Bringing light to the poor, one liter at a time in the Philippines

Via Reuters UK

In the slums of Manila, an innovative project is shedding light on the city’s dim and dreary shanties. Plastic bottles jut from the roofs, bringing light to the dark dwellings below. The technology is as simple as it could be. Each bottle contains water and bleach. When placed snugly into a purpose-built hole in the roof, the home-made bulb refracts and spreads sunlight, illuminating the room beneath. Eco-entrepreneur Illac Diaz is behind the project.

An interesting idea that not only provides a better quality of life for people in the slums of the Philippines, but also puts to good use the plastic bottles that are consumed en masse every single day.

We should be seeing more of these simple, yet effective ideas that help to improve the standard of living for the estimated 4 billion people that live on less than $2/day around the world.