Plastic Bottles Just Could Be The Solution To Africa’s Lighting Problem

In our own lives we take lighting for granted. Having light is our normal. That’s not the case in many areas of Africa where there is little light once the sun goes down. Over 2 Billion people in the world are forced to live in darkness every day (that is about 1/3 of the world population, about 6 times larger than the US population) and there are over 2 Million deaths a year related to paraffin lanterns & candles. The Lightie aims to solve this problem, and it’s brilliant.

The Lightie uses photovoltaic cells to store energy from the sun (which can work even in low light conditions) and then projects light through the bottle to create a pseudo lightbulb.   The creator Michael Suttner sought to bring light to those who cannot afford it.  It is designed to fit inside of a standard soda bottle and will charge via solar power. “I just thought if I could make it to look like [a bottle cap] and it could clip into a Coke bottle then surely Coke would be interested in helping me distribute because it works with their Coke bottles, which is their biggest byproduct. This was my thinking behind the Lightie.”   The Lightie has gone on to win award after award and is in the final developmental stages before a hopeful mass production. We hope to see this product replace the old and usher in a new age of light.