LETS GET BAKED!!!

Sit back.. relax.. just do nothing, then enjoy some munchies!!

In the summer months the midday heat beats down on us, the sun reaching its highest point in the sky, the rays at their strongest, it is time to find some shade, kick back and chill out!

High temperatures can force us into a state of lethargy, the suns rays can be too powerful for our skin at certain times but we can still use all that light and heat for our benefit.   You can make it work for you.

No, nothing as fancy as Photo Voltaic panels.  In fact we can catch and use the sunlight with no more then an arts and craft kit.

Solar Cookers!!! By catching the suns rays on reflective surfaces and redirecting them into a central point, temperatures can reach over 300 degrees on a clear sunny day. 

Fires are not permitted in the camping areas of many festival and camping areas; a very necessary safety precaution taken during summer months.  If festivalling is your escape to nature this summer and you are feeling inspired to be creative, experimental and sustainable maybe this could be for you.

There are 3 different types of solar cookers

1) The Jar

Find an old coffee jar, or similar, paint it black, screw the lid on tight and leave it sitting in direct sunlight in 30+ degrees.  Be sure to wear gloves when you pick it up, you can boil water, cook rice, heat up tinned goods.  Full Survival style!

2) The Box

-2 cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, a piece of glass or plastic, tape measurer, razor knife, school glue, black paint, duct tape and newspaper....follow the instructions below and get cooking!
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Simple-Cardboard-Solar-Oven/

3) The Parabolic

…or the SpaceShip!  This incredible contraption is designed in a bowl shape to redirect the maximum number of rays concentrated to a central point, where you can suspend cooking pots.  They can reach up to 600 degrees centigrade!  The Parabolic Oven is highly effective, but potentially dangerous.  When not in use, must be covered!

Tribal African women benefiting from Solar Cooker.
https://www.solarcookers.org/what/projects/

These are fun and wacky ideas to some degree but in certain areas of our planet Solar Cookers could be a simple solution for many communities and tribes.  To make fire to cook, you need wood.  Huge parts of the globe are under threat of desertification and trees can’t be relied upon solely for rural fuel.

Many tribes people are effected by the smoke inhalation from indoor fires.  Women especially who spend many hours inside, cooking, tending to the fire.  Thick black smoke circulates most hours of the day.  Solar Cooking won't damage lungs and eyes, it is far more environmentally sound and also more time and cost effective

Check out more information on charities and organisations already out there sharing this information, with positive responses; and hopefully gaining a much needed step closer towards empower for women in rural agriculture.

Lilly x