Teaching conservation: Vendors tout use of windmills and solar cookers at home

OREGON – More than 100 vendors with ideas to help the earth and its inhabitants stay healthy showed off their wares over the weekend at the eighth annual Illinois Renewable Energy and Sustainable Lifestyle Fair at the Ogle County Fairgrounds.

Brenda Richter of Belvidere spoke about the advantages of eating raw food in a person’s diet.

“The fresher you can get it, the better,” Richter said.

If people make 50 to 75 percent of their diet raw food, they can start feeling healthier and energetic.

Cooking food can kill off up to 80 percent of the nutrients, Richter said.

“Living food is energy,” Richter said. ... “A lot of people cook food to death.”

If someone prefers cooked food, Paul Munsen of Elburn showed them how to cook without using a kitchen appliance.

Munsen, is the president of Sun Ovens International. The oven, which is the size of a carry-on suitcase, uses aluminum reflectors to focus the sunlight into a fiberglass-and-plastic-case to cook food.

It can bake a loaf of bread in 45 minutes, or slow-cook a chicken all day, as long as the sun stays out.

People can save on utility costs of cooking in a conventional oven and possibly save on air conditioning because a conventional oven can heat up the house, Munsen said.

Ed Englert, of E-Squared Electric Inc. in Chana, promoted windmills for people’s houses.

The $15,000 investment can pay for itself in 5 to 12 years by using less electricity or selling electricity back to the electric company, Englert said.

“You can get a credit or spin the meter backward,” he said.

But there are limitations. The wind turbines have to be at least 35 feet off the ground, and be clear of trees or other structures in a 20-foot radius.

“The wind resources are better as you get higher,” Englert said.