Pyle lucent water bottles

Lucent Water Bottles
Gabe Pyle
Intro to Sustainable Design
Minneapolis College of Art and Design


For millions of homes around the world,
electric lighting is simply too expensive.

gabe Pyle | Intro to Sustainable Design | MCAD | 12.10.13


So as soon as the sun goes down,
the community is surrounded



In complete darkness...



But in 2002, Brazilian inventor Alfredo Moser
found a solution



Bottle

And all it takes is an empty bottle


Bottle

water

Clean Water


Roof
Material
Bottle

water

Roof Material


Roof
Material
Bottle

water

bleach

And Some Bleach


And it works like a little like this:


Roof
Material
Bottle

+
tle
Bot ter + ch
Wa f Blea
so

liter of light/
client myshelter foundation
actors
transformations
worldview
owner
environment Member of community

x2

Cap

Design Phase

water

bleach

build phase
Very dark
in there

hole in
roof material

Sunlight
(input)

use phase

bottle

with no lighting

poor communities
with no lighting

light should be available to
everyone-- not just those who
can afford electricity

refraction!

illumination!
about 60 watts!
(output)

end of life
(rich picture produced for Systems Thinking course)


And in 2011 Filipino entrepreneur Illac Diaz
brought the “solar bulb” large scale
through MyShelter Foundation
with a group called Liter of Light



In one year, Liter of Light installed
over 200,000 bulbs



And wants to grow that number to
1 million by 2015



They even have a solar-charged LED bulb
for night time lighting!



So while Liter of Light is providing lighting solutions
across the world with old plastic bottles,
billions of dollars are exhausted each year
in the bottled water industry.



The proposal, then, is to connect
two unrelated industries



With two related elements



Water



And light



Two basic elements of life that give ust



The idea is simple
Sell bottles. Send light. Share Hope.



Sell Bottles:
Design and sell a reusable water bottle to cut down
on disposable bottle consumption, encourage healthy
drinking habits, and promote Liter of Light



Send Light:
Partner with Liter of Light to help fund
lighting solutions around the world
through proceeds of bottle sales



Share Hope:
Light is not just a resource.
It’s a symbol for something much stronger.
Hope.



So while Liter of Light is doing their part
to satisfy the needs of dark communities,
Lucent Water wants to satisfy their needs
while tackling some needs of our own.



How do Lucent Bottles meet unmet needs?
For People?
For Profits?
For the Planet?
For the Public?


People

By creating a regular economic resource stream for Liter of Light actors, Lucent Water
brings opportunity and income to those who are otherwise operating on local economic
streams. While the income streams have been considerably subsidized by regular
donations, wider resource bandwidth means less pressure on donators, more energy
allocated towards existing actors, and greater opportunity to fund additional actors, which
could change thousands of lives—particularly the underemployed women that Liter of Light
has already begun to assist.



Profit

Liter of Light aims to bring low-cost lighting solutions to poor communities. Instead of
advancing the cause by encouraging affluent communities to cut back in order to give
more, Lucent Water redirects economic energy by celebrating the consumption of water
as a means to bring light to others. A 2013 Cone Communication Impact Study revealed
that 91% of American consumers want more products and social services that they use to
support a cause, and a Nielsen study states that 50% of consumers are willing to pay
more for a cause-related product or service. This means that Lucent Water, similar to the
premium tacked onto Fair Trade products to promote healthy development, could charge
an additional premium for greater impact.


Planet

The disposable bottled water industry might be one of the least sustainable business on
the planet. It has been revealed that for every gallon of bottled water sold, an additional
three to four gallons are required to manufacture, process, and transport the water -- and
all for conveniently buying a product one-to-ten thousand times more expensive than
local tap water (which, by the way, is usually what’s in the bottles anyway). Lucent
Water tackles this problem from two sides:



1. By selling reusable water bottles, Lucent Water aims to cut the consumption of
disposable plastic water bottles, which means less wasted plastic, money, and water.
2. By directing proceeds towards Liter of Light, Lucent Water provides poor communities
with a means to better handle their own pollution problems by helping them turn plastic
bottles into sustainable lighting solutions.



Public

Lucent Water wants to bring light to the world—both in illuminating homes everywhere,
and in enlightening the world as to how their money can make a difference through
movements like Liter of Light. It will also highlight the global community and how
important our collaboration is to our continued growth.



And it wouldn’t be the first time
water bottles were used to promote
environmental and social causes.



Jointhepipe.org sells clear modular blue water
bottles shaped like water pipes, complete with
bends, runs, and joints, that can be combined
with limitless potential to form what Jointhepipe
calls the “world’s longest water pipe,” a metaphor
for the global relationship they’re creating by
selling water bottles to help provide clean
drinking water for communities around the world

(join-the-pipe.org)



And in 2009 KOR unveiled their
limited edition “Thirst for Giving”
bottle line that featured artwork
of different natural habitats on the
bottles and donated proceeds to
non-profits working to save the
environment

(join-the-pipe.org)



Perhaps Lucent Bottles can be
a similar product for
Liter of Light?



But how would it work?



Well there are really two parts to the proposal:
The partnership, and the product



So let’s take a quick look at both



The Product



Selling a product with the interest
of donating proceeds is called
“cause marketing” or “charity marketing.”
Establishing a successful brand or product
with charity woven into its DNA
requires transparency in three things:
identity, amount, and frequency


Identity is easy.
Lucent Water contributes to Liter of Light
But how much and how often?



Some experts suggest donating quarterly
to establish reasonable expectation
for your consumers and your cause



As to how much?
Really, that’s up to the consumer.



But if we look at it from the other side, from what
would help Liter of Light the most, we might get a
better idea of what would be helpful.



Since it costs about $2 to install a regular solar
bottle, and it costs about $12 to install a LED bottle,
we could say that $12 dollars of each sale
goes towards Liter of Light.


That means selling one Lucent bottle
would fund one LED bottle,
tor six regular solar bottles



And the partnership has more than one way
to become a reality



It could start from the ground up with the hard work
of a motivated team of entrepreneurs



Or an already established bottle manufacturing
company could adopt the model
to gain exposure and credibility.



Once established, Lucent Water could run
independently of Liter of Light, promising their
continued support



Or Liter of Light could establish a co-op business
venture to better direct the bottles mission, visibility,
and funding while still directing the bulk of their
attention towards their own mission


Or, if Liter of Light felt led, they could own Lucent
Water outright as a product-providing wing of their
foundation



All roads lead to cleaner water and brighter homes.
Some are simply shorter than others.



While the partnership is the real MVP of the
proposal, it would be an injustice to ignore the
opportunities the bottle presents. Keeping in mind
how Jointhepipe and KOR have used their bottle
designs, let’s take a closer look at Lucent Water
bottles.


“Lucent” has the connotation of being bright or clear
(a reference to the quality of the water
as well as Liter of Light’s mission).
So Lucent bottles ought to be the same.



In addition to that, Lucent would want to design a
bottle that is transparent, fashionable, durable, easy
to use, easy to clean, has room for a clip, fits in a
standard cup holder, and is BPA-free. Many of these
are just givens as far as bottle design is concerned.



However, “lucent” also means glowing. So why not
remind the consumer of the cause in the same way
that Jointhepipe does with their bottles?



That is, why not make Lucent Water bottles glow like
the Liter of Light bulbs?



Lucent bottles could borrow
the solar-powered LED cap
technology that is already on
the market



OR Lucent bottles could explore installing miniturbine-powered LEDs into the bottle’s lid that charge
as the consumer drinks water.



This would open the market to consumers that don’t
spend as much time in the sun, and would likely
encourage more frequent water consumption



In the end, what the
bottle looks like is fairly
inconsequential. So long as
it holds water, cuts pollution,
and promotes Liter of Light,
it’s a good design

Bottle



(but here are some ideas anyway)



In conclusion:
Lucent bottles provide a way for consumers to
contribute to a cause that not only helps change
lives by bringing light into the dark, but also cleans
up their own lives by cutting disposable bottle
consumption and promoting healthy drinking habits.


Many element of the proposal has already proven
effective in other scenarios, and through the
collaborative efforts of the consumer culture and Liter
of Light, Lucent Water presents an opportunity to
change the way we buy water to help change the
way we live.


Sell bottles. Send light. Share hope.


Pyle lucent water bottles

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