The finance to transition for traditional 3-stone fires to energy efficient cook stoves comes from the income generated from the sale of the carbon credits. This is how Simoshi has grown and flourished to include more than 100 school under its registered Gold Standard Project Activity “Institutional Improved Cook Stoves for Schools and Institutions in Uganda”.

An average school of 800 students can save up to USD 900 in firewood purchase per year! That is a lot of money, specially for government aided schools, that can be used on many of their urgent priorities, such as improving on infrastructure and providing new classrooms to the existing overcrowded ones.

So whatever trend is now dominating the talks on whether carbon offsetting is the right or wrong tool to responsibly reduce emissions, remember, not every project is the same and has comparable impact in local communities. Read objectively, educate yourself, and make conscious decisions when choosing an intervention when offsetting your carbon footprint. Distractions are the opposite of what is needed to achieve climate change. Transparency is - and always has - been available to those interested in learning more and supporting small scale interventions like Simoshi’s.