The Sewing Rooms present The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag, a product that helps in the fight against fuel poverty and climate change.
The cost of our fuel prices has sky rocketed and it looks like these high prices are going to be with us for some time. That’s why we at the Sewing Rooms, a social enterprise based in Skelmersdale, have designed and are manufacturing The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag which will reduce your cooking fuel consumption by up to 70%, along with your carbon emissions.
The fact is, our ovens are among the most energy-demanding appliances in our homes. Aside from our fridge, our oven is likely responsible for the highest energy consumption out of all our kitchen appliances.
Lots of us are feeling the pinch and having to make choices about where we can save money. Some of us have tougher choices to make than others. The elderly and food bank users, already experiencing hardship, are finding that this latest hike in living costs is forcing them into fuel poverty and into impossible living conditions. As Iceland's managing director, Richard Walker reports: "It's incredibly concerning. We're hearing of some food bank users declining potatoes and root veg because they can't afford the energy to boil them." To hear that those people, already struggling to feed their families sufficiently, are now unable to heat the little fresh food that they do have access to is heart breaking.
We hope through this campaign to raise £5000 to help us to distribute The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag to Food Banks and Food Kitchens across the country and we need your help to reach this goal.
How does The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag reduce fuel costs?
The thermal bag is based on medieval “Haybox Cooking”; whereby food is brought to the boil before being removed from its heat source and insulated to continue cooking. It is a process which has been developed over the years and now, here in Skelmersdale, we have produced our own modern, portable, washable version. By choosing The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag over your usual oven method, you can reduce cooking fuel consumption by up to 70% per meal, saving on average 1 ton of carbon emissions per year (based on twice weekly usage).
We estimate that 1 household using this cooking method twice a week can save on average £2.10 per week on fuel costs; that’s a saving of around £109 per year.
Using this method 5 times a week can save around £5.25 per week, with an estimated saving of £273 per year: more than a month's standard universal credit allowance**.
That is also a saving of 2 ton of carbon a year*.
*an oven uses around 90 kw per hr, which roughly equates to around 30p per hr.
**based on figures for single people under 25 of £265 per month.
How does it work?
What is it made of?
The Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag will use unwanted rolls/roll ends of textiles which are gifted to us by Lancashire based companies, The Senator Group and Panaz. We will repurpose this fabric for the thermal bag, as well using their offcuts/scrap pieces of foam/textiles/polyester, which we shred to create a hybrid filling for the thermal insulation. Each Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag saves approximately 6kg of materials from going to waste.
How will my donation count?
For every £50 raised, we will send 1 Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag to a local food bank for distribution to those who need it most.
For a £60 donation, you will receive your own Sew Fab Thermal Cooking Bag as well as sending one to a food bank in your region. All Sew Fab Bags are made with recycled material so it is impossible for us to specify what colour your bag may be. All Sew Fab Bags are made to the same specifications.
Donations smaller than £50 will receive a Sew Fab tote bag by way of thanks for your support.