The team at Liter of Light led by Illac Diaz is embarking on a “Journey of Light” around the world to share their powerful message, engage new volunteers, and raise funds to scale the solution up even further.
What Does Liter of Light Do?
For those unfamiliar with Liter of Light, its mission is very simple. Its team of volunteers travel to marginalized communities around the world to show folks how to reuse plastic bottles and locally sourced materials to light up their homes, businesses, and streets. The beauty of the solution is its simplicity. It’s low cost, low complexity, and nearly infinitely scalable.
The Liter of Light team has been illuminating homes with its innovative solution for years now and we have been tracking with them along the way … with some of our early coverage back in 2011 all the way up to its win of the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2015. What started as a way to bring daylight into dark homes and businesses grew into a solution that adds solar and LEDs to extend the light into the night, and the Liter team isn’t stopping there.
The Journey of Light
Fast forward to today and the Liter of Light team is taking its next massive step forward with the global “Journey of Light” tour that showcases the great work done by Liter of Light and how it is transforming lives around the world, one solar-powered light at a time. The Journey of Light is a global campaign that spans 5 continents, with the first legs of the campaign taking place in England in 2015, followed by another in the Philippines last year.
Over the years, the events have evolved into a holistic approach to raising awareness through beautiful record-breaking solar works of art that are deconstructed afterwards and installed to bring solar-powered light to homes and businesses.
The art installations are themselves a part of the core mission of Liter of Light, as they aren’t just single-use installations that are assembled at massive expense and effort and then torn down after. Rather, the Liter of Light installations are composites of the very same plastic bottles used in Liter of Light installations around the world by children, then assembled one at a time into massive art installations.
The sculptures are then put on display in prominent locations around the world to create a pop of excitement and energy to engage thousands at each location, with more than 60,000 visitors in total. After being put on display and serving their purpose, the solar components are retrieved as the installations are deconstructed and are then sent out to be installed in homes and businesses to continue their service.
The Great American Journey of Light — In A 1957 Electric Van
The third leg of this global journey kicked off recently. Dubbed the Great American “Journey of Light,” it’s running from November 7th to December 10th, 2017. The tour spans 13 states, with events at 15 schools across the nation where the team will speak with thousands of children to share the message of hope and renewable energy.
The month-long trip across the United States is showcasing sustainable solutions to energy poverty and highlights the work Liter of Light does to teach youth around the world how they can light up the spaces that are the most important to them. Liter of Light has partnered with the socio-cultural adventure series Lost & Found: Journeyman on the tour to share the powerful messages of adventure and sustainable energy at each stop.
The Great American Journey of Light is being undertaken in a converted fully electric 1957 VW van that serves to further amplify Liter of Light’s message of affordable sustainable energy as it makes its way across the country.
Looking to the Future
The Journey of Light continues next year as the team heads to the UAE in January 2018 for the next leg of the tour. Planning is currently underway for the 5th and final leg of the journey, where the team will take the message to South America of Africa.
Getting the message out about how expensive energy and lighting are in many parts of the world is critical to empowering millions of people around the world with the knowledge and solutions necessary to improve their quality of life. The core mission of Liter of Light ties directly into the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Development Goals, which peg renewable energy solutions as one of the keys to unlocking energy for millions.
To learn more about Liter of Light and its Journey of Light, head over to the official website, Facebook, Twitter or instagram and dive right in — or, if you’re so compelled, you can donate directly to Liter of Light or sign up to volunteer to be a part of this fantastic organization.
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