Apparently, the International Day of Women was March 8. Solar Coolers International is about 10 days late here, but they’ve put together a great webinar today that’s oriented toward the importance of solar coolers to women. I’m watching it now. There will be a recording. I’ll post the link later.
Quick review of advantages of solar cooking. The target audience in hot, sunny, third world countries is about 2 billion people.
1. Saves women and girls about two hours per day relating to gathering of wood — freeing them up to earn cash and and study
2. Saves women and children from smoke exposure (respiratory diseases, eye irritation — a lot of wood fire cooking occurs indoors, increasing exposure)
3. Reduces burn danger to women and children
4. Reduces women’s exposure to assault in dangerous areas (war zones, leaving refugee camps)
5. Reduced green house gases
6. Reduced deforestation and erosion
7. Reduced dependence on fossil fuels (tho most don’t even have access to these)
8. Improved access to pasteurized water
9. Reduced time supervising cooking
10. Saving money on buying fuel where wood is not available
11. Reduced conflict between refugees and native populations
