Saving money on firewood

A great way to learn to save money is to study people that do not use money.  The other day I was watching a show on PBS about nomadic people that live on the Africa plain.  Often times they have no wood to cook in the grasslands so they use what works.  The burn the dung of Elephants and other large animals (no kidding).

So here in America we don't have wild elephants or other large animals that leave piles of dung behind.  However we do have zoos.  I called my local zoo and ask if I could help clean up and then have the elephant dung.  They were happy to have the help but were not sure about my plan.  

The first night I tried it it worked!  The key was to use the really dried out stuff (big shocker I kn0w).  The only downfall really was the smell left behind in the car.  However, now that we don't have to buy firewood anymore I just think of that smell as the smell of money in the bank!

The really cool thing is the Zoo has asked me to give a talk to the kids about my project and how the people to Africa make use of what they have.  This just might be a new side hustle!