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Easy-to make Cardboard Solar Cooker. Solar box cookers have been popular with campers and back-to-the-landers for decades. The Kyoto Box solar cooker, an updated design, has just won first place in the Financial Times Climate Change Challenge. According to an article in Green Futures magazine, “The Kyoto Box uses the greenhouse effect to boil and bake. This solar cooker consists of two boxes, one inside the other, with an acrylic cover, which lets the sun’s power in and traps it.

Black paint on the inner box and silver foil on the outer help concentrate the heat, while a layer of straw or newspaper between the two provides insulation. In many parts of the world, wood for cooking fires is in extremely short supply and whole landscapes have been ravaged due to the need for firewood. Does this new solar cooker really work any better than earlier designs?

We invite you to build the Kyoto Box solar cooker and tell us how it worked. Easy-to-make Solar Cooker. When the sun is shining, we like to use our homemade solar oven for cooking and baking. The cost of materials for our solar cooker was about $5, and it took about an hour to construct. All you need is some cardboard, duct tape, glue, and aluminum foil. You can find the instructions to Build Your Own Solar Oven at re-energy.ca. Cooking time is a little longer than in the kitchen oven. We usually bake a casserole dinner in a brown glass casserole dish. Susan and Jim Brown Bethlehem, PA For an easy, award-winning and innovative solar cooker design, check out the Easy-to-make Cardboard Solar Cooker. — MOTHER EARTH NEWS. Wilderness Survival Primative Skills. Wild Cards: Edible Wild Foods. How To Make An MRE. The Meal, Ready-to-Eat — commonly known as the MRE — is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the United States military for its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available.

The MRE replaced the canned MCI or Meal, Combat, Individual rations in 1981 and is the intended successor to the lighter LRP ration developed by theUnited States Army for Special Forces and Ranger patrol units in Vietnam. Each meal provides about 1,200 Calories and has a shelf life of three years (depending on storage conditions). Each MRE weighs 510 to 740 grams (18 to 26 oz), depending on the menu. Since MREs contain water, they weigh more than freeze-dried meals providing equivalent calories. The companies that produce the military MREs are not allowed to sell them to the general public. However, they can still be found for sale by individuals. General contents may include: How does an MRE heater work?