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Too Wet to Cook. The Learning Continues!

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Whakataukī :  I ōr ea  te  tuatara  ka  puta  ki waho. Solve problems by continuing to try solutions. It's the Northern Hemisphere's Solar Cooking Awareness Week. Greetings to all of my solar cooking friends who live north of the Equator! Meanwhile, I have had about three sunny days in the last six weeks. It's our Southern Hemisphere winter, and as the climate changes, local winters are getting wetter. Needless to say, I haven't done a lot of solar cooking lately. However, I am still applying the same kind of thinking. Here's how: There's a kind of solar cooker called a box cooker . It's a bit like a house. It's hottest inside when its window is double-glazed and catches a lot of sun, when it has good insulation, and when thought is put into where dark colours can convert light into heat. I have decided to treat my house as a giant box cooker. While I cannot get outside, I am working away on keeping my house as warm as it can be during the winter months.

Worldwide Solar Cooking Awareness Weeks (June 23rd - 30th and Dec. 17th - 23rd)

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  Whakataukī:  Hāpaitia te ara tika pūmau ai te rangatiratanga mō ngā uri whakatipu. Foster the pathway of knowledge to strength, independence, and growth, for future generations. If you're keen on solar cooking, you probably think the upcoming Worldwide Solar Cooking Awareness Weeks are a good idea, because they are! However, if advocacy and awareness-raising is new territory for you, you may be left wondering where to start. Here are five suggestions, based on my advocacy experience in other fields: Based on your own reasons for solar-cooking, find your allies. Let them know your plans, and work with them for mutual gain if possible. Solar cooking for the environment? Be the solar snack provider at a climate strike, or work in with local environmental organisations. Solar cooking to eat outdoors during fire bans? Work with local firefighters to promote solar cooking AND fire prevention. Solar cooking to lower your electricity bill? Work in with your local budget advice NGO to run

My Solar Cooking Challenge

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Spiced Plums in the GoSun Sport Whakataukī: He kai kei aku ringa. I have food at my fingertips. Kia ora Koutou, I have dabbled with solar cooking over many years. I have had students make solar cookers, exploring the science and technology aspects. However, this year I have set myself a goal to cook at least seven things a week, to lower my carbon footprint. Seven things doesn't mean seven meals. Often it's just the rice or the potatoes. However, it can still be challenging. Some days are completely cloudy, so solar cooking is out of the question, but that happens everywhere. I just cook at least two things another day. The challenge for me is managing with the frequency of clouds passing over on what most Kiwis call a sunny day. We often get just 20 minutes of sunshine bright enough to cast a sharp-edged shadow before the next patch of cloud covers the sun. That means that most solar cookers stop cooking until the sun reappears. Currently, I have two solar cookers which keep