Holiday Giving Campaign to Benefit Solar Cookers in Haiti

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean Currents today announced it is partnering with Solar Cookers International for its annual holiday giving campaign.  From now through January 12, 2011, which is the one-year anniversary of Haiti's devastating earthquake, Clean Currents will donate a portion of proceeds from every residential wind power enrollment to the purchase and distribution of solar cookers in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.  

"This year we decided to focus specifically on solar cooking in Haiti because of the ongoing calamity in that country," said Gary Skulnik, President of Clean Currents.  Nearly a year has passed since the big earthquake that rocked Port-Au-Prince and its environs and conditions there remain dire.  "Solar cookers are cheap, simple, and easy to maintain.  By harnessing the abundant power of the sun, solar cookers provide a measure of independence to those who use them -- and they decrease a user's reliance upon traditional sources of cooking fuel like charcoal, which is costly and very polluting," added Skulnik.

Solar cookers work by reflecting and concentrating the sun's rays onto a black cooking pot, insulated by a clear plastic bag that traps the heat.  These concentrated rays can boil water or cook most types of food.  According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), only 12 percent of Haiti's population had piped, treated water before the earthquake, and now the situation is worse.  Access to boiled drinking water is the most effective deterrent to cholera, which is spreading quickly throughout Port-Au-Prince's slums and displaced persons camps.  

Haiti also continues to suffer detrimental effects from widespread deforestation and environmental degradation.  The demand for charcoal for cooking purposes is a leading cause of deforestation in Haiti, which according to the United Nations Development Programme has lost over 80% of its original forest cover.  Haiti experienced severe flooding earlier this month as Hurricane Tomas swept over the western portion of the country -- an increasingly common occurrence in a country where trees of all sizes are felled and burned to produce cooking charcoal.      

Skulnik added, "There is no easy fix for what is going on in Haiti, but I believe that solar cookers are an ideal combination of being environmentally friendly, cheap, reliable, and empowering for those who use them.  This Holiday season you can switch your home's electricity supply to wind power through Clean Currents and directly help people in Haiti."  A true win, wind.

About Clean Currents

Clean Currents is the Mid-Atlantic's leading, independent green energy company.  Clean Currents provides wind power through the electric grid to residents and businesses in Washington DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware at rates that are competitive with local utility rates.  Clean Currents has built a vibrant green community in the Mid-Atlantic region, counting over 6,000 residential and 500 commercial customers.  Clean Currents also installs solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on residential and commercial properties throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.    

SOURCE Clean Currents