When we began working in Colombia in the 1980s, many rural communities did not have reliable electricity and cooked their daily meals over an open fire. In many traditional communities, this method of cooking—balancing a pot over three stones placed above a wood fire—consumes large quantities of firewood and produces significant amounts of smoke. With repeated exposure, this smoke often irritates the eyes and lungs. For campesinos living in rural areas without electricity, open-fire cooking was the only available option.
Discovering the Binde
In an effort to reduce the amount of firewood consumed in daily cooking, our team began searching for alternatives. In this search, we learned about the binde, a small traditional cookstove originally made from termite mounds. Campesinos who used bindes reported that they burned far less fuel than an open fire.
However, the traditional method had drawbacks. Locating a termite mound required traveling into the forest, transporting the mound back to the village, and shaping it into a stove. Although this type of binde used less firewood, it often cracked and disintegrated with repeated use.
To overcome these challenges, the Proyecto Tití team set out to improve the design and create a more durable, efficient cookstove. Through this effort, we developed a method for making bindes from clay and sand—materials readily available in most rural communities.
Why Bindes Matter
Our studies have shown the significant benefits of using a binde:
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A family of five typically uses 15 logs per day when cooking over an open fire.
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With a binde, that same family uses only about 5 logs per day—a reduction of nearly 70%.
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Bindes can burn a variety of materials beyond firewood, including corn husks, yucca tassels, and other agricultural residues.
This reduction in wood consumption helps conserve trees and reduces pressure on Colombia’s remaining forests.
Today, most rural communities in Colombia have access to electricity, and only a small number of farmers in remote areas continue to rely on open fires. While our bindes program is no longer active, we continue to share these instructions in case they are needed by individuals in isolated areas. This knowledge remains an important part of our Legacy Community Development Programs.