Charcoal is a very common commodity around the world with a variety of uses. According to Wikipedia, an encyclopaedia, the product is made by heating wood and other substances slowly without oxygen. The most common type is lump charcoal. “Charcoal” is a two-syllable word which, according to the New World Encyclopaedia, derives its meaning from “cerran” an old English word meaning “to turn”, and “cole” which means “coal”. Charcoal therefore means “to turn to coal.” While most people today use charcoal for cooking food or to provide heat, according to Colgate, a toothpaste company, charcoal has been in use for several millennia for different purposes. For example, 8000 BC Native Americans are said to have used it to treat stomach conditions. During the Bronze Age of 3000 BC, charcoal was used for smelting because of its ability to reach a very high temperature. In 400 BC, Egyptians used it to mask the smell of wounds. Qua Tr-A, an information dissemination platform, also points out other uses of charcoal during ancient times such as glassmaking. During the Renaissance period, artists used charcoal for drawings. To prevent the drawings from being erased they mixed the charcoal with gum. Because of its absorbent properties, charcoal was used during World War I by British and French troops to make gas masks to protect themselves from the poisonous gas released by German soldiers. This is according to the University of Reading. Despite its many uses, charcoal requires deforestation which has been found to be bad for the environment and ultimately bad for the climate. Alternative energy saving sources such as gas, solar and electricity are now being advertised. However, because many people still make use of charcoal, other measures, such as reforestation, have been put in place. To this day, the process of making charcoal has not changed much and neither have the materials. This is according to Made How, an online knowledge resource on how products are made. Additionally, its use and importance hasn’t changed much either. Researchers, scientists and manufacturing companies have in the recent past taken to experimenting with the knowledge of the product discovered during ancient times. For example, toothpaste companies recently began manufacturing products with activated charcoal because charcoal is known to be a whitening and cleansing agent. The use of charcoal as toothpaste began several hundred years ago because by 50 AD, Romans had already discovered it. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
