It’s Time to Learn About Village Aquaponics

Growing tools from ECOLIFE provide key for meeting global food demands

Here is a company providing a sustainable food producing system that more people in the world need to understand: aquaponics, the science of raising vegetables and fish in a closed re-circulating system. ECOLIFE is offering the ECO-Cycle aquaponics kit to all potential aquaponics gardeners for a reasonable price of $195.

There are plenty of good reasons to look at aquaponics, especially where food is scarce:

Increases efficiency and production.
Conserves land and water resources.
Can produce 70 lbs of greens for every 1 lb of fish.
Uses 10 percent of the land and water required for traditional agriculture.

How are such system being used? Here’s what ECOLIFE writes on its website:

“Aquaponics is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.  ECOLIFE has installed an aquaponics system at our San Diego office with the specific goals of preparing a manual and techniques for managing an aquaponics system, teaching aquaponic workshops to the San Diego community as a sustainable living solution, and developing a system for use abroad that will provide an alternative food source for communities in Bwindi, Uganda.

“Water is cycled between the fish tanks and vegetable growing areas, and fish waste acts as a natural fertilizer for the crops.  With near zero environmental impact, these systems can be used to produce high-quality hormone free fish and a wide variety of organic vegetables, all without the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. They are efficient and water-wise, using 90% less water than conventional vegetable gardens.  Following a few basic design tenets, these versatile systems may be constructed to fit any usable indoor or outdoor space, using a variety of commonly available materials.  This adds up to a very accessible method of local food production and one that addresses many pressing social and environmental issues.

“With increasing global food demands, the strain on natural resources and scarcity of clean drinking water, aquaponics can be part of the solution.  There is a growing awareness that it makes sense to know how our food is produced, to buy locally grown food, or to grow your own.  Small scale aquaponics systems can be set up almost anywhere to provide fish and vegetables for consumption, reducing the need to import these items from other parts of the world.  Most aquaponics systems require very little energy to run and can be solar powered, which could greatly reduce fuel consumption and the overall carbon footprint of a community.”

Here’s what this kit includes for converting a 20-gallon aquarium into a nutritious garden:

(1) Grow tray
(1) Grow tray pot-holder
(1) Grow tray filter cover
(1) Grow tray door
(1) Pre-filter sponge
(1) Bio-filter brick
(13) Net pots
(2) Liters of expanded clay pellets
(1) 1/2″ Fill fitting
(1) 3/4″ Drain fitting
(1) Micro-Jet™ water pump
(1) 12” Pump hose
(1) Built-in 7 watt bright LED tank light
(1) LED 12v – 24v power supply
(1) LED On/Off switch
(1) Double 24″ high-output T5 fluorescent grow light fixture
(1) Adjustable grow light hanging assembly

 If you’d like to purchase an ECO-Cycle Aquaponics kit, please use the following form. Kits are $195 each – introductory pricing for 2 weeks only – (plus s/h and CA sales tax for shipments inside the state). Your total below is all-inclusive.

Source: ECOLIFE

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