permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>]

Friends who worked for the Peace Corps in Africa (I forget just where) 
brought simple mylar and cardboard solar cookers to several villages and 
taught people how to use them. They came back a year later and couldn't 
find any of the cookers, and everyone still cooked with wood. Finally 
one of the locals, who'd been reluctant to hurt their feelings, pointed 
out the shiny jewelry and the bits of mirror embroidered into much of 
the clothing. They'd found a more culturally appropriate use for the 
reflectors.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com



Scott Pittman wrote:

> While solar ovens are a good and proven technology I have yet to convince
> any culture (including our own) to use them instead of wood or manure.