Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

We all love to get out into the great outdoors and leave care and worries behind. But let's face it, it's 2008 and we have so much technology and gadgets it can be difficult to leave them all at home. Whether you like a little background music on your hike, or are pretending that you're actually "at the office" for a boss on vacation, the wilderness is not entirely free from our little toys and devices. That...

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The Daily Green offers this great one hour project: create a solar oven from a cardboard box and a bit of foil. For a complete material list and super easy instructions, click here. Via.

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  Okay, so it's not just a simple plug-and-play adjustment to that monster fossil fuel guzzler, but this tutorial from Appropedia - the sustainability wiki - actually seems like it'd work. It replaces the combustible engine with a 12-volt electric motor that is charged by photovoltaic solar panel. The material list and cost analysis below proves its not cheap, but saving the world never is. Via. Quantity      Materials      Source      Cost ($)    ...

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This was made as an experiment, but worked perfectly and was a brilliant solar cooker. The solar cooker worked extremely well, even on a slightly overcast day. It managed to cook a large range of food items and even baked a loaf of bread, so don't limit your imagination with this brilliant DIY concept. Over the years, the solar cooker was pulled out for special ocassions including the odd barbecue and was a source of amazement...

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This may be a bit off-topic, but it seems the gang around these parts may have some experience that I would find helpful.I've begun investigating different types of solar energy systems for installation at my home sometime hopefully in the next year or so.Anyone have experiences with certain types or brands they would want to share?

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A DIY solar food dryer that works well and the capital cost is virtually zero (make out of scrap materials), and the running costs are also nil. Below is a brief description and illustration of the dryer. Many gardens have productive trees and the soft fruit -- peaches, apricots, etc -- have a tendency to ripen all at once. Eat local and eat healthier by preserving the goodness of your favourite seasonal foods, garden veggies,...

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French-based Millet will release their solar pad backpack cover in summer ‘08. Treehugger says ‘[i]t’s like the showercap-style rain cover that many people use to protect their packs from inclement weather, but with a twist. A flexible solar panel is fitted that attaches to a cigarette bayonet connector, such as you might use to charge electrical gadgets via your car. Connect up a mobile phone and they reckon you’ll be charged in one hour, a...

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Solarcooking.org has assembled a variety of DIY solar cookers. From panel cookers, box cookers to parabolic cookers. Instructions are included and in various languages too. And for all your solar cooking questions, visit the solar cooking archive, which also include recipes. 

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 When you have tried all the other sources and come up dry, a last-resort survival source of water is the easy-to-make solar still.In a sunny, but damp spot, dig a hole about three feet in diameter and two feet deep. At the center of the bottom of the hold, dig another smaller hole, the same diameter as your water containter. The smaller hole will allow you to recess your water container a bit.Place your water container into its hole and...

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