How A Plastic Bottle is Lighting up Lives!
Illac is a social entrepreneur known for his innovative ideas for the marginalized Filipino. His breakthrough projects include the Pier One Seaman’s Dorm and the My Shelter Foundation’s low-cost earth bag homes. He also studied Management at the Asian Institute of Management. He has won several awards for his work: among them, theMassachusetts
Liter of Light, Switzerland, parent
organisation, visited Mumbai last year (October) to train people here to carry
their work forward. This training involved conducting pre-visits to slums to
identify houses where this light would be most beneficial, preparing the
bottles, i.e. gluing them to plastic sheets and finally, installing them by
boring holes in the roof and gluing this bottle there. Workshops were held at Worli Koliwada, Backbay Depot and Reay Road
with about 10-15 bottles installed there. Liter of Light, Mumbai was launched very recently.The Mumbai Chapter is also looking for more people to join in and support
the project by:
1. Organising collection drives in their localities/ societies
2. Joining in workshops, where they will be trained to install
3. Help identify those slums that could benefit from this project
4. Spread the word
Our upcoming projects include: installations in slums in the city (people may approach us for installing such bottles in slums near their homes) and tie ups with a few NGOs are in the pipeline
Millions around the world live in slums and shanties without basic amenities such as proper water, electric supply, inadequate daylight. Many often resort to kerosene, candles, or inventive wiring for light, risking health and safety in the process. Many simply go without.Proper electricity is not a common option, especially in the Philippines, which has the highest electricity rates in Asia. Filipino entrepreneur and activist Illac Diaz created Liter of Light to provide informal settlements in his country with a cheap daytime lighting source that can be produced and distributed locally. The Mumbai Chapter of Liter of Light is already rendering yeoman service to many slum pockets in the city.
Illac's solution was astoundingly simple: a clear plastic soda bottle filled with water is installed in the roof as a skylight. The water refracts the sunlight as it streams through the bottle, dispersing the rays 360 degrees, thereby illuminating the entire room. The recipients of the solar bottle bulbs, who pay about $1 for the bulb and installation, save money on electricity and cut back on pollution and fire hazards.
Illac is a social entrepreneur known for his innovative ideas for the marginalized Filipino. His breakthrough projects include the Pier One Seaman’s Dorm and the My Shelter Foundation’s low-cost earth bag homes. He also studied Management at the Asian Institute of Management. He has won several awards for his work: among them, the
Another pet
project—The Earthbag School! This scenario is hardly new in Philippine schools.
Problems in the education sector have dramatically increased in the past few
years, with the lack of classrooms growing by a whopping 586 per cent. The
shortage of classrooms prompted concerned organizations to take matters into
their own hands --Illac was roped in for structural design. “In addition
to the basic requirements for making the building less expensive and more
typhoon-resistant, we also wanted to come up with a design that would be more
conducive to teaching and learning than the dark and hot box layout typically
used in that part of the world. Illac was roped in for technical support and Cement giant La Farge Semento
supplied the cement for holding the structures together. 2007---The beautiful
weather was a perfect background to the amazing completion of the first
earthbag school in the world.
A pow-wow with the Mumbai Liters
What is the Liter of Light exactly? What is the concept?
Liter
of Light is a worldwide movement, based on an idea that originated in
Phillipines.The
concept is very simple - a 1.5 litre soft drink bottle is filled with water and
bleach, which is then stuck to a roof, with some part of it above the roof and
the rest of it, inside the house. When sunlight falls on the upper part of the
bottle, water defracts the light and the bottle illuminates- equivalent to a
55-watt bulb.
How
long does this bottle last and why is
bleach added?
This
bottle lasts for 5 years (the bleach has nothing to do with illumination, it is
used to keep the water clean and from preventing algae etc from growing
within). The material used for preparing and installing these bottles comprises
of materials of everyday use - a soft drink bottle, and plastic sheets. The
glue, the most important component, is specially made for this project from
Germany. Apart from being eco-friendly, this bottle helps reduce electricity
consumption, which is a very costly affair in a city like Mumbai.
What is the cost of
installing the bottle?
The cost of installing this bottle
in one home in Mumbai is zero. The glue is sponsored, the only cost incurred is the soft drink
bottle. We are appealing to people , asking them to collect the bottles instead of them discarding them. People can
collect 1.5 litre Coke bottles and get in touch
with us at literoflightmumbai@gmail.com.
Who are the members of your
core team?
The core team in Mumbai consists of
Priyanka Bhosale, Akilesh Subramanian, Amar
Kharate, Harshraj Madan,Abhishek Sawant and Karan Pathak. Priyanka
is a writer at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai, Akilesh a PR
professional and former student of University of Mumbai, Department of Civics
and Politics is associated with Labour
Education And Research Network (LEARN). Abhishek Sawant is president of the District Youth
Congress, Mumbai. He is the General Secretary at
Labour Education And Research Network (LEARN) and is the guiding force behind
its association with Liter of Light, Mumbai.
Amar Kharat a former student of
Globalisation and Labour Studies, TISS, works at the grassroots, connecting with the community about our
various projects.Karan Pathak an event management
professional is involved with marketing
for Liter of Light, Mumbai. Harshraj Madan is closely associated with Sanskaar
India Foundation, an NGO that works in areas of education, development, etc.
Prajakta Bhosale-Goyal: Prajakta is a PR professional based in
Gurgaon. She handles, along with Akilesh, the PR work for Liter of Light
Mumbai, advising the team about events and general publicity.
How did you first hear about this unique project?
Dr.
Sudha Mohan, associate professor, Dept. of Civics and Politics, University of
Mumbai, who also teaches one semester at Switzerland's University of St.
Gallen, got an e-mail from our coordinator for Liter of Light Mumbai, Leoni
Runge describing the movement and their desire to visit the city and conduct
some workshops and installations. Dr. Mohan, who herself has been very
enthusiastic and encouraging about projects out of the ordinary, shared this
project with some of her students.
Akilesh
and Priyanka accompanied the visiting group of students. They got in touch with
their friends at LEARN, Amar and Abhishek, who readily agreed to support this
movement.
Is this a full-time occupation?
Is this a full-time occupation?
The
core team members are working professionals who devote tremendous amounts of
time and energy to Liter of Light, Mumbai. They meet once every week to discuss
the movement's progress. They are not getting paid for this and are doing this
out of their own interest.
What
kind of guidance and help did
you get?
1. Organising collection drives in their localities/ societies
2. Joining in workshops, where they will be trained to install
3. Help identify those slums that could benefit from this project
4. Spread the word
Our upcoming projects include: installations in slums in the city (people may approach us for installing such bottles in slums near their homes) and tie ups with a few NGOs are in the pipeline
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