The fibers are beaten down during this phase until they form a pulp of various ingredients. The pulp is then removed from the machine and the “soup” is drained of excess water by pressing the pulp by hand through a framed mesh mold covered with cloth. When the water is finally removed, the mold is then hung out to dry in the African sun. Once dried, the paper is peeled off from the cloth and stacked in a cool, dry place.
One of our most exciting and important environmental projects is teaching local and rural villagers to produce an extremely economical and highly efficient alternative fuel source for cooking that replaces expensive charcoal and the rampant deforestation resulting from its production. Our innovative method involves providing a cheap, simple, hand-operated compression molding device that produces hundreds of briquettes in a day from agricultural vegetation waste. The solid briquettes can be used communally and/or sold for profit as an affordable price well below that of wood charcoal. We also provide instructions for making inexpensive, fuel-efficient briquette burners from cement or local clays for communal use or sale.
Eco-Friendly Designer Papers
Paper-making has traditionally contributed to the process of worldwide deforestation. A fundamental part of WHAT’s philosophy is to create papers that do not do this. Our environmentally sound naturalistic solution avoids the use of caustic chemical bleaches or dyes and, instead utilizes recycled paper and cloth, natural fibers from common plants that are in abundant supply, and the strength of the blazing tropical sun. Our traditional ingredients include: wild fig, baobob and mulberry bark (also known as African Kozo), banana (abaca), sisal, water hyacinth, river reeds (cattail and papyrus), and savanna grasses.
The end-products are our unique line of papers that is exciting artists, designers, and decorators everywhere. They make exceptional decorative elements, collages, decoupage pieces, and fabulous gift wrappings.
The various recycled papers, cloth, and plant ingredients are transported to the mill in Arusha where they are sorted into the proper combinations for the paper-making process. Once selected, the papers and natural fibers are placed into a huge beater and water is added. The fibers are beaten down during this phase until they form a pulp of various ingredients. The pulp is then removed from the machine and the “soup” is drained of excess water by pressing the pulp by hand through a framed mesh mold covered with cloth. When the water is finally removed, the mold is then hung out to dry in the African sun. Once dried, the paper is peeled off from the cloth and stacked in a cool, dry place.