Saving
Lives by Preserving Forests Around the World!
Deforestation
Alternative
SUN OVENS INTERNATIONAL is
committed to providing an alternative to cooking with
wood and charcoal in deforested developing countries
that have been blessed with an abundance of sunshine.
SUN OVENS® can
have an enormous impact on the everyday life of millions
of people by:
1. Reducing the demand on forests.
2. Reducing health hazards.
3. Improving women's conditions
1. Forests are dwindling at a more rapid rate than
ever before. One third of humanity, over 2.4 billion
people, depends on wood and charcoal to prepare food
and the worldwide supply of wood is rapidly decreasing.
The demands of massive population growth and the inefficient
conversion of wood to charcoal have outstripped much
of the world's forest's ability to regenerate, creating
a phenomenon known as deforestation.
Deforestation is the gravest
environmental crisis facing the world today. Its far-reaching
effects include:
- The decreasing availability of firewood.
- Removing the trees from an area is to remove its
source of life. (Deforestation has left more than
25% of the continent of Africa almost useless for
cultivation.)
- Forests protect the soil against erosion and reduce
the risks of landslides and avalanches.
- Forests increase the rate that rainwater recharges
groundwater as well as control the rate that water
is released in watersheds, helping sustain freshwater
supplies.
- Forests affect the climate. The occurrence and
strength of floods and droughts increase when they
are eliminated.
- Forests are an important source of oxygen.
- Forests store large amounts of carbon that are
released when trees are cut or burned.
The use of SUN OVENS®
can eliminate the use of up to 70% of the wood which
is currently being consumed for household cooking.
2. The acrid smoke from cooking fires subjects women
and their children to levels of smoke that at times
are often 100 times above the international safety standards.
This results in 3 deaths a minute, totaling over 1.6
million deaths each year.
Bio-mass smoke has many harmful
effects which can cause or contribute to:
- Acute respiratory infections (Respiratory infections
are one of the world's leading child killers. A child
is two to three times more likely to contract acute
lower respiratory infections when exposed to smoke
than an adult.)
- Pneumonia
- Tuberculosis
- Lung Cancer
- Asthma
- Lower birth weights
- Cataract
- Nervous and muscular fatigue
The use of SUN OVENS®
reduces the amount of acrid smoke from cooking fires
by up to 70%.
3. In many deforested communities, the gathering of
wood is no longer a simple matter. As the supply of
wood decreases, women must travel great distances to
find wood. Many women in developing countries must spend
several hours each day collecting fuel-wood. As women
and girls travel increasing distances gathering firewood,
they are forced to expose themselves to greater risk
of beatings and rape.
Once wood is gathered, women spend many hours stirring
food. Food cooked in a SUN OVEN®
does not require stirring, freeing up time for income
generation and other more productive activities.
The use of SUN OVENS®
can dramatically improve the quality of life for women
and girls.
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