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Plastic bottles jut from the roofs in one Manila slum
neighbourhood, mushrooming across rows and rows of shanty homes. But
they aren't just bottles -- they bring light.
Using the simplest of technologies to brighten dim and dreary shanties,
the bottles, which contain bleach and water, are placed snugly into a
purpose-built hole in the roof. They reflect sunlight and spread it
through the room beneath.
As a result, the project calle "Isang Litrong Liwanag," which means A
Liter of Light, helps some of the poorest Philippines residents save
money and live better -- in a renewable way.
"If you can make a grassroots revolution wherein each and every person
can have an improvement of life with green technology, then that little
-- if added together -- can cumulatively improve... Filipino living,"
said Ilac Diaz, an eco-entrepreneur who launched the project.
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"So A Liter of Light lights up the house, saves a lot
but at the same time improves the standard of living across the board,
of the bottom 90 percent of this country."
The idea was influenced by similar endeavors in the Middle East and
Brazil, as well as by a project by a group of students at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
More than 10,000 of the bottle lights have been installed across
metropolitan Manila and the nearby province of Laguna in the last three
months through the efforts of low income communities, local governments
and private partners.
"'That's only water?' my neighbours were asking. 'That's only water,' I
said to them," said Erlinda Densing, a mother of eight whose
20-meter-square home is now illuminated by a bottle light as bright as a
lightbulb.
"Basically, the sun's rays are really bright."
The light can be built and installed in under an hour.
First, a hole is cut in a corrugated iron sheet, and a one-liter plastic
bottle that has been filled with water and about four teaspoons of
bleach is inserted. A hole is cut in the house's roof, the bottle is put
in, and then the iron sheet is fixed to the roof with rivets and
sealant.
CLEAR LIGHT
"Unlike a hole in which the light will travel in a straight line, the
water will refract it to go vertical, horizontal, 360 degrees of 55
watts to 60 watts of clear light, almost ten months of the year," Diaz
said.
The bottles emit clear light for about five years, since the bleach
inside prevents the buildup of algae in the water.
Lileta Paningbatan, a mother of five, and her husband had four of the
"bulbs" installed in their home, and two in the small store they run, in
May.
"When we didn't have these, it was impossible not to turn on the lights
during the day," said Paningbatan, who hopes to save on monthly electric
bills that can run to 1,000 pesos ($23).
"Now, as you see, it's daytime, it's bright even if we don't turn on the
fluorescent lights."
With the Philippines dependent on fossil fuel and coal for most of its
energy needs, the government is making a push for renewable energy in
the face of growing demand, adding to the appeal of projects like A
Liter of Light. Earlier this month more than 200
volunteers from schools and private companies donned gloves and began
building bottle lights for residents in the Manila slum community of
Pavatas, which sits beside a nine-storey high garbage dump.
The 2,000 families who live there pay around 800 pesos ($18) a month for
electricity, a large chunk of their income, and say that any savings on
these bills will allow them to eat better.
"It's a big deal," said Manuel Pilande, a Payatas resident who uses a
light bottle in his store. "You can buy a kilo of rice, and even have
fish with your meal." |
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