Environmental Loan Group

[Guest]

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[Amy-in-PHX]

Somebody shared a video with me this morning about how people are using empty soda bottles filled with water and bleach to bring light to houses in the Philippines (where there is plenty of sun but the corrugated metal roofs and lack of windows can make houses dark during the day).  I was truly amazed.

"A bottled liter of water with a few teaspoons of bleach is proving to be a successful recipe for dwellers in the light-deprived slums of the Philippines. The simple technology is spreading sunlight in places where it has never been, and saving residents money at the same time".

http://uk.reuters.com/video/2011/07/11/bringing-light-to-the-poor-one-liter-at?videoId=216968892&videoChannel=82

I never saw old plastic soda bottles re-used or recycled in a better way than this.  I wondered how bleach was helping to refract light - until the video told me the bleach is just to keep the water clear, by preventing algae growth.  And they last for several years!  I'm amazed to see that this is a project of MIT students.  Glad they are working on such things.

[Kestrel]

These are "green", aren't they?


http://www.kiva.org/lend/334249
Don Cristóbal is 51 years old and has more than 15 years of experience in the planting and cultivating of coffee. Cristóbal lives with his wife and their 6 children. Don Cristóbal is requesting a loan for the purchase of a solar energy plant. He doesn't have this basic service and in the community where he resides, they don't expect to have the traditional flow of electricity. Cristóbal thinks that this system would be very useful for his family since they wouldn't have to use candles and lamps for light, thus improving the quality of life for his family.


http://www.kiva.org/lend/334243
Santos is 41 years old, and he is a farmer who cultivates coffee. He has 20 years of experience in this line of work; this work has allowed him to pay for the household necessities. He lives with his wife and their 3 children.

Santos will use this loan to buy solar energy equipment. He notes that this would be very useful for him and his family, because in the area where he lives they lack the primary utilities that many homes have in his country. Having solar power will totally change his house and living conditions. Now, he will be able to have a television and a cellular phone that he can use to communicate with his family.

Both currently raising funds...