It’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the right time of year to cook up a brew of solar tea. Remember, your kettle is one of the biggest energy vampire gadgets you’ve probably got, so change the way you make your tea this summer? You’ve heard of slow food, this is slow tea.
Step 1: You’ll need a big jar or wide mouthed bottle.
Step 2: You can make teas with all sorts of herbs, whatever you have on hand. I used 4 rooibos teabags and 2 springs of fresh mint. Bung them into the jar and fill with cool filtered or tap water.
Step 3: Place the jar in full sun and leave for as many hours as you can wait.
Step 4: Strain and drink warm, or chill for iced tea. Sweeten with honey if desired.
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Ever wondered what the future of green looks like? Insider Trends has, and it’s set up an event to find out the answer. It’s called ‘Interesting Things For Interesting People: The Future of Green’, and it’ll be a fast, furious ‘speed presentation’ night.
In central London on the evening of Tuesday 27th October, 8 green leaders will present their view on the future of their industry. To those in the know, it’s quite a star-studded occasion. Green Tomato Cars will give their view on the future of sustainable transport, Ed Gillespie from Futerra will speak about ethical communication and consumer attitudes, and Terra Plana will comment on how its ethical footwear will evolve. Sam Kimmins, Sustainability Adviser at Forum for the Future, will give his take on the future of sustainable construction. Other presentations will be from Germination (a cutting-edge event company furthering social progress), innovative web community Project Dirt, The Hub (a shared workspace concept for social entrepreneurs) and sustainable lifestyle magazine Sublime.
Each of the 8 presentations will last no more than 8 minutes, and to keep things highly visual, no more than 5 words per slide are allowed. It means that 80% of the ideas in a normal presentation can be communicated in 20% of the time. The evening will be held at St Giles Cripplegate Church in Barbican, EC2. Further adding to the creative spirit, guests are invited to help reduce waste and bring their own reusable vessels for wine.
Inspiration and insight won’t just come from the presenting businesses either. Up to 250 keen, green thinkers and doers are expected to attend, so there’ll be food for thought in the conversations and networking, too.
Want to know more and book your ticket? Here are the details you need to know:
When: Tuesday 27th October
Start time: 6.30pm for a 7pm start (drinks will be available – you’re encouraged to bring your own cup for extra green points!)
Where: St Giles Cripplegate Church, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8DA (for map click here)
Tickets are limited, costing £9.50 in advance or £15 on the door.
You can buy your ticket here: http://futureofgreen.eventbrite.com
To find out more, click on http://www.insider-worldwide.com/trend-evening-green-futures/
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When I heard about cooking in a hot box on Pia Taylor’s Mother City Living blog last year, I knew straight away that I had to have one. I’m always looking for ways to reduce my energy usage, so a hot box seemed a perfect addition to my energy saving toolbox. I did a bit of research into where to buy a hot box, and settled on buying a Salathiso hot box, because the sales of these particular hot boxes don’t line the pockets of any business owner, but have brought hope and light into the lives of unemployed single mothers in Kayamandi (Stellenbosch, South Africa) by allowing them to generate a small income for themselves.
Salathiso hot boxes are simply two polystyrene-filled cushions in beautiful Shweshwe fabric that can be placed in a cardboard box for insulation, but I’ve been using my hot box without the cardboard box and it works pretty well. During winter I plan to use a cardboard box for extra insulation.
Here’s how to use a hot box:
Once you’ve brought your pot of food to the boil, remove it from the heat source and place it (still in the pot) in the bottom half of the hot box (I put a folded piece of newspaper under the pot for extra insulation and to soak up spills should they happen). Then fit the top cushion snugly on top. You can now leave your food safely cooking away while you get on with your day.
I’ve made a series of very successful dishes with my hot box over the past few months including stews, savoury mince and curries, and my absolute favourite thing to cook in the hot box is rice, because, for the first time in my life, now I too can cook rice perfectly.
It’s been easy to adapt my usual recipes for use in the hot box, all you need to do is reduce the amount of cooking liquid (because less is lost through evaporation in a hot box than on the stove), and leave the food to cook in the hot box for a longer period than you would do on the stove. For example I’ve found that 2-3 hours makes for perfect rice, while stew, soups and curries need between 6 and 12 hours for optimal results.
If you’d prefer to get started with some tried and tested recipes, check out this link (pdf).
In South Africa:
Salathiso hot boxes are available in Cape Town from Wendy Walton who is based in Diep River. You can contact her at waltfam@telkomsa.net or on 021 712 6424 (please tell Wendy I sent you). A hot box from Salathiso will set you back R140, but if used often will save you far more than that in electricity in the long run. (BTW these are still cheaper than other locally available hot boxes.)
In the UK & US:
Hot boxes (or hay boxes as they’re also known) don’t seem to be available for sale in the UK or US. So how about making your own. Try the links below for instructions:
Mother Earth News
The Prepared Home
Instructables
Selfsufficientish
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