Business Showcase
STORY BY KAT PICKFORD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSIE WILLIAMS PHOTOGRAPHY
Cooker can be viewed on display at the ANZ Bank, Blenheim for the month of November
This month marked one year since the magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered in Kaikoura rocked Marlborough.
While some communities are still dealing with the disruption caused by this disaster, many of us will have forgotten the panic we experienced in the small hours while the earth shook violently beneath us.
After living through three earthquakes in recent years, Sarah Bates from Kiwi Clean Living is encouraging people to check their emergency survival and getaway kits in case of a natural disaster.
Sarah lives in Redwood Pass south of Blenheim and vividly remembers the fright of being shaken awake shortly after midnight on November 14 last year. Her home, like many others, was without power and water for several days, and she turned to her survival kit to get through during that time.
While the Ministry of Civil Defence recommends having a primus stove or gas barbecue to cook food and sanitized water in case of emergency, Kiwi Clean Living has a secret weapon – an ACE 1 Biomass Cooker.
The ACE 1 is a portable, clean-burning and durable cookstove that utilizes solar energy to power a bright LED light, charge mobile phones and provide warmth.
“We obviously had no power, no phone, no nothing,” says Sarah. “We didn’t know how long we were going to be without power, so we cranked up the ACE 1 and it kept our phones and radio charged, cooked up venison and sausages from the freezer and boiled water for cups of tea. It was brilliant.”
The ACE 1 is one of the cleanest and most high tech stoves available, providing clean cooking with a range of biomass fuels including wood pellets, dried dung, small pieces of wood, bamboo and agricultural waste such as corn cobs or coconut husks.
This amazing cooker was designed by friends of Kiwi Clean Living with the aim of reducing smoke-related illness of people in third-world countries who primarily cook by fire. When Kiwi Clean Living found out about it, they jumped at the chance to get involved and they are now the sole distributor of the ACE 1 Biomass Cooker in New
Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
“Our friends in Lesotho, Africa saw a need for a clean-burning cooker and set up African Clean Energy, employing local people to help achieve their vision of a world without dangerous cook smoke,” says Sarah.
“We had been looking for a family business opportunity and thought it was a fantastic way to make a living while helping to improve the lives of others.”
Since setting up the business, the Kiwi Clean Living team comprising of family members that stretch across three generations of women, have connected with impoverished communities in the Pacific Islands with the help of the Red Cross, church groups and the New Zealand RSE scheme.
Many Pacific Island communities are among the three billion people worldwide who cook on open fires or use dirty and dangerous fuels, which impacts negatively on their health, causing 4 million deaths each year and a raft of health problems including lung and eye disease – not to mention the environmental cost of deforestation
and greenhouse gas emissions.
Sarah says the ACE 1 will enable these communities to reduce their fuel expenditure by half, decrease their exposure to carbon monoxide and ensure a supply of affordable, sustainable energy, which will ultimately help raise them out of poverty while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demand for fuel-wood.
Dozens of ACE 1 Biomass Cooker’s have been donated to people in the Pacific by kind Kiwis through the Kiwi Clean Living donation scheme in the past 12 months. And for every 100 cookers sold, Sarah and her team have pledged to donate one cooker to a family in need.
The cooker is also ideal for people who enjoy getting off-the-grid too, says Sarah.
“It would be an awesome addition to any camping kit, perfect to keep in the boot of the car or on the boat for hunting, camping, fishing, picnicking – all those things we Kiwis love to do in our leisure time. “It’s really easy and safe to use, people absolutely love cooking with it.”
HELP THE ANIMALS OF AMBAE ISLAND VANUATU GIVALITTLE PAGE
The animals in Ambae Island Vanuatu have been left to defend for themselves with the Islands volcano threatening eruption. If we are unable to relocate then we will at least feed and water the ones left behind.WAP World Animal Protection is on site and currently working with Authorities to work out a course of action moving forward. All money donated will go to WPA to help towards costs.
Check out our new shop at 168a Redwood St, Blenheim
Opening Sunday 10th Dec.
It will be open every Sunday from 10 am till 4 pm.
Come and see the cooker in action a wonderful Christmas present or gift for those in need.
THANK YOU TO THE STAFF AT ANZ BLENHEIM BRANCH AND THE TEAM AT MARLBOROUGH RED CROSS
For more info about the ACE 1 Biomass Cooker and a free demonstration, or to fnd out how you can donate to this very important cause, please visit www.kiwicleanliving.co.nz or phone 03 5757673 or txt 027 2356494