Everybody has a talent. Florence, who lives in Kawempe, Uganda, has a talent for cooking. She cooks with bold creativity and intuitive flair. Her dishes are exciting. In her household of eight adults – parents and siblings – Florence, with unanimous encouragement, gladly accepted the role as family chef.

Florence is also practical. As family chef, she realized that too much of the family budget was spent on charcoal. The price of charcoal has skyrocketed as forests in Uganda have been relentlessly destroyed by cutting wood to make charcoal. Florence did the math. With the efficient cookstoves offered by this project, the family could reduce charcoal use by 60% and save almost $200 per year. That’s a huge savings in Uganda where per capita income is about $600 and, for Planet Earth, a huge savings in forests preserved and carbon kept from the atmosphere. Florence spoke to her family about acquiring one of the new stoves. Absolutely!, they said. The savings went into a special account to fund a new family restaurant. It is without a doubt that the restaurant in Kawempe (called Florence’s) will be a resounding success.

And for Planet Earth, so importantly, it is without a doubt that this project is achieving remarkable results for our climate. Over 527,000 of this project’s efficient cookstoves are in use in Uganda, benefitting 2.6 million people, reducing charcoal use by 837,000 tonnes, saving 12.7 million trees, and reducing CO₂ emissions by 4.7 million tonnes.

Without a doubt, these are impressive results, which couldn’t have happened without your support. And without a doubt, Florence, millions of Ugandans, Planet Earth, and all of us at team Cool Effect are indeed grateful for your generous and inspired support. Thank You!