If you frequent this site and our associated communications, you may already know about our plans for next Saturday, to celebrate our first year in business and our new location.  Part of the plans involve some learning opportunities, such as a cloth diapering, composting, and building a solar oven out of a cardboard box.

The whole build-it-yourself solar oven thing was my idea – I thought it would be a fun, interesting, practical activity for people.  I’d never done it before, but how hard could it be?  Plans abound on the internet, materials are readily available, I’m a smart guy.  No problem.  So over the last few weeks I’ve been seeking the perfect boxes, gathering supplies, getting fidgety to actually do this so I can appear to know what I’m doing next weekend.

Time is finally here, to put rubber to the road and go for it.  Easier said than done.  I got all my stuff together, read and re-read the plans, measured, scratched my head a bit, and realized.  No way.  This takes skills.  And more importantly, it takes cardboard boxes in quite precise sizes and shapes that I don’t have.   Panic sets in.  I look at alternate designs.  Hmmm…box cooker is no-go, how about a panel cooker?  Easier, still effective, possible with the cardboard I have on hand.

So, here I am, a little bit later, sort of proud, a little befuddled.  It’s not perfect.  It’s not bad for a first attempt.  And it might even heat something up.  May I present, Marc’s “Fun Panel” solar cooker, beta version:

Yes, that is a stubby beer bottle (with water in it).  Put it out in the back parking lot at 3:30pm just to see how hot I can get it before I close up at 5.

If any of you are planning to attend the build-your-own-solar-oven workshop, it might actually be more along the lines of “trials and tribulations of a first-time solar oven build”.  Even if you’re not into building a foil-and-cardboard cooker, join us for fun, prizes, treats, and more!

As long as I’m here, some more food for thought from the GOOD 100:

Greywater Guerillas – and a link to GG since GOOD didn’t think to include it
350.org
Cool Roofs