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LOW←TECH MAGAZINE

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High-tech Problems

Technology has become the idol of our society, but technological progress is—more often than not—aimed at solving problems caused by earlier technical inventions.

Thematic Book Series: How to Build a Low-tech Internet?

We have launched the first volume in a new series of books opening up Low-tech Magazine’s archive by theme.

Can We Make Bicycles Sustainable Again?

Cycling is the most sustainable form of transportation, but the bicycle is becoming increasingly damaging to the environment. The energy and material used for its production go up while its life expectancy decreases.

How Sustainable is High-tech Health Care?

Can we make modern health care carbon-neutral and maintain the levels of care, pain relief, and longevity that we have come to take for granted?

Vertical Farming Does not Save Space

If the electricity for a vertical farm is supplied by solar panels, the energy production takes up at least as much space as the vertical farm saves.

How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops

As a freelance journalist – or an office worker if you wish – I have always believed that I should regularly buy a new laptop. But older machines offer more quality for much less money.

The Solar Powered Website in Spanish, French, and Other Languages

During the last months we have been working on transforming Low-tech Magazine into a multilingual publication.

The Printed Website: Second Volume Out Now

The second volume features a third of the web articles published in the earlier years, carefully selected for their continued relevance and interest today.

How to Make Wind Power Sustainable Again

If we build them out of wood, large wind turbines could become a textbook example of the circular economy.

How Circular is the Circular Economy?

As long as we keep accumulating raw materials, the closing of the material life cycle remains an illusion, even for materials that are, in principle, recyclable.

We Can't Do It Ourselves

How to live a more sustainable life? By placing responsibility squarely on the individual, attention is deflected away from the many institutions involved in structuring possible courses of action.

Bedazzled by Energy Efficiency

To focus on energy efficiency is to make present ways of life non-negotiable.

How (Not) to Run a Modern Society on Solar and Wind Power Alone

Matching supply to demand at all times makes renewable power production a complex, slow, expensive and unsustainable undertaking.