A Liter of Light

Plastic Bottles = Light?

I saw this video a year or so ago and was amazed by the genius of this idea. Who knew that a plastic bottle could produce so much light! How does this work you ask?

1. Get a plastic bottle
2. Fill it with mineral water and a few drops of bleach
3. Cement the bottle halfway through a small metal roof sheet
4. Cut out a small piece of the actual roof, place the sheet with the bottle on top of the hole
5. Cement any remaining cracks

Here's the advertisement that was created for these products and the Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light) project

These bottles are just another example of that if we are going to generate waste by consuming wasteful products, we need to reuse them somehow. In this case, these plastic bottles were reused and changed the homes of many occupants in the poorer part of the Phillipines (Sitio Maligaya). These "lights" provide as much light as a 55Watt bulb. 

Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light) Project

The initiative is a project that was designed and developed by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and implemented by MyShelter Foundation and is already transforming lives of low-income people and homes in the Phillippines. The goal is to brighten one million homes in the Phillippines by 2012 with the help of volunteers and partners.

Here's the advertisement that was created for these products and the Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light) project

Thoughts:

Why aren't we better at reusing our waste? There are many different uses for the containers that we recycle (or worse, throw away). Certain plastic containers can be used as tupperware, glass jars used as drink containers, and the plastic bottles used as lights! Who knew?! If we are going to consume waste we need to have a plan on what we are going to do with those containers otherwise it's going to add up and that won't be pretty (see later blog post on that!). I google searched "uses for plastic bottles" and found a lot of different things that you can use plastic bottles for:

• Scooper
• Mosquito/insect trap
• Holders (this example showed a picture of bottles holding various nails, nuts, and bolts)
• Protecting a plant (stick bottle over plant if the weather is too cold, this acts as a greenhouse)
• Cookie cutter (cut off neck of the bottle and use the circular part to cut the dough)
• Butter churn
• Building brick

Obviously there are creative ways to reuse bottles, jars, and certain waste in general. At home I reuse glass jars and put my cotton balls and makeup brushes in them. I also use cleaning wipe containers to store my plastic bags. All you have to do is search for ideas and together we can reduce the waste and extend the lifetime of a disposable product.