“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” – Lao Tzu, 5th century Chinese philosopher
In the Philippines village women are assembling and selling or renting out solar lighting that they have learned to assemble, install and maintain. They source the needed componentry from Manilla where their husbands take their fish and vegetables to market. They place their order with the supplier, “Liter of Light”, and their husbands then bring the order back to them in what would otherwise have been their empty fishing boats. The women then assemble and sell or rent the lights, paying the supplier within 90-180 days. This way they not only supplement the family income but help to improve the wealth and quality of life of the village, including making it a safer and healthier place in which to live.
“Liter of Light”, was founded in 2011 by Illac Diaz to provide poor communities in the Philippines and around the world with a cheap source of lighting that can be produced and distributed locally. Illac is the founder of “My Shelter” a Manila-based NGO that aims to create sustainability through capability-building and employment-generating new build and restoration of low-cost housing projects. While undertaking a Master’s degree in Urban Studies and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, Illac learned about solar lighting using recycled plastic bottles filled with bleached water. The lights, which were invented in 2002 by the Brazilian engineer, Alfredo Moser, provide refracted sunlight and, when installed in the roof of a home, deliver the equivalent illumination to a 40-60 watt incandescent light bulb.
Initially Liter of Light supplied 15,000 homes with lights around the capital, Manila, but as Illac points out “For 20 million Filipinos the last thing I want to do is buy 20 million lights (theoretically) and then in 18 months buy another 20 million”. Instead Liter of Light has adopted an entrepreneurship business model whereby people are trained to assemble, install and repair the lights which means that adoption of the innovation can occur much more quickly bringing about change to the poorest sectors of society and creating green communities. So successful has been the idea that by 2019, Liter of Light had not just illuminated 350,000 homes in the Philippines but over 1 million homes in 32 countries around the world, each light saving 1000kg of carbon. Additionally the original invention has been re-engineered to include a small solar panel, a battery and 4 LED lights so that it can now provide light during the night as well as during the day, both in and out of doors. More powerful than normal street lighting and considerably cheaper, the street light version has proved to be applicable globally particularly in rural communities, such as the desert villages of Egypt where the lights are also utilized to illuminate village schools.
When considering the future Illac believes the focus needs to be on innovation “We have so many great ideas” he says “but we need to cluster people fighting for sustainabilty”. So his next venture is to create a space where people cannot just talk about innovation but see it. As he recognises we are fighting to save the planet and need not only profitable innovative businesses but enterprising people who understand that this is the case and work to ensure profit, planet and people are in harmony with each other. In addition to addressing SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), the project exemplifies Harmonious Entrepreneurship by addressing SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Development), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action) plus 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
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