The United States Department of State recently announced the formation of THE GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN COOKSTOVES, an international partnership to help provide more efficient cookstoves to 100 million families worldwide by 2020. (Please click on the following links to learn more about The Global Alliance For Clean Cookstoves)
http://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/cleancookstoves/
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/09/147500.htm
This is a welcome move. More than 3 billion people still use the traditional 3-stone fire, or other inefficient cookstoves, for preparing meals. The negative impacts to people and the environment from using these inefficient stoves are numerous. It’s estimated that providing more efficient cookstoves to families could help reduce deforestation by up to 70%, reduce serious burns from the open fires to women and children, help reduce the incidence of hernias to men, women and children from carrying heavy loads of firewood, help reduce Global Warming by up to 18%, increase the monthly income of families and provide up to two days of free time each week for women to spend with their famlies or start a small business.
Unlike other widespread and planet wide challenges, the issue of providing clean cookstoves to families is comparatively simple. There are a variety of more efficient stoves already available, most at reasonable prices. For example, Envirofit, based in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and a leader in developing more efficient cookstoves, can offer stoves for prices as low as $20-$30 per stove. (See http://www.envirofit.org/ for information on Envirofit.)
There are challenges to be sure, including providing cookstoves that are culturally acceptable and ensuring that the costs to families are manageable, but more efficient stove designs already exist. We know they work and we know what they cost. All we have to do is take action to make it happen. Imagine making a donation of $20 that will change the lives of one family for many years into the future.
If you’ve ever wanted to make a difference, and didn’t know where to start, I invite you to visit our website at www.1stove.org to learn more about our plans to help provide clean cookstoves to families, initially, in Nicaragua in Central America.
1Stove applauds the work of The Global Alliance For Clean Cook Stoves and will be offering our support in any way possible.
Changing the World 1Stove at a time.
