FUEL-EFFICIENT STOVES

Updates are made by team members who work one-on-one with families in Mexico.
WHY STOVES?
For many of us, cooking dinner is as easy as flipping a switch. But for millions of people, it can have a devastating result.
3 billion people around the world cook and heat their homes using open fires and simple stoves. In fact, it’s the biggest – and least known – killers of women and children, who spend the most time in the kitchen and at home. Over 4 million people die prematurely from an illness attributable to household air pollution caused by cooking indoors.
Can you imagine a campfire in your living room? Having to cook over an open fire is the health equivalent of smoking five packs of cigarettes a day. Carefree children often fall into open flames which result in horrific burns.
ECOLIFE installs fuel efficient stoves as an alternative to rudimentary stoves responsible for the deaths of millions. Patsari Stoves, significantly reduce the amount of smoke in the household – improving the health and quality of life for families.
What a simple stove can accomplish:
- Up to 90% reduction in indoor air pollution
- Over 50% reduction in fuelwood use
- Saves families time and energy by reducing the time spent collecting firewood
STOVE LOCATIONS IN MEXICO – INTERACTIVE MAP

Stoves Built
People Impacted
HOW DO STOVES HELP WILDLIFE AND HABITATS?
MEXICO
Since 2004, ECOLIFE has built more than 1,000 permanent, ventilated, safe, fuel-efficient stoves in several communities in Central Mexico. These communities are selected based on their geographical impact on the critical butterfly reserves and surrounding forests. The monarch butterfly has been threatened with endangerment status, losing millions every year due to deforestation and the use of pesticides. The goal of this ongoing project is to build as many stoves as possible to protect the over-wintering habitat of the monarch butterfly and to improve the quality of life for the people utilizing it.
UGANDA
Uganda is home to the critically endangered mountain gorilla. This gentle creature status has been threatened due to habitat destruction, civil war, and poaching. Although they live in the protected Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, human activity continues to deplete their population. ECOLIFE works with communities surrounding this forest to help protect the forest home of the mountain gorilla.


WHAT IS THE STOVE PROGRAM?
Our Fuel-Efficient Stove Program is a community-based conservation project that protects monarch butterfly habitats and directly improves the quality of life of communities within and surrounding Central Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR). ECOLIFE builds fuel-efficient Patsari stoves to protect the forests which are the lifeblood for people and butterflies alike.
What kinds of stoves do we build?
- Permanent and built in. This allows for tracking and assessment. It also prevents the stove from tipping over, as a safety measure to prevent injury to children.
- Chimney to carry fumes out of the home. Clear smoke (without a lot of particulates) in not healthy smoke.
- Cool sides and flat tops, another safety feature with children in mind.
- Culturally appropriate based on where the family is cooking in the world. No one stove fits all – cultures eat and cook differently.
- Reduces fuel used by 50%
Program Accomplishments
- Protected more than 3,000 people in Central Mexico from household burns and smoke-related respiratory ailments by installing more than 500 patsari stoves.
- Protected tens of thousands of trees from cutting as wood-for-fuel.
- Offset upwards of 8,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.
- Improved overall health of 650 Ugandan students and increased their time in classrooms.
HOW CAN YOU HELP LIGHT THEIR FIRE?
Your generous donation helps improve the quality of life for humans, wildlife and nature—and helps light their fire, safely. With just one $150 donation, you can feel good knowing that your generosity provided a community in Mexico with a safer, more fuel-efficient stove.