Conventional refrigeration does an incredible job keeping solid food clean . But that technology has n’t help desert dwellers without unwavering electricity . A more recent evolution in infrigidation — the Zeer mint - in - sens icebox — only requires water , sand , and a blistering , ironic climate to preserve produce through evaporative cooling . Here ’s how to make the simple gadget .
Materials and Tools Required
two terra cotta pots with a 2 - 3 in departure in diameter . The small pot should be glaze and rather miss a drainage hole . If the inner container is doubly sugarcoat ( on its inner and outer wall ) , non - potable water — say brine — can be employed .
a bag of uninventive sand
a square of gunny cloth gravid enough to cover the top of the intimate stack

a trowel
Building It
1 . If your pots have drainage holes , stop up them with a bit of bottle cork , caulking , or other waterproof textile . If you do n’t , moisture from the Baroness Dudevant will ooze into the lower pot and immerse the lay in goods or ooze out the bottom of the large one .
2 . Put down a one - in mysterious , level layer of grit in the bottom of the large pot . Set the smaller great deal on top of that bed and revolve around it in the larger one . Make certain that the smaller quite a little ’s lip is even with the larger one ’s .
3 . Fill sand in around the side of meat of the of the two pots , leaving about an in of distance below the rim .

4 . Pour inhuman water over the sand until it is good saturate . Put your nutrient into the smaller pot . Cover that with a burlap material , also soaked with water . That ’s it ! Just be sure to replenish the water on a regular basis , about once or twice a mean solar day .
How It Works
The Zeer was developed in 1995 by Mohammed Bah Abba , a Nigerien school teacher that hailed from a family line of pot makers . The intention is incredibly simple : a glazed earthen ware pot nestled inside a larger , porous one with a layer of wet sand separating them . As the water disappear through the surface of the outer can , it draws heat from the internal one , keeping up to 12 kilo intellectual nourishment fresh for as longsighted as three to four weeks without using a single watt of electrical energy .
For his efforts , Bah Abba was awarded the $ 75,000 Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2000 and the World Shell Award for Sustainable Development in 2001 to help spur its growth . Presently , Bah Abba sells about 30,000 Zeer per year for 200 Nigerien naira ( $ 1.30 ) a piece .
Why It Matters
For unprotected food in the North African heat , there is no such affair as a shelf life . new fruit and vegetable last maybe a day or two , and heart spoils within hr . This think of that most food for thought must be either sell or take in instantly . Taking green goods to mart , in Sudan at least , is a task that typically falls on the women . This rigorous freshness deadline get out fiddling free time for their pedagogy . But if they had to go to market only each week , rather than day by day , they might actually have time for school — that ’s the hope of the Zeer .
The Zeer benefits not just individuals but the greater Sudanese high society as well . Farmers are accord heavy negotiating index when they do n’t have to sell their wares right there and then . Parents see fewer typeface of nutrient - borne unwellness . And when disease does occur , water supply and temperature - sensitive medicines can also be preserved in the cool pots .
For the rest of the cosmos , the Zeer represents a zero - electricity selection for infrigidation . In extensive power outages like the ones we ’ve control this summer , long after the local store sell its last handbag of frosting , the Zeer could be your good chance to keep decisive perishable goods from spoiling in the heat .

[ Practical Action – Wikipedia – MBendi – WikiHow – Image : Julie Brown / Practical Action ]
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