EDF Evaluation Question:
“Please estimate your project benefits for the plant and people, demonstrating its sustainable potential.”
and
“If a qualitative evaluation is possible, please prescribe the impact of your project, listing your sources and the evaluation tool applied.”
Answer: D.R.I.P.S. project is designed to reduce Water Footprint, Preserve Raw Materials, and add to Social Well-being.
One of the major difficulties with growing crops in arid environments is the scarcity of water. What water does naturally precipitate is often quickly evaporated before people or crops can make use of it. D.R.I.P.S. provides a way to collect that naturally precipitated water and transport it far enough underground to the roots of a plant that it will be below the evaporation level with minimal effort. As obtaining water in arid environments will continue to be a problem faced by those living there, D.R.I.P.S. would provide an on-going solution to an on-going problem.
Water is an important and useful raw material. By making the best use of the water naturally found in the environment, an individual would not have to transport and use as much water, reducing that individual’s water footprint.
Currently, there has not been an opportunity to calculate and record any quantitative data.
Background Research: IRD—”To halt land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa” article, posted on January of 2003 by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).
