Bamboo is a highly versatile material, capable of being made into anything. What if I told you that it’s being used to help clear mine fields? You probably wouldn’t believe me, but it’s so true!!

This is a wind powered sphere made out of bamboo and biodegradable plastic. It’s sole purpose is to clear land mines in past and present war zones. This design will literally save thousands of lives each year, and yet it is such a simple and cost effective way of clearing mine fields. The name of this product is called “Mine Kafon” and is the brain child of Massoud Hassani, who grew up in the northern part of Kabul, so he knows a thing or two about living amongst landmines.

It’s estimated that there have been 110 million mines laid across the earth since 1960 and between 15k and 20k people die each year from landmines. This is an incredible statistic!! Most of the victims are women and children, not soldiers, who were the intended target of the mines. The removal of mines can cost as much as $200 per mine, so a product like the Mine Kafon could reduce the cost of clearance and save thousands of lives each year.

In Massound Hassani’s country of Afghanistan, it is estimated that there is 10 million land mines contaminating more than 200 square miles of land.

Hassani set about designing a product to solve the problem of landmine removal. He designed and built the Kafon by hand. Its a wind-powered ball that is heavy enough to trigger mines to explode as it rolls across the ground.

The Mine Kafon costs just $50 and looks like it should be in an art gallery than a mine-field. In the center of the Kafon is a 37lb iron casing which is surrounded by loads and loads of bamboo legs that each have a round plastic “foot” at their tip. There is a GPS unit in the center of the ball which helps to map where it has been – and in theory cleared of mines.

The design is still in its development stages, but I’m sure Hassani will develop a final concept that is capable of withstanding hundreds of mine blasts at a time. At the moment, it’s looking a bit like this when it rolls over a mine.