I heard about this on NPR last night and I think it's a great idea; Mark Bent has invented a solar-powered flashlight, and when you buy one someone in an impoverished area that lacks electricity for lights at night also will receive one (and you get to pick where your contribution goes). From what I heard last night the battery in the bogo lights last for about two years (considering you use it every night), so it's definitely a worthwhile investment rather than continuing to buy battery-eating flashlights. From what I've read it seems that solar-powered flashlights aren't the end of the innovations either; the company behind the product also wants to develop various water-purification and illumination technologies based on solar power to help developing communities be self-sustaining in terms of energy consumption. I'm going to get one; you should, too.
Profile
Brian Switek is an ecology & evolution student at Rutgers University.
Facebook Profile
Search this blog
Recent Posts
- Photo of the Day #410: Nyala
- No intelligence, indeed
- Photo of the Day #409: California sea lion pup
- Book Progress #45
- Two bits of "Monkeyana"
- Photo of the Day #408: Thompson's gazelles
- The Boneyard 26 is coming up...
- Photo of the Day #407: Grizzly bear
- Taking the "Expelled Challenge"
- Photo of the Day #406: Red-eared slider
Recent Comments
- Richard Simons on Evolution of an unthreatening sort
- Melanie on No intelligence, indeed
- Dano on No intelligence, indeed
- Fertanish on No intelligence, indeed
- Leonardo Ambasciano on Book Progress #45
- Vasha on Photo of the Day #407: Grizzly bear
- H.H. on Evolution of an unthreatening sort
- Katharine on Photos From Tsavo
- Ian on Taking the "Expelled Challenge"
- Steven Barlow on Evolution of an unthreatening sort
Archives
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
Blogroll
- Dinosaur Tracking
- SV-POW!
- The World We Don't Live In
- Paleo Errata
- Archosaur Musings
- Nimravid
- Sarah at KU
- Diagenesis
- Chinleana
- Ediacaran
- paleomammalsonline
- The Life of Madygen
- Dracovenator
- A Very Remote Period Indeed
- The Ethical Palaeontologist
- Archaezoology
- Bio/Rocks
- Dots in Deep Time
- Bond's Blog
- Paleo Dude
- Dinochick
- The Open Source Paleontologist
- The Disillusioned Taxonomist
- Ask Dr. Vector
- Vertebrate Paleontology Blog
- Everything Dinosaur
- Hairy Museum of Natural History
- John Hawks
- Mark Witton
- Make No Bones
- microecos
- The Dragon's Tales
- When Pigs Fly Returns
- The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Big Lie
- Self-Designed Student
- Palaeoblog
- Tiefes Leben
- The Loom
- The Daily Mammal
- Photo Africa Blog
- Behavioral Ecology Blog
- Catalogue of Organisms
- Pondering Pikaia
- Primate Diaries
- Rigor Vitae
- The Lord Geekington
- Bonobo Handshake
- The Daily Coyote
- Here Be Dragons
- Cephalopodcast
- The Other 95%
- Deep Sea News
- Bootstrap Analysis
- Bug Girl's Blog
- The Greenbelt
- 10,000 Birds
- Further Thoughts
- The Dispersal of Darwin
- Thoughts in a Haystack
- The Beagle Project Blog
- Transcribing Tyndall
- Apparent Dip
- Clastic Detritus
- T. rex eats fish
- The Divine Afflatus
- The Olive Tree
- Europe and Africa
- Lak Lak Lak
- Archy
- The Sandwalk
- Genomicron
- Migrations
- Gurney Journey
- Skepchick
- Tangled Up in Blue Guy
- The Loom
- SECular Thoughts
- Dispatches from Carbon Nation
- Cocktail Party Physics
- Peculiar Beauty
- The Digital Cuttlefish
- The Flying Trilobote
- Brummellblog
- Interrogating Nature
- Migrations
- The Panda's Thumb
- De Rerum Natura
- Quintessence of Dust
- RedMolly Picayune Democrat
- A History of Histronics
- The Ethical Husband
- Highly Allochthonous
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
- Science After Sunclipse
- ERV
- A Blog Around the Clock
- Bioemphemera
- Afarensis
- Greg Laden
- Evolving Thoughts
- Living the Scientific Life
- Thus Spake Zuska
- Neurophilosophy
- Pharyngula
- Cognitive Daily
- Zooillogix
- The Island of Doubt
- Thoughts From Kansas
- Retrospectacle
- Shifting Baselines
- Stranger Fruit
- Aardvarchaeology
- Tetrapod Zoology
- The Voltage Gate
- Adventures in Ethics and Science
- Terra Sigillata
Paleo
Zoology
Ecology
History of Science
Geology
Miscellany
Fellow Sciblings
« But where does art intersect biology? | Main | Photo of the Day #101: Dead Jelly »
Do someone else a favor; get a Bogo light
Category: Ecology
Posted on: January 16, 2008 3:16 PM, by Brian Switek
Find more posts in:
Environment









Comments
Sweet, I am so buying one for Kenya this summer. Thanks, Brian!
Posted by: Melanie | January 16, 2008 5:30 PM
These are really good lights; I got one for my dad and one for myself a year ago. He uses his all the time; I keep mine on the window sill in my bedroom for emergencies.
Posted by: OriGuy | January 16, 2008 7:02 PM
I'm not convinced by solar-powered flashlights. I saw some in a local shop and I think they're ridiculous. Here's why.
When will a flashlight (or any) battery run out of power? When you need it (especially if you are using it of course!).
When do you need a flashlight? When it's dark.
When is solar power not available? When it's dark.
Rather better is to invest in wind-up flashlights (which I have seen at low prices), so that when it runs out of power, you wind the handle for half a minute and you have a new dose of light. As environmentally friendly as the solar version and equally needless of replacement batteries, but can be recharged in use when you most need them.
Wind up and save the planet!
Posted by: Sam the Centipede | January 17, 2008 5:35 AM
I thought this sounded like a good cause, until I saw you could donate to the US Military!! The US Military, impoverished?!?
Posted by: Matt | January 18, 2008 4:00 AM