u/Spiley_spile

I didn't have a twig stove. But I did have some time on my hands. So I made one. I saw a tutorial several years ago that looked fun. I decided to turn it into a community education opportunity. So Ill be teaching a group of people how to build a twig stove and discussing disaster preparedness as we build. (Image descriptions at end of post.)

Story time: The Altoids tin I used for this project played a crucial role during my evacuation from the historic, 2020 Oregon wildfires. (No, I didnt use it to start a fire. lol). I'd made one of those mini survival kits to entertain myself, about a year previous and then misplaced it.

During the fires, the covid situation forced me to evac to an old, dusty garage, an hour away from home.

Id grabbed boxes of canned foods on my way out the door. But Id forgotten my can opener. At the gsrage, searching through my boxes for a solution, and there was my "survival" tin. It had a P51 can opener. I laughed so hard. Then I used it every day until I got to return home. A close call. But it was still standing.

Fast forward. Post-fire, rent price gouging has pushed me into a different city. Out of the fire, into a higher risk area for the overdue, Cascadia 9.0 megaquake...

Im a disaster first responder these days, and community educator. I use skillshares to help move people out of a stuck fear state and towards a knowledgeable, prepared state.

Anxiety, a sense of overwhelm, helplessness, and the Hollywood fictional mad max-esq disaster depictions discourage people from engaging in disaster preparedness.

But when people can play together, and create solution-adjacent, fun things with their own hands, they build confidence and strengthen community connections.

Constructive play allows people to approach scenarios like "How will I boil water and cook without electricity? Are there enough trees for everyone to make campfires for 30 days for food and water and warmth? Is it safe to burn building debris?"

In this way, building twig stoves together allows me to talk about the toxicity of the dust and smoke of damaged buildings. (And how to be prepared.) And to consider the disaster implications for a city of this size. (And how to be prepared.)

The twig stove isnt the point or the solution. Breaking through the anxiety, engaging difficult topics, and rembering that community plays a crucial part in disaster resilience are the point. Getting to take home a sense of achievement, (twig stove) after all of that? It has momentum.

From twig stove, to building hands-free handwashing stations and the importance of disaster sanitation. To dysentary and first aid. From first aid to advancing wound care skills and nutrition's role in healing. To pantry staples. To making water safe for everyone to drink. A little twig stove can go a long way...

Image descriptions.

- Image 1: a collection of build supplies spread out on poster board.

- Image 2: the completed stove on display. A cooking pot sitting atop 4 aluminum posts, The posts border hardware cloth aka metal mesh. The posts and mesh are nested inside of a hole-vented altoids tin.

- Image 3: the stove in action. A pot sits above burning twigs in the altoids tin stove. In the background, someone is holding a windscreen made of kitchen foil.