3 billion people around the world cook, eat, sleep, and work around their indoor fires and old cookstoves every day. The toxic exhaust leads to more than 1.9 million premature deaths annually, and is the 4th worst health risk factor in developing countries.

THE FACTS

Health: Toxic indoor smoke leads to low birth weights, pneumonia in young children, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, cataracts, and lower respiratory infections. 1.9 million deaths every year are attributed to the toxic smoke from indoor fires and old cookstoves.

Children: Children are exposed to dangers while they're gathering firewood and other biofuels used for the old cookstoves and indoor fires. Their futures are also affected as children spend hours gathering biofuels instead of dedicating that time to their education.

Poverty: Poverty is both a cause and an effect of indoor fires and old cookstoves. Without the resources to obtain a cleaner and more efficient stove, families resort to hazardous stoves and fires. The use of old cookstoves and fires also inhibits economic development for households.

Women: Women are constantly exposed to the toxic gases from indoor fires and old cookstoves as they are usually the ones cooking and staying at home in most developing countries. This dramatically increases their risk of illness. Girls and young women are also vulnerable to physical assaults while gathering biofuels.

Environment: Gathering biofuels, generally firewood, leads to deforestation and climate change regionally and globally with the black carbon and methane emissions.

PROJECT COOKSTOVE SOLUTIONS
AND THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)

Can our cookstoves really solve the following problems? 1.9 million deaths every year, health diseases caused by smoke inhalation, poverty, gender inequality, child labor, deforestation, climate change, and pollution. We say yes, they can. These solutions overlap with our commitment to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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OUR PROCESS

We extensively researched our beneficiary families. With the help of the Solola department of government, we were able to contact 1,000 families who needed improved cookstoves. All of our families have at least seven members in their family and make less than $3.00 USD a day. Most of our beneficiary families are currently living in one-room homes with dirt floors and little more than a single bed for the entire family to share. To encourage families to make healthy choices and take pride in their new stove, Project Cookstoves also provides health seminars and education programs, and families actively participate in the construction of their new stove.

Providing a family with a new cookstove and health seminars costs only $400. Donate to a family’s cookstove and ignite healthy change today.