There is no dearth of human brilliance. But looks like it takes something more to invent something as amazing as this one.

While we were busy losing our sense of judgment over many brands of smart phones, someone somewhere was racking his brain over how to dispel darkness that invaded shacks in Manila slums not only at nights, but during daytime too.

Illac Diaz (meaning, God of Light!), a social entrepreneur, came up with this ingenious, highly sustainable idea that works like a 60-Watt bulb.

If compassion leads to inventions, this is it.

Illac Diaz

Called “Isang litrong liwanag” or “A Litre of Light”, this experiment takes a discarded water bottle filled with water and a little bleach. This needs to be stuck to the roof of the shack. To see what happens once this solar bottle bulb lights up, click here.

Worldwide, 155 billion litres of water gets bottled. In the US alone, three million tons of plastic is needed to bottle water each year. It is estimated that 86% of the same reaches landfills.

If only we could recycle even half of these discarded plastic bottles to light up rural areas and urban slums, think of the rivers and forests saved, fire accidents due to short circuits avoided and more importantly, the effect it can have on the nuclear energy proponents!