Each month, environmental initiatives will be featured on First Here, Then Everywhere. These initiatives illustrate the actions that are being taken around the world to mitigate global warming.
CURRENT INITIATIVE:
RAINWATER FOR HUMANITY
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Rainwater for Humanity harvests rain to improve community health and empower women in the Kuttanad region of Kerala, India.
Led by students at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design, R4H plans to provide affordable rainwater harvesting tanks and filters to the people of Kuttanad by subsidizing the cost and offering micro-loans to villagers across the region. Eighty percent of the 700,000 citizens of Kuttanad, a region of coastal Kerala State in India, lack affordable, pure water.
The group is currently optimizing the design of the traditional system to lower costs, incorporate local materials, and modify the tanks for the region’s soil conditions and climate. Meanwhile, they educate the users on proper maintenance of the tanks, ways to prevent water-borne diseases, and how to safeguard local water resources. Each structure will supply a family with enough water for drinking and cooking needs throughout an entire year, eliminating disease and saving money.
They have beugn efforts in the village of Achinakom, near the town of Kumarakom. This rainwater harvesting structure, situated in an abandoned canal, supplies drinking and cooking water for over eighty villagers.
For more information about R4H, ways to get involved, or how to make a donation, please email info@rainwaterforhumanity.org or visit www.rainwaterforhumanity.org.
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PAST INITIATIVES
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