In our home we decided to make our own fridge from clay pots and below are instructions on how we did. It was cheap to do, costing us around IDR 200,000 and it’s good for the environment too.
Nowadays fridges in Europe usually contain HFC-134a which does not deplete the ozone layer (although it is a greenhouse gas). This substance replaced CFCs which were responsible for depleting the ozone layer. However, in Indonesia I struggled to find a fridge which didn’t contain CFCs and I didn’t think that HFCs were a good alternative since all halocarbons are powerful greenhouse gases.
So we researched alternative ways to keep our food cool and found out about an ancient type of fridge made of terracotta pots called a Zeer pot which is used across the Middle-East and Africa. A similar terracotta fridge is also used in Indonesia - our neighbour in Malang, East Java have a clay pot fridge which they sunk into the soil in their garden in order to keep it extra cold.
To make your clay pot fridge you will need:
Two unglazed terracotta (clay) pots
A bag of sand
A towel
Water
We found the clay pots in a market close to Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java.
The large outer pot - first we filled it with sand.
Then we placed a smaller clay pot inside and filled the sides with sand until the sand reached the tops of the pots.
After we had filled in the sand we poured water into the sand until it was moist. Then we placed a moist towel over the top of the two pots. Fruit, vegetables and cheese will now keep for up to a week. The sand needs to be watered once or twice a day. And voila... a new fridge.
