Real Offsets, Real People, Real Climate Solutions
Carbon offsetting directly from
the people creating the carbon offsets.
Concerned about climate change? More and more people are working to care for our planet in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, however, most of us can’t reduce it to zero. The processing and transit of our food, electricity usage, transportation, etc., all put carbon into the atmosphere.
The good news is that carbon offsetting allows you to counteract the emissions you produce by reducing CO2 elsewhere. By supporting initiatives such as our fuel-efficient cookstoves project in Malawi, our verified carbon credits make it easy and affordable for you to compensate for your carbon footprint while making a difference!
Concerned about climate change? More and more people are working to care for our planet in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint, however, most of us can’t reduce it to zero. The good news is that carbon offsetting allows you to counteract the emissions you produce by reducing CO2 elsewhere.
$7 per month
5 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(500 bundles of wood saved)
$14 per month
10 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(1,000 bundles of wood saved)
$21 per month
15 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(1,500 bundles of wood saved)
Offsets For Your Business >
COOKSTOVES BUILT AND IN DAILY USE
BUNDLES OF WOOD SAVED EVERY WEEK
PEOPLE BENEFITING
Our fuel-efficient cookstove project can help you offset your unavoidable carbon emissions while helping people in Malawi! Called the Changu Changu Moto, this easily-constructed stove is an alternative to the three-stone fire traditionally used in Malawi.
Not only is it safer and produces less smoke, but it also reduces the need for firewood from three bundles of wood per week to just one.
A way to offset your unavoidable carbon emissions
Our fuel-efficient cookstove project can help you offset your unavoidable carbon emissions while helping people in Malawi! Called the Changu Changu Moto, this easily-constructed stove is an alternative to the three-stone fire traditionally used in Malawi.
Not only is it safer and produces less smoke, but it also reduces the need for firewood from three bundles of wood per week to just one.
Our offsets help you and families in Malawi
This is a team effort. You want to play your part to address climate change. We work with 40,000 families in Malawi who each have a fuel-efficient cookstove. Our carbon offsets benefit you, the planet, as well as the lives of people living in Malawi.
Benefits of our fuel-efficient cookstoves:
- Less risk of burns and smoke inhalation
- Less wood used so saves time collecting firewood
- Faster cooking as two things can be cooked at once
Inspiring communities to value and conserve forests
Our simple fuel-efficient cookstoves are a solution to climate change. They only use one-third of the firewood compared to traditional cooking methods – reducing the pressure on existing forests by saving a total of 94,000 bundles of firewood each and every week!
Inspiring communities to value and conserve forests
Our simple fuel-efficient cookstoves are a solution to climate change. They only use one-third of the firewood compared to traditional cooking methods – reducing the pressure on existing forests by saving a total of 94,000 bundles of firewood each and every week!
Stamp of Approval
Our fuel-efficient cookstoves are regularly monitored, independently audited and verifiable. They are registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), operated and administered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We have applied the rigorous CDM Standards to our activities to measure our progress and demonstrate accountability and transparency.
See how it works and take action to help protect our planet NOW and for the future.
See how it works
Join our Climate Crew
$7 per month
5 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(500 bundles of wood saved)
$14 per month
10 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(1,000 bundles of wood saved)
$21 per month
15 tonnes of carbon offset each year
(1,500 bundles of wood saved)
Offsets For Your Business >
Your Questions Answered
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Why is this carbon project important?
Ripple Africa’s founders didn’t start the project just to sell carbon offsets – the primary goal was to improve the lives of local people in Malawi and protect the remaining forests.
It is one thing to provide a householder with a cookstove and hope they will use it. However, our experience has shown that long-term commitment and building relationships with the community is key to a project’s success. Ripple Africa doesn’t build the stove and walk away but works with households to deliver the long-term education which will ensure the stove will be used for life.
We are proud that more than 250,000 people have their food cooked every day on our Changu Changu Moto fuel-efficient cookstove in Nkhata Bay District. This equates to a savings of 80,000 bundles of wood every week. This new cooking technology is becoming a way of life and communities in neighboring Districts want to benefit from this improved cooking method which makes their lives easier and reduces deforestation.
Our carbon offsetting program also help funds other Ripple Africa projects so that we can provide the long-term commitment that is needed to make a positive and lasting difference in Malawi. We reinvest the carbon offsetting income to build more cookstoves, plant trees and conserve existing forests.
Offsetting your unavoidable emissions through our cookstove project is a great solution which benefits the environment and families in Malawi. Offset with us today.
How can I reduce my carbon footprint?
If you are not already actively trying to reduce your carbon footprint, there are a number of simple ways in which you can. These might include cycling to work instead of driving, sourcing locally grown foods, eating less meat, changing to a renewable energy supplier and flying less.
All of these achievable lifestyle changes are really important to caring for our planet. However, for the majority of us living in the modern world, we will always have unavoidable carbon emissions. Matching your lifestyle to one of our carbon offsetting plans helps protect our planet today and in the future.
Offset with us to be part of our Climate Crew and join the many other individuals and corporates that offset their carbon emissions with us.
Can you tell me more about the cookstove project?
Ripple Africa is helping local communities to build fuel-efficient cookstoves in Malawi, Africa. Ripple Africa’s fuel-efficient cookstove is called the “Changu Changu Moto” which means “Fast Fast Fire” in Chichewa.
The Changu Changu Moto:
- Reduces household wood use from three bundles of wood per week to just one
- Contains the fire within the cookstove at the side of the kitchen, reducing injuries from burns
- Has a double burner so that two pots can be cooked simultaneously , saving time
- Produces substantially less smoke than the traditional three-stone fire, reducing coughing and breathing problems
- Is LOVED by all the women who use it!
The Changu Changu Moto is a sustainable and locally produced fuel-efficient cookstove made out of just 26 mud bricks and a mud mortar mix.The householder is empowered to build and maintain their cookstove, making this project sustainable.
Ripple Africa has worked with several types of fuel-efficient cookstoves over the years; however, we firmly believe the Changu Changu Moto is the most realistic and aptly suited fuel-efficient cookstove design for rural Africa we have ever seen. It is an adaptation of a 16-brick design by Dr. Larry Winiarski and has been specially modified by Ripple Africa for Malawi after a lot of positive trials and community feedback.
The project goals are as follows:
- Tackling deforestation in Malawi – Around 95% of families in Malawi depend on wood for cooking and millions of trees are cut down every year for use on inefficient traditional three-stone open fires. This Changu Changu Moto project has resulted in 80,000 fewer bundles of firewood being needed EVERY WEEK, reducing household wood use by 67%.
- Improving the health of women and children – According to the World Health Organization (2018), close to four million people die prematurely each year from illnesses related to smoke inhalation from inefficient cooking methods. The Changu Changu Moto produces less smoke, thus reducing smoke inhalation by people cooking or sitting around the fire. Also, Malawian women traditionally prepare food with their children playing nearby. Sixty percent of households consulted by Ripple Africa reported that a member of their family had sustained serious burns from a traditional three-stone cooking fire. The Changu Changu Moto’s fire is contained, greatly reducing the risk of burns while cooking.
- Sustainability – The stoves are made of a simple mud mortar mixture and can easily be repaired by householders as needed. Ripple Africa doesn’t build the stove and walk away but works with households to deliver the long-term education which will ensure the stove will be used for life.
- Saving labor – For women who collect wood, the stove can mean a saving of up to 10 hours each week in wood collection. The stoves also cook faster (Changu Changu Moto actually translates to Fast Fast Fire in Chichewa), and the double burner means food is ready in half the time. This frees up time which women can spend on other activities.
- Saving money – In many parts of Malawi, people cut down trees from existing forests near their home for wood. However, in urban or heavily deforested rural areas, families have to buy their fuel for cooking. Wood is extremely expensive and consumes a huge portion of a family’s expenditure. For poor families, a 67% savings in money spent on wood is significant.
- Educating families about sustainable living – In addition to teaching people how to use the fuel-efficient cookstoves, much time is spent on discussing the stove’s merits. Users learn about the problems of deforestation, and the importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly living solutions. This is the key to ensuring the long term success of the project.
How is my carbon footprint worked out?
You have a carbon footprint which is based on the greenhouse gases GHG – carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) that are produced as a result of your activities.
The different Greenhouse Gases have different warming potentials and this is where it gets complicated. For example, 2.2 lbs of methane causes 25 times more warming over a 100 year period compared to 2.2 lbs of CO2, resulting in a Global Warming Potential of 25 for methane.
A simple way of estimating your carbon footprint is to calculate your utility usage, electricity, gas and water, transportation (including flights) over the course of a year. These totals are multiplied by a relevant greenhouse gas conversion factor to provide your carbon footprint – carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
If you would like to work out your own carbon footprint, here is a simple spreadsheet to help you do just that: Personal Carbon Calculator
This project addresses the following Sustainable Development Goals:
