Low-Tech Solutions Address High-Tech Problems

Appropriate technology movement advocates for low-tech solutions to problems often approached with high-tech complexity. Simple, maintainable technologies often serve needs better than sophisticated alternatives.

Examples include bicycle-powered tools, passive solar design, rainwater harvesting, and manual systems. These technologies work without electricity, internet connectivity, or specialized expertise.

The approach emphasizes local materials, traditional knowledge, and community self-reliance. Solutions can be maintained and repaired locally without dependence on global supply chains.

Sustainability comes not from high efficiency but from durability, repairability, and local control. Technologies last generations and can be fixed with available materials and knowledge.

The movement challenges assumptions that newer and more complex necessarily means better. Sometimes old ways work better for local contexts and needs.