The non-electric refrigerator (sorta)

[lildreamer316]

http://www.oddee.com/item_96721.aspx
(second item on the list- I just wanted to post in case anyone was ever in the situation where they would need this)

Mohammed Bah Abba made a really cool invention, which won a Rolex Award of $100,000 –a refrigerator than runs without electricity. Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator.

Evaporative fridges are a relatively well-tested, proven, low-tech approach to cooling. They can cool produce, food and beverages at about 15-20 C below ambient temperatures. They are most appropriate in hot, dry (not humid) climates

[Warpy]

1. There was another one at another site

whose name escapes me, but which will work in any climate as long as the sun is shining during the day.

One uses a non porous vessel, surrounds it with something porous, like chicken wire fencing, ubiquitous even in the third world, and fills the space with straw or any other light material, soaking that material down. Place the contraption in the sun and keep the outer material wet.

Although it's counterintuitive to keep a "cooler" in the sun, it was found that this kept the inner vessel at a constant 40-45 degrees, certainly cool enough to preserve things like milk. Although the temperature would rise during the night, it would still stay cooler than the ambient temperature, especially if the inner container itself provided a heat sink, meaning a clay container would work very well.

I love low tech stuff like this.