Tag Archives: solar power

Take Advantage of the Sun and Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies

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In honor of my birthday (yesterday), I’m going to tell you about one of my favorite activities I learned about during my job at a science museum. It involves two of my favorite things – the sun and chocolate – a perfect combination. Plus, it’s environmentally friendly – what could be better?

Materials:

  • Cardboard pizza box (the kind delivered pizza comes in)
  • Scissors
  • Aluminum foil
  • Clear tape
  • Plastic wrap or heavy-duty/freezer zip-lock bag
  • Black construction paper
  • Newspapers
  • Ruler or stick
  • Chocolate chip cookie dough

diy solar ovenTake the pizza box and cut a flap in the lid by cutting along three sides, leaving about an inch around the sides of the flap. Fold this flap up so that it stands up when the rest of the lid is closed.
Tightly wrap the aluminum foil around the flap, tape it to the back (outer side) of the flap. Make sure to cover the inner side of the flap with the foil to reflect the sun’s rays.

Place double layer of plastic wrap over the opening you made when you cut the flap in the lid, leaving about an inch of plastic overlapping the sides. Tape each side down securely, sealing out the air. If you use a plastic bag instead of plastic wrap, cut out a square big enough to cover the opening, and tape one layer over it. You want to create an airtight window for sunlight to enter into the box.

solar-oven-11

Line the bottom of the box with black construction paper, which will absorb the heat. The black surface is where you will set your food to cook. To insulate your oven so it holds in more heat, roll up sheets of newspaper and place them on the bottom of the box, forming a border around the cooking area, and tape them down. You should still be able to close the lid, but inside there is a seal so air cannot escape.

It is best to use your solar oven when the sun is high overhead – from 11 am to 3 pm. Take it outside to a sunny spot and adjust the flap until the most sunlight possible is reflecting off the aluminum foil and onto the plastic-covered window. Use a ruler or stick to prop the flap at the right angle. You can also angle the entire box by using a rolled up towel.

Now for the best part… place the cookie dough in the center of the black paper so the cookies can be seen through the hole made by the flap. Make sure the shadow from the flap is directly behind the box for the best result. Remember to move the box every couple of hours to keep up with the movement of the sun. After 4-6 hours, your cookies should be done and ready to eat, straight from your new solar oven.

You can also make toast by buttering a slice of bread, or sprinkling cheese on it, then letting the sun do the rest, or hot dogs, nachos. If you plan on using the solar oven more than once, place your food on a clear plastic or glass plate to prevent the black paper from getting dirty.

For more details (and recipes) on this activity, go to:

http://www.playsational.com/solar-cooking-cookies-solar-oven/ or

http://www.solarovens.org/news/cooks_illustrated-article.htm or

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/build-a-solar-oven-project/a/1237/

Energy-Saving Stove in MalawiVisit www.heifer.org/schools for more great lesson plans, experiments, and games. Or learn about how Heifer International project participants in Malawi are saving energy and resources with their own environmentally friendly cooking stoves.

Finding the Right Technology to Support Farmers

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Times are quickly changing – I know I don’t have to tell you that, but sometimes, as I travel to our different country programs and visit with donors and partner organizations, I’m still in awe of the amount of work I can accomplish on an electronic device a little over 4 x 2 inches. I can record video and pictures (and upload them to social media sites!), connect with my colleagues, read research articles and engage in discussions about new innovations to help end hunger and poverty.

Technology continues to evolve and has begun to play an important role in agroecology. So how can the right technology benefit the small-scale farmers with whom we work?

For starters, as I just mentioned, the power of cell phones is incredible. More and more farmers around the world have cell phones, putting important information and connectivity at their fingertips. Farmers can exchange texts regarding the different prices for crops and can price their own produce accordingly. Can you picture the impact that this will have on women? For one thing, the possibility of improved literacy. Yes, because like or not, we are becoming more reliant on receiving our information electronically (isn’t that right blog readers?). In fact, this is already happening, and its making a difference in the increased income of these farmers.

Photograph by Dero Sanford, courtesy of Heifer International

At Heifer, we are committed to helping farmers secure a sustainable livelihood, and with that we also commit to finding the right technology to help them achieve their goals.

Energy poverty plays a significant role in keeping rural families poor. To overcome this particular poverty, some of our projects are looking into the power of solar energy. I witnessed this first hand in Haiti, where our participants are using solar energy in their fishing hatcheries.

We still have a lot to learn, and we don’t have all the answers, but that is why we commit to finding and working with people and organizations that are experts where we are not. It is working together that we will achieve Heifer’s mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth.

I am very optimistic that, by harnessing the right technology appropriately, we will have a great impact in eradicating hunger and poverty – and sooner than we think.