During a time of uncertainty, help the world breathe easier.
Together, we are seeking $250,000 to scale production of cleaner, more efficient stoves, to improve as many lives as possible, and to remain a sustainable, resilient, and impactful organization. Will you join us?
Indoor air pollution is one of the world’s greatest preventable public health concerns, resulting in up to four million premature deaths each year. For two billion people, the largest contributing factor to indoor air pollution is cooking. Women prepare meals over open fires or inefficient cookstoves, exposing themselves and their families to dangerous levels of toxic smoke. The daily search for fuel leaves little time or energy for outside work, education, or rest, leaving them trapped in a cycle of economic hardship and poor health. The resulting deforestation diminishes their local environment and watershed. But with your support, there is a solution.
At Burn Design Lab, we believe women in developing countries deserve to have a healthier life and local environment through access to cleaner burning cookstoves. We design more efficient, environmentally friendly cookstoves as an alternative for women who cook over open fires. By working closely with in-country manufacturers, these cookstoves can be produced at scale to better meet local demand.
Thanks to the dedicated support of individuals and organizations, our work has already contributed to the improvement of women’s health and wellbeing in over five million households. In our renewed Strategic Vision and Plan, we aspire to impact another ten million households by the end of 2035. BDL and our partners will focus on high impact, scalable cookstove designs and manufacturing systems to accomplish this.
We need your help.
Now we need your help! 2025 has started off as a challenging year for a lot of individuals and organizations across the globe. Organizations seeking to improve the lives of those in the developing world have been hit hard by US government decisions to reduce or eliminate foreign aid investment and programmatic support. BDL’s US based team has worked with USAID to develop and implement more efficient cookstove technology across sub-Saharan Africa, most recently with our Improved Shea Roaster in Ghana and West Africa. Without USAID’s support, we could not have manufactured and deployed close to 100 roasters over the past two years. With our on-the-ground partners, we've improved the working conditions of thousands of women who process hand crafted shea butter, with our on-the-ground partners. BDL estimates the reduction of available foreign aid from US and UN based agencies will reduce our access to grants and funding by millions of dollars over the course of the next four years. And if nothing is done to address this, millions of women will not have access to a cleaner burning cookstove.
Looking ahead
In response, BDL is looking to create a more sustainable revenue stream, allowing us to be more resilient to external pressures while continuing our mission to improve lives. We have already signed a strategic long-term partnership with a local African manufacturer to help produce and deploy over a million cleaner cookstoves over the next few years. In order to accomplish these aspirational targets, BDL needs support from our donors and foundations to bridge the gap in 2025.
Please contact Jeremy Su, Interim Executive Director, with any comments or questions
info@burndesignlab.org
