Finally, Village Women Can Quit Smoking!
Dale Hampshire
Date Posted: June 7 2010.
Lafutialau Village, Vanuatu.
For women in rural Vanuatu, enduring the smoke of cooking fires has been just a fact of life. But now, with the advent of the “J” Stove - a simple, inexpensive, and smokeless wood stove – that is all about to change.
It’s smokeless. It conserves firewood (and can also use waste biomass such as coconut husks, twigs and dry leaves). It stands tall – allowing the user to stand while cooking instead of squatting, and bending over an open fire. It costs very little – about $25. And, it can be constructed (and repaired) using simple, non-electric hand tools.
The stove is shaped like a letter J, and is made of soil-cement bricks. The fuel feeds by gravity, so no more slowly feeding the fire by hand. A simple attachment turns the stove into a water purifier, or a saltwater-to-freshwater distillation unit. Another allows the user to dry fruit, or bake bread.
Say good-bye to watery eyes and smokers’ cough, ladies.
For more information about the J Stove, read about Smokeless Wood Stove in Technologies We Are Developing.