Low Cost Cooking Options in Nepal

Homemade rocket stoves like this can cook food with twigs and other plant debris.
Homemade rocket stoves like this can cook food with twigs and other plant debris.

“Due to the fuel crisis in Nepal now we don’t get gas for cooking. I just wanted to ask you if you have some idea regarding building a solar cooker. I did some search in google but I could not come up with a concrete idea. And yeah I have a methane gas chamber in my house. Do you have some idea to improve that as well because its not enough to cook 2 meals. Thank you.” Prateek

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First Steps Himalaya planning to rebuild schools in rural Sindhupalchok

“First Steps Himalaya constructed an earthbag Education and Training Centre just prior to the massive earthquake that hit Nepal on 25th April 2015. The building was constructed using proven earthbag construction methods utilizing polypropylene sacks, barbed wire, steel rebar and earth. The building stood up to the 7.9 magnitude earthquake as well as a 6.5 magnitude local earthquake that followed soon after.

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Huts on Ekopedia

A hut in the Parc des Pyrénées (France), made of stone, with a vegetal roof (living roof).
A hut in the Parc des Pyrénées (France), made of stone, with a vegetal roof (living roof).

“A hut is a temporary shelter built with materials found nearby. It is generally built manually in a natural environment with local materials : branches, leaves, logs, bushes, etc. … Less commonly, it can also be made of materials such as metal (iron), cloth or plastic (sheeting), and be located in an unnatural area such as a backyard or on the water (stilts).

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Collapsible woven refugee shelters powered by the sun

Collapsible woven refugee shelters by designer Abeer Seikaly
Collapsible woven refugee shelters by designer Abeer Seikaly

“More than 40 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes and left to find shelter in strange lands. Maybe they find a tarp, or a tent, but their quality of life almost always remains dismal. To close this gap in need, Jordanian-Canadian architect and designer Abeer Seikaly designed a new kind of shelter. One that allows refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity.

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Storm Safety Shelter

Earthbag storm safety shelters for hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters
Earthbag storm safety shelters for hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters

“This was designed for safety in mind. We have had many requests in natural disaster areas (Oklahoma, Colorado, California) that we decided to make a universal plan that meets the international standard for storm shelter safety with an environmentally sound method. The Storm Safety Shelter is designed in accordance with the 2009 IBC and the 2008 ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC-500.)”

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Survival Shelter

A tree like this could provide temporary shelter in an emergency.
A tree like this could provide temporary shelter in an emergency.

My interest in natural building spans the full range of construction from simple emergency shelters for disaster victims all the way up to gorgeous homes. Today I thought I’d blog about something a little different. Imagine yourself stranded in the wilderness in an emergency situation. Your knowledge of knots, lashings and pole building could help keep you dry, warm and comfortable or even save your life. Even basic knowledge of these things could prove invaluable someday. You don’t need to be an expert woodsman or survivalist. In this scenario we’re talking about temporary shelter for a few days.

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