If you’re reading this, you are probably aware of what we do in Malawi, Africa.
As a brand, we are focused on operating as eco-consciously as possible. That largely factors into our products, the fabrics, materials and manufacturing processes involved in creating them. You can read more about this on our Eco Side web page or on previous blogs.
Our work in Malawi is slightly different. Working alongside the team at Mulanje Mission Hospital, we have been enabling families to make the switch away from the traditional cooking method of a three-stone fire, towards the Changu Changu Moto (Fast Fast Fire).
There are multiple benefits to making this switch, including a 66% reduction in household wood use, which not only helps tackle deforestation and CO2 emissions but also helps families save valuable time and labour.
We’re absolutely delighted to be able to report that we have now built over 6500 stoves for families in Malawi. If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll know that in November we were sitting at the 3500 mark, so an additional 3000 have been built in just 4 months, something we’re proud of, but also excited about.
We’re excited because we have set ourselves the target of building 30,000 stoves within 3 years - we have 2.5 years left to hit this. It’s a big number and we’re still a way off, but the reassuring thing is that the ball is now rolling and it’s gathering speed. With more awareness and eagerness to adopt this new stove in the community, we are confident that we can achieve this target.
It’s easy for us to tell you what we’re doing and show you some pictures of the stoves in action, but we know how hard it is for you to appreciate and understand the scale of this project. A big reason for us choosing to go down this path is due to the fact we have complete control over what is happening. This isn’t a 3rd party charity we are giving money to. This is our own project, we have members of our team dedicated to overseeing and facilitating this. We have an employee on the ground in Malawi ensuring that the project is run as effectively and efficiently as possible in order to have the greatest impact to lives and the planet.
And we can show you this!
Every stove that is built is recorded and geo-tagged on our database. This is updated every few days. In a lot of instances, photos of the finished individual stove are uploaded too, including details of the owner. You can check it out here.
With the support of our community, customers, retail partners and followers, we are able to do this. Without you, this wouldn’t be possible, so thank you.
We have a short explainer video which you can view here for a little more detail here.
Thanks as always,
Bleubird.