While Kay Zillich (Herald, Aug. 2) is correct that the only way to safely look directly at the solar eclipse before and after totality is through special-purpose filters such as those used in certified eclipse glasses, a colander can indeed be used for watching the eclipse indirectly as a (multiple) pinhole camera.
To use the pinhole camera technique, poke a hole in a piece of stiff paper or cardboard with a pin, and hold it so that the sun shines through the hole and onto either a flat ground surface such as a sidewalk or (better) a sheet of white paper.
Look at the projected image on the ground or paper, not at the pinhole! You will see the crescent projection of the sun, which will change with the progression of the eclipse.
A colander, with its many tiny holes, will project multiple solar images. A web search for “colander pinhole camera” yields many images and a few videos of these projections during partial eclipses.
The website the Herald mentioned was no doubt referring to this method, which is entirely eyeball-safe – as long as you look at the projection and not directly at the sun.
Ilana Stern
Durango
