Real Offsets, Real People, Real Climate Solutions

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Ripple Africa’s founders didn’t start the project just to sell carbon offsets but wanted to improve the lives of local people in Malawi and protect the remaining forests.

It is one thing to provide a householder with a cookstove and hope they will use it but our experience has shown that long-term commitment and building a relationship with the communities is key to a project being successful. Ripple Africa doesn’t build the stove and walk away but works with households to deliver the long-term education which will ensure the stove will be used for life.

We are proud that more than 250,000 people have their food cooked every day on our Changu Changu Moto fuel-efficient cookstove in Nkhata Bay District. This saves 80,000 bundles of wood every week. This new cooking technology is becoming a way of life and now communities in neighbouring Districts want to benefit from this improved cooking method which makes their lives easier and reduces deforestation.

The other aim was to help fund our other projects so that we can provide the long-term commitment that is needed to make a positive and lasting difference. We reinvest the carbon offsetting income to build more cookstoves, plant trees and conserve existing forests.  

So offsetting your unavoidable emissions through our cookstove project is a great solution which benefits the environment and families in Malawi. A great reason to offset your carbon footprint with us. Offset with us today.

If you are not already actively trying to reduce your carbon footprint, there are a number of simple goals you can set yourself. These could include cycling to work instead of driving, sourcing locally grown foods, eating less meat, changing to a renewable energy supplier and flying less.

All of these achievable lifestyle changes are really important to caring for our planet. However, for the majority of us living in the modern world, we will always have unavoidable carbon emissions. Matching your lifestyle to one of our carbon offsetting plans helps protect our planet today and for the future. 

Offset with us to be part of our Climate Crew and join the many other individuals and corporates that offset their carbon emissions with us.

Ripple Africa is helping local communities to build fuel-efficient cookstoves in Malawi, Africa. Ripple Africa’s fuel-efficient cookstove is called the “Changu Changu Moto” which means “Fast Fast Fire” in Chichewa. The Changu Changu Moto:

• reduces household wood use from three bundles of wood per week to just one
• contains the fire within the cookstove at the side of the kitchen, reducing injuries from burns
• has a double burner so that two pots can be cooked simultaneously , saving time
• produces substantially less smoke than the traditional three-stone fire, reducing coughing and breathing problems and,
• is LOVED by all the women who use it!

The Changu Changu Moto is a sustainable and locally produced fuel-efficient cookstove made out of just 26 mud bricks and a mud mortar mix. The householder is empowered to build and maintain their cookstove, making this project really sustainable.

Ripple Africa has worked with several types of fuel-efficient cookstoves over the years; however, we firmly believe the Changu Changu Moto is the most realistic and aptly suited fuel-efficient cookstove design for rural Africa we have ever seen.

The project aims are as follows:

• Tackling deforestation in Malawi – Around 95% of families in Malawi depend on wood for cooking and millions of trees are cut down every year for use on inefficient traditional three-stone open fires. This Changu Changu Moto project has resulted in 250,000 fewer bundles of firewood being needed EVERY WEEK, reducing household wood use by 67%.
• Improving the health of women and children – According to the World Health Organisation (2018) close to four million people die prematurely each year from illness attributable to smoke inhalation from inefficient cooking methods. The Changu Changu Moto produces less smoke, reducing smoke inhalation by people cooking or sitting around the fire. Also in Malawi, women traditionally prepare the food with their children playing near them. Sixty percent of households consulted by Ripple Africa reported that a member of their family had sustained serious burns from a traditional three-stone cooking fire. The Changu Changu Moto fire is contained, greatly reducing the risk of burns while cooking.
• Sustainability – The stoves are made of a simple mud mortar mix and can be easily repaired by householders when broken. Ripple Africa doesn’t build the stove and walk away but works with households to deliver the long-term education which will ensure the stove will be used for life.
• Saving labour – For women who collect wood, the stove can mean a saving of up to 10 hours each week. The stoves also cook faster (Changu Changu Moto actually means Fast Fast Fire in Chichewa), and the double burner means food is ready in half the time. This frees up time which women can spend on other activities.
• Saving money – In many parts of Malawi, people cut down trees from existing forests near their home. However, in urban or heavily deforested rural areas, families have to buy their fuel for cooking. Wood is extremely expensive and makes up a huge proportion of a family’s expenditure, and a 67% saving in money spent on wood is particularly important to poor families.
• Educating families about sustainable living – In addition to teaching people how to use the fuel-efficient cookstoves, much time is spent on discussing why people should use them. Users learn about the problems of deforestation, and the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly living solutions. This is the key to ensuring the long term success of the project.

You have a carbon footprint which is based on the greenhouse gases GHG – carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) that are produced as a result of your activities.

The different Greenhouse Gases have different warming potentials, this is where it gets complicated. For example, 1kg of methane causes 25 times more warming over a 100 year period compared to 1kg of CO₂, and so methane has a Global Warming Potential of 25.

A simple way of estimating your carbon footprint is to work out your utility usage, electricity, gas and water, your transport usage and your flights over a year. These are multiplied by a relevant greenhouse gas conversion factor to provide your carbon footprint – carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e).

If you would like to work out your own carbon footprint, here is a simple spreadsheet to help you do just that: Personal Carbon Calculator