The Wonderbag is a simple but revolutionary heat-retention slow cooker. It continues to cook food, which has been brought to a boil, for up to 12 hours.
This article is about the wonderful Wonderbag, a cloth-covered non-electric slow cooker that is a true testament to activism. I have been pursuing a sustainable and slow lifestyle; a simpler life since I entered my twenties. During my teens, I saw just how incredibly rushed and stressed the so-called modern world is. The more I saw of it, the less I wanted to be part of it.
Modern society
I am not saying that modern society is all bad – it has some good qualities too, though they’re few and far apart. But the world has changed at an incredibly fast rate these last few hundred years. All while humans have remained much the same. The world is moving at a faster pace than we humans can handle. The more technology that is invented, ironically enough, the more ignorant people seem to become. They rely on technology to think for them, to act for them, to date. So much so that there are courses out there on how to interact with people without technology.
We’ve created something we now believe we cannot make do without. But is that really true? We are the same as we were the last few hundred years. Technology, the way it is used today, hasn’t been around long. Are we heading in the right direction? Or are we creating so many solutions that in time we will forget how to think and fend for ourselves? Are we creating a reality where people will no longer have a voice or their own thoughts to act on?
Is this really progress?
I am so very thankful that I had a childhood before the age of technological progress: smartphones, tablets and laptops. These days people choose to turn their homes, their things – everything they have – into smart devices. Not realising anyone could hack them and they’d lose everything. In many countries, technology is starting to replace people. Robots are giving people their orders in coffee shops, robots are packing groceries, robots are driving cars, robots are delivering packages and robots are working in factories.
AI is stealing people’s hard work so that others can benefit by asking the robot, AI, to generate things for them. Texts, translations, artwork, music – you name it. People get to generate it all, without doing any of the hard work and without knowing anything about what they generate. And then they earn money off of it.
We’ve forgotten how to slow down, how to take our time and how to just breathe. Everything doesn’t have to happen right this second. Once more, for the people in the back. Everything doesn’t have to happen right this second.
We’ve forgotten the value of taking our time and connecting with others. The value of walking into the woods and just sitting there, listening to the wind rustle the leaves, taking off your shoes and feeling the earth and moss underneath your feet. That’s living.
Early addiction to technology
So many children today, some even under the age of three, can use a tablet and are semi-addicted to it. They are even acting out whenever they don’t have full access to it. Many children would rather sit by a computer, a TV or a smartphone than interact with each other or go outside and play. Parents are using smartphones, streaming and tablets as their personal babysitters. That is just sad.
It is true that I, in part, work with a laptop for a living. However, I walk outside in nature, eat meals outside and go into the woods to charge myself, all to create a balance. As often as possible, I like to just sit in the woods or by the seaside and meditate. Just breathe everything in and think of how nature saves us all. How nature has been here for millions of years, long before humans started destroying the world. That makes me feel small and insignificant, and it gives me hope that nature can survive humans and our abuse. That the environment can be saved, and everything living in it.
Stumbling across the Wonderbag
In my pursuit of simplicity and sustainability, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and YouTube looking for inspiration and ways to become more sustainable. One day, I came across the Wonderbag. Technology and electricity can be useful, but non-electric solutions are more sustainable.
What is the Wonderbag & How do I use it?
The Wonderbag is a beautiful slow cooker that will cook your food without electricity. It can even work the other way around, to keep the cold food chilled. One day, I’d like to live off-grid with solar panels and a wood-burning stove. I’d like to cook some dinners over an open fire outside, and this invention has helped me get closer to that future.
I use cast iron pots and pans when I cook and they are excellent in preserving heat. I heat them up on a stovetop, and as soon as they are warm enough and/or the content is boiling, I turn the stove off. Inside the Wonderbag I have some potholders, sometimes a wooden chopping board, and one or two kitchen towels to cover the sides of the inside of the bag. I place the hot pot carefully on top of the potholders and put the bag lid on top of the pot’s lid. Then I tighten the bag around the pot with a drawstring and I let the Wonderbag do the rest.
How I’ve used my Wonderbag
Thus far I have used it to make vegan Sukiyaki, carrot soup, tomato soup, Kimchi hot pot, Tabbouleh and many, many other dishes. I’ve boiled potatoes and rice in it, and I have used it to bake bread, saffron cake and for Yule, a chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting. I also use it to keep my sourdough bread baked fresh longer. It is an amazing invention that truly simplifies my life.
Since you only need to heat the pot or pan on the stove, you never have to worry about forgetting to unplug- or shut off the stove. And there’s no little kiddie fingers that can get burned touching the stove either. It is a safe and simple way of cooking that saves you time, energy and electricity. And you could just as easily heat the pot and bring it to a boil over an open fire.
How are the Wonderbags manufactured?
The Wonderbag is made by hand in factories in South Africa with sturdy polyvinyl fabric and recycled foam. It works in four simple steps. Bring a pot to a boil, place it in the bag, let it cook as long as needed, and then you’re good to go. The longest I’ve cooked with it was 8-10 hours and when I opened the bag, the food was still warm, if not hot.
If you spill something on it, wipe it off and if you need to clean it, wash it by hand and hang it to dry. If there are stains, use some gall soap to remove them. Should you need some form of detergent, soap nuts can be used. Vinegar and baking soda also works. If you have a newer washing machine that has a gentle program with cold water, you can use it. However, it is so simple to wash by hand, that there’s hardly any need. After that, you can just hang it to dry, or use a low setting on a tumble dryer.
Who is the Wonderbag for?
The Wonderbag and a cast iron pot can together replace your slow cooker, your rice cooker, your microwave and your oven. What I like to do is bring the food for the day to a boil in the morning, place it in the bag and let it cook. Then eat the food warm from the bag both for lunch and dinner. Or I prepare it before I go to bed and eat it for breakfast.
The Wonderbags come in different sizes and whether you are a bachelor or you have a large family to feed, whether you live off-grid in a yurt or a three-bedroom apartment in the city, the Wonderbag is a worthy investment.
As it can both keep food cold and warm/hot, it is the perfect addition to your next picnic.
The world will always need activism
I want to change the world. It is not about ego, that I want to be the one that changes the world. But I want the world to change and I want to make sure that I do what I can to make that happen. Most people in the world today live life with their heads in the sand. They act like the awful, horrifying reality we live in doesn’t really exist. But it does. Pretending it doesn’t won’t change anything. It won’t make anything better.
There is no use covering our eyes and ears, or streaming series after series to distract ourselves. We have to own up to humanity’s past- and present mistakes to prevent future ones from happening. Poverty is real. Racism is real. LGBTQIA hate is very real. Prejudice is thriving and hate is spreading like wildfire. Ignorance, even more so. The animals are going extinct. So called farm-animals are treated as products and waste. Nature is abused and the environment is falling apart. More money is put on war than on education or healthcare and the economy is a mess. Society is one step from collapsing.
We know the way, but we walk in the opposite direction
Banning plants
Medical marijuana could cure and treat over 600 diseases, but it is forbidden in most parts of the world. The pharmaceutical companies and the system will benefit more financially from keeping the sick people sick. Even during the pandemic, we were in many places forbidden to use a plant that could help us survive an illness that could kill us. That is a frightening reality of what the system stands for. Profit over lives, every time.
Poverty
Poverty and homelessness are getting worse by the day, and yet the fat cats keep getting fatter. The prices of homes worldwide are rising up to beyond what is even the tiniest bit reasonable. As a result, people have to stay with their relatives, even if they have families. Because proper affordable housing just doesn’t exist. It isn’t a one-country problem; it’s a global issue. Despite that, there are freakishly many regulations and rules regarding what you can live in. As well as what you can build and how you are allowed to live there.
Homelessness
Homelessness is becoming a worldwide issue that is completely unrelated to social standing and income. There are business owners and people working three jobs who still can’t afford the housing options available. Electricity, water and heat are seen as add-ons that may not even be available in some places. That goes for the internet as well.
The pandemic
Corona has affected many financially and the people who need the help the most won’t get it. But the large companies that were earning ridiculous fortunes that now turned into slightly smaller fortunes, are being given the help without a second thought. Considering how the governments of the world handled the pandemic, it is hard to tell if it is truly over. I hope it is, but all that has happened could just as easily lead to a complete societal collapse.
Increasing awareness
However, we also live in a world where more people are becoming aware. Becoming “woke” as some might put it. People are rising, despite all odds, and they are awakening to the reality of the world today. Once they have awakened, there is no going back. Activists are born. Whenever activism is desperately needed, it is a time when it is difficult to stay positive. To stay hopeful that things truly will change. But I think it is up to each and every one of us to do our part. To do what we can for the animals, for the environment and each other. To form a sense of unity and community, governments be damned.
They will not get us out of this mess, so we need to join forces to find a way to pull through regardless. We need to talk to each other, listen to each other and connect with each other. Stop looking at our phones and actually pay attention to each other. These days people speak more sweetly to their tech than they do to each other. That must change.
The Wonderbag Sparks Joy
As a plant-based eater, a minimalist and a Konmari enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly say that this invention makes my life easier. With its beautiful colour and pattern, it most certainly sparks joy! I very much hope that the family in Africa, that through my purchase, also received one, will love theirs as much as I love mine. I am convinced that the Wonderbag is a step in the right direction for the world. I believe it can help to unite people, limit our carbon footprint and save nature. And by doing so, save ourselves.
Support change and get yourself a Wonderbag today!
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