Base Camp is where visitors go to relax, unwind, and get familiar with an anthology of earlier material.

A Liter Of Light

A plastic bottle filled with water and bleach solution lightens up a home in Manila. Image source: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpm4o1fDzU1qjyx0z.jpg

A website in Manila reports: The National Electrification Commission reported in 2009 that 3 million homes outside Metro Manila still are powerless.

Manila is the most densely populated city in the world, suffering from widespread poverty and hardship. Many homes are without electrical power. Many more can’t afford it, even if the infrastructure is available.

Enter Isang Litrong Liwanag, (A Liter of Light): a project that brought Manila the solar bottle bulb. The technology was developed in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by a number of students, bringing daylight to Manila’s powerless, lighting up their lives.

The way it works is simple: plastic bottles are filled with water and bleach solution, then they’re passed through corrugated tin roofs, where they’re fixed in position. Daylight passes through them, amplified by the solution, brightening up the living spaces underneath.

It’s an ingenious and relatively cost-free way to light up homes, while at the same time putting plastic waste to good use and, to top it all off, providing individuals with employment, bringing hope to an otherwise dark place…