by Dianna M. Náñez – Apr. 21, 2011 11:44 AM
The Arizona Republic
Dave Wells and Pastor Doug Bland are self-described “solar crusaders.”
On Saturday, they gathered with others who harvest the sun for the second annual Great Solar Cookout at Tempe’s Daley Park.
Beef Bourguignon, baked beans and pot roast were among the eats broiling under the Arizona sun. The community cookout is in honor of Earth Day.
Given their common interest, Wells and Bland helped organize last year’s inaugural Great Solar Cookout to get others interested in solar power and to promote Earth Day.
“I’ve been disappointed for years with the Earth Day activities in Arizona,” Wells said. “We wanted to make the cookout a real community and family event to help introduce people to becoming more environmentally concerned.”
This year, while food and veggies grilled on solar ovens made of recycled materials such as old car windshields, families grooved to a steel-drum band. Storytellers told tales about the Earth. The cookout was sponsored by the Arizona Institute for Peace Education & Research, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light, and Community Christian Church.
Wells showed off $10 cardboard solar-oven kits, a solar cooker used for frying and a solar oven that can reach up to 600 degrees.
Bland said the goal is to show people easy ways to care for the environment.
“I think mostly that people are afraid of having to cut back on their carbon footprint because it will be such a burden,” Bland said. “There are strategies for doing that that are just a lot of fun, and you can save money in the process.”
Wells has long been environmentally conscious and he and his wife have tried to teach their three children to care about the environment. About a year and a half ago, he decided to learn how to tap the desert’s solar energy. He purchased a solar oven and has slowly weaned his family off the kitchen oven.
Brownies are a family favorite.
“I think it’s incredible that I could stick sweet gooey brown (batter) in it and leave it for about an hour and half . . . and it’s all cooked,” he said.
Nowadays, Wells sends his children outdoors when they want to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Last week, Wells cooked a huge pot of beans on his solar oven and took the pot to a Tempe church to feed the homeless.
Wells said he found a fellow solar crusader in Bland. Bland is pastor of Tempe’s Community Christian Church, near Broadway Road and College Avenue. Four years ago, the congregation committed to being more environmentally conscious.
“We’re exploring the ways we might care for God’s good creation,” Bland said.
With Good Friday falling on Earth Day this year, Bland said the congregation is feeling inspired.
“We’re encouraging our members to calculate their carbon footprint and commit to reducing it by 10 percent,” he said.
Community Christian formed a “green team,” which is studying installing solar panels at the church.
Solar cooking was introduced a year and a half ago, when Bland purchased about 16 solar ovens. The ovens are boxed shape, made of cardboard, have a reflector on top that focuses the energy of the sun and reach up to 350 degrees.
“Most of the things you can cook in an oven at home you can cook in a solar oven,” Bland said. “It takes a little bit longer but you don’t have to heat up your kitchen in the summer, don’t have to turn up your air-conditioning and you use energy that’s available rather than paying APS (Arizona Public Services) or SRP (Salt River Project).”
